Bo Burnham has created a timely and honest masterpiece with his most recent comedy special, Inside.
Bo Burnham spent his time writing and recording a special around his own experiences and depression in a time of loneliness and isolation. It is a messy spectacle of pure genius: equal parts stand up special, music video, experimental film, and existential breakdown. If you are familiar with Bo Burnham, you know that he writes songs that tackle a wide variety of subjects making light of his own privilege to dealing with relevant issues plaguing the internet generation the world over.
Bo Burnham’s previous specials are similar to many others you’ve seen, but with a large musical component, more closely resembling a concert atmosphere. With Inside Burnham does something different, instead of a typical comedy special, on a stage in front of an audience, Burnham performs all of his songs and jokes in a small room in his house. This sounds worse than it is, as Bo Burnham does a tremendous job with the limited space he has. The lighting, editing, camera set-ups, and the overall production value are amazing considering that Burnham has created the special himself, alone, in his house.
To break down the special it’s best to look at it through its parts. As a stand-alone comedy special, it may not live up to your expectations. It is funny and well-written, however, because of the unique presentation style it does not feel like a comedy special. If you go into this wanting to laugh throughout you may be disappointed, especially if this is your first experience with Bo Burnham’s comedy style.
That being said, Burnham’s songs performed here in Inside are among his best. So much so that I was actively upset that I couldn’t listen to them anywhere else but on the special itself and in a couple of Youtube posts. Bo Burnham has expertly crafted a dozen songs about a specific moment in time that is both catchy and relatable. I cannot commend his songwriting skills enough, and more than that, they are incredibly well-produced.
I am thankful that Netflix was willing to put this out, in a pre-Netflix world this special would not exist. The best way to explain this special is like a series of musical vignettes, similar to John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch or Lonely Island’s The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience, both Netflix specials that are wholly unique and fantastically made. The fact that Netflix, unlike any other streaming service, is willing to give creators this level of freedom is why Netflix is at the top of the heap.
Inside is such a wonderful creative endeavor that could have only existed within this odd time that we are living in and had anyone else seen this it possibly would have been edited out of existence. As previously stated, it is messy as hell. At times it feels unfinished and sloppy, but this is one of the greatest parts of Inside.
More than anything I’ve ever watched, it replicates both the creative process and isolation so well. Inside is manic and full of energy at times, and in the next moment, it is somber and honest. Bo Burnham seems to have created the 21st century equivalent of stream of consciousness; wherein, everything in his brain seems to have spilled out onto the screen.
The editing of Inside makes it all the more interesting and distinctive. Burnham engages with so many different styles of lighting, filters, and angles that make the film cinema quality. It’s possible to forget at times that he is working in a ten-foot-wide space, which points to his prowess as a director and editor, as I don’t know of many others who could pull off this level of quality on their own. Bo Burham uses his transitions to emphasize his mental state, which seems to deteriorate throughout the special, as we watch him spiral through existential crises, tackling everything from aging, suicide, depression, and irrelevance.
Granted, this doesn’t sound like all that fun, and sometimes it isn’t, but it’s honest, real, and human in a way that much of the entertainment we are given is not. There is much here that makes Burnham both an endearing and tragic hero of his own life. We are rooting for him to be better, and that is a unique experience in a comedy special.
Inside at times is more of an experimental documentary of Burnham’s mental state, than it is a comedy special. Even though we are only given bits and pieces of what he wants to share, he allows enough of a peek into his mindset that it feels authentic and paints him as a sympathetic character. As we move our way through the special things become more abstract and weighty, replicating the way many of us have felt being stuck in our own homes.
Inside has been one of the most genuine pieces of media that has been created for consumption during the pandemic. It shows that people everywhere are having a hard time, and that because of our lived experiences, we are connected to each other in a way that we haven’t been for a long time.
Because of the disconnect created by the internet and the multiple lenses of social media we place on our lives, we can often forget that people are hurting and that this is a time of great difficulty for everyone. Bo Burnham shines a light on his own fragility. He shows us that we might not be as strong as we thought we were; that we ought to be checking on each other and reconnecting with one another. Inside ultimately represents the spaces within ourselves that we are unwilling to share with others, the messiness and sadness that we don’t want others to see.
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