what. & Make Happy

I had posted this to my other blog in 2013, but have recently shut that blog down due to a lack of posting to it. I have decided to re post this with a new spin on things. Let's see what I think of both of Bo Burnham's comedy shows after having watched them numerous times now.

If you don't know who Bo Burnham is, I'll tell you what I know. Bo is a 26 year old comedian. He had a really funny TV show that unfortunately was cancelled. Which I don't know why, I liked it a lot and would love to see more. I spent an afternoon watching the entire series of Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous. I found it really funny, and a nice change to the typical way comedy is done on television. The show was released on MTV from May-June of 2013, and is recently on mtv.com if you would like to check it out (an can access the American site of MTV).

Bo also has a poetry book out called Egghead Or You Can't Survive On Ideas Alone. It's in stores and on Amazon, you should check it out. I bought it and it is a great book, I have read it way too many times. You'll get little poems like this one, it's called Toast:

"I'd like to propose a toast:
sourdough pumpkin bread.
Thoughts?"

First, let's talk about what. since that is the first show he came out with. It starts off with a home video of Bo as a child singing to the camera, then transitions to Bo sitting on stage with a voiceover describing him. Throughout the entire show I was laughing or at least smiling. His transitions between each bit were great. The way he throws comedy into every second of the show was amazing. He showed how it can look so easy to go from telling jokes, to singing a comedy song, to reading a poem he wrote.

Every joke he tells is like your typical joke with a punchline with it. Though the songs he sings, they really make you feel the comedy along with other emotions as well. Like the song #Deep, that song actually was deep along with being funny. The other thing that really helps the show move along the way it did was the lighting, it really helped set the mood for each joke.

Finally, if you made it to the end of the show then you'll know that Bo really has a way with words that I don't see a lot anymore in comedy. Comedians all know how to throw a good joke together, but there are certain ones who know how to put together a joke to make you think about yourself, the world, and laugh at the same time. This can really be seen in the final song he does. That last song was really powerful with starting out as a joke, then turning into what sounds like a really meaningful song and gives a whole new perspective on everything. It shows that he puts a lot of passion into what he does. Finally at the very end of the show closes there is another home video (sound only) of Bo as a kid, this time talking about a teacher at his school.

His second show is called Make Happy.

This show starts out with Bo waking up in what looks like a hotel room with a face full of clown makeup and the typical red clown nose. He then walking around a town, down streets, through parks, and finally to the location of where the show is taking place. All this happens while there is a voiceover. Again he opens with a song, then goes right into the jokes.

While watching this comedy show I was laughing just as hard as I was while watching the first one. I loved how the jokes and songs he had for this one were different (obviously) with a slight nod to jokes he had made in what. Now there is a joke that may be a bit controversial to those who don't understand it. Though I never once found a problem with it, I understood where he was going with it. He even apologized right after for those who found a problem with it. He knew there would be some people who didn't like it.

Anyway, back to the rest of the show. He has a moment where he gets real and makes a slight joke at the end. He then goes into the final song (on stage). The whole song is basically a parody of what Kanye West does at shows. Though with Bo's version, he's just a big joke until about halfway through the song. With this song you can hear the passion he has for his work.

The very last song he does after he leaves the stage is the one big song that made me think. The whole song is asking if you're happy...well, only you can answer that question.

Both shows are really well put together, you can see the amount of effort that was put into planning every little bit. The precise timing for songs and lights for individual bits had to be just right or neither of these shows would have worked out. Everyone involved did amazing work to make sure everything turned out great.

I suggest you check out the shows on Netflix, you can even check out the entire show of what. on Youtube, as well as clips from both shows. You can go to iTunes and check out movies he's been in, along with songs he has released. You can even head over to his website and check out everything he has there.

- Nicbeemz