Comedy is a medium often overlooked as an art form. Many uninformed onlookers view comedy simply as a concentration of immaturity; to them, comedy exists to fulfill our desire for laughter by catering to our primal instincts, and cannot exist in tandem with true art.
Bo Burnham is living proof of the opposite. Bo’s comedy, while often incredibly crude and juvenile, betrays Bo’s incredibly above average intellect, as well as his propensity for introspection. Bo’s comedy consistently deals with well-thought out, mature themes, such as suicide, religion, racial inequality, and mental health. His ability to portray these themes in such a carefully executed way, often in the context of a song, belies his innate capacity to think critically and understand inherent problems within the environments he inhabits, as well as the world at large.
Moreover, Bo Burnham is able to utilize his comedic art form to bring out real, tangible emotions in his audience besides laughter. Take his song “Can’t Handle This,” for instance:
“Can’t Handle This” starts out funny enough. Bo rants about trivial problems, such as the “incredibly small” diameters of Pringles cans, and the contents of a burrito he purchased spilling out of the tortilla. However, interspersed throughout these funny rants are subtle lines of dialogue that hint at Bo’s much deeper desires and problems. Bo wants a daughter; he states it’s so he can have someone whose hands are “small enough to fit in a Pringles can,” but the lyrics imply that Bo legitimately wants a family for non-trivial reasons. Bo is also incredibly self-conscious about his appearance, which he turns into a joke about not going to the gym; however, the detrimental statement persists, regardless of the joke.
At the end of the song, Bo’s true intentions become clear. Bo sings that he “can’t handle this right now,” and that he simultaneously loves and hates his audience because of his conflicting desires to please them while also remaining true to himself. Bo says of the audience:
“Look at them, they’re just staring at me
Like, ‘come and watch the
Skinny kid with a steadily declining mental health
And laugh as he attempts
To give you what he cannot give himself.'”
Here Bo opens himself up to the audience far more than a normal comic; lines like the above cement Bo’s status as an artist, and prove his comedy to be far more substantive than some would believe.
“Bo Burnham: An Honest Performance”
Bo even views himself as an artist, though it’s not something he takes pride in, as evidenced by his song “Art is Dead.”
In the song, Bo sings,:
“I am an artist, please god forgive me
I am an artist, please don’t revere me
I am an artist, please don’t respect me
I am an artist, feel free to correct me.”
These four lines emphasize Bo’s self-hatred; he hates that he has spent his life being an artist, as he feels he’s wrongfully taken wealth and status away from harder-working people than himself. Bo’s ability to look at himself and see the negative effects of his artistry is what sets him apart from other entertainers, and is what will make Bo’s art persist for years to come.
Works Cited
“Bo Burnham – NERDS.” YouTube, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQwzVszVmQo.
Burnham, Bo. “Bo Burnham Cover Art.” Bo Burnham Store, 2009, 
http://www.boburnham.com/store/.
Jarvis, Joshua Carl. “Bo Burnham: An Honest Performance.” Odyssey, 27 June 2016, https://www.theodysseyonline.com/bo-burnham-an-honest-performance.
I’ve watched one of Bo Burnham’s shows on Netflix, but I never took the time to really think about what he’s saying (singing). I always just took what he said at face value and enjoyed not thinking too hard for an hour and having a good laugh. This is so cool that you dissected his comedy for a deeper meaning!
Make Happy is such a great special! Bo is so incisive and thoughtful that it feels much more like a one-man-show than a comedy hour. I’ve listened to a couple podcast interviews that he’s done, and he is just as interesting and intelligent as you’d guess from his comedy. If you like him I’d recommend listening to his interview on Pete Holmes’ podcast– he’s got a lot of really good insights on pop culture and life in general.
I love bo burnham. Whenever I’m bored I watch his videos or comedy special on Netflix because he’s just so entertaining. The stuff he comes up with is so funny and I can’t help but laugh every time I watch it. I never looked closely into what he’s saying though and its really cool that you pointed this out. Its something that I never would have thought about myself but now that you brought it to my attention I could definitely see that now.
I’ve never heard of Bo before reading this post but I watched the videos you linked and I think this is such an interesting form of art! Like you said, he uses comedy to spread deeper messages and I honestly think that is brilliant because it will reach a very wide audience. Great job dissecting this topic!
I have been a fan of Bo Burnham for several years now and none of his shows epitomize the subtle and meaningful tones of his comedy more than Make Happy. He truly does make you think twice about his message. There’s that layer of fun and happy comedy, but there is always the serious and often painful reality that exists beneath it. I, without a doubt, believe he is one of the most clever and insightful comedians of our time.