Robert Pickering "Bo" Burnham is a 23 year old comedian, singer-songwriter, musician, actor and internet celebrity from Massachusetts. In case you were wondering, yes, I did pull that almost directly from Wikipedia because the only description that comes to mind when I think of Bo Burnham is "demigod," but I'm pretty sure that term is neither politically nor historically correct. Anyway, Bo has racked up nearly 127 MILLION views on his YouTube channel where he posts incredibly wonderful poems and songs that he wrote. It sounds fruity and it KIND of is.... But nevertheless, here are five whopping reasons that I will try to use to put my love and appreciation for Bo Burnham into mere human words.
In a battle between Bo and Goliath, Bo would undoubtedly beat the giant by crippling him with his wicked sense of humor. If anyone could tell a joke that made a royal guard crack a smile, it would be Bo. Heck, he could make the Mona Lisa grin in less than 20 seconds if you gave him the chance to get up next to that bulletproof glass. Bo's use of humor allows him to establish ethos, logos and pathos simultaneously in his songs and poems. The jokes he tells often reference common themes, people or ideas that almost feel like an inside joke between the audience and Bo, establishing ethos. His humorous analogies somehow make more sense than any professor could bother to explain, instilling a sense of reason in his seemingly far-out thoughts. And of course, his pathos is formed through the fact that he never fails to make people laugh. I always said that the day I find someone who can make me laugh more than I make myself laugh is the day my unicorn pinata, Laquisha, starts making her own candy. Well, Laquisha, start pumping out those Smarties because I think I've found the one.
#2: He has no boundaries
Bo is very open about the fact that he doesn't understand offensiveness. This reminded me of a British politician who explained his thoughts on the concept of humor versus seriousness and how solemnity is a waste of time. I think it's very true that problems could be solved in a more efficient and less tense fashion is a sense of humor was had by all in the room. Bo is not too afraid to throw around references to the Nazi regime and even 9/11 in his songs, and he is most definitely not afraid of referencing sex, drugs, alcohol, murder and swear words (gasp) in a humorous manner. On this surface, this sounds a lot like most music on the radio these days, but Bo (being the genius he is) uses these ideas as tools to touch on bigger social issues, such as religious wars, abortion rights, and the immorality of the entertainment industry.
#3: He is raw
One huge thing that I admire about Bo is that he is all about using himself as his own artistic victim. He ridicules his own sex life, love life, high school career, body image, voice, and popularity to further his ability to influence his audience. He makes himself completely vulnerable to judgement and uses that vulnerability to create art that helps himself and the audience understand him better. After getting to know Bo through his songs and pure comedy, the only thing his audience is unable to understand is his pure, unaltered genius. I aspire to be as self-accepting someday, in a way that I can use my own "imperfections" to fuel my own success.
#4: He is a musical genius
The most appealing part of Bo's creations, right off the bat, is probably the amount of catchy tunes he manages to add to his incredible understanding of the English language. He plays the piano and guitar with almost every diddly he comes up with. While I love his ability to play these instruments in such a casual fashion, I have to admit that the music I was most impressed with was the instrumental he created on Garage Band for one of his finale's, a song called "We Think We Know You." Wow. Just wow. I had to smack myself as I watched him somehow pull together his endless source of funny, an extremely catchy tune and a powerful message all into one small and very enjoyable performance. It's the work of a pure genius, I tell you.
#5: He is hot
I don't know if it's the white t-shirts, the cool shoes, the tousled hair or the fact that he's 6'6'', but I find Bo Burnham to be very physically attractive. There's not much else to say about that, other than that I would marry Bo Burnham in a hummingbird's heartbeat.
Now watch the genius at work and tell me he's not a demigod.
YES. Bo Burnham is truly magnificent, and I hope that someone who has not experienced his brilliance happens upon this blog post and sees the error of their ways. His mastery of the English language is, for me, the most appealing thing about him; I know we've talked about it before, but his song Isn't It Ironic is one of my favorites and it's so utterly hilarious that I don't even know how anyone could dislike it. Also words words words - his historical and political references slay me every single time, especially the Oedipus one. So vulgar, so genius.
ReplyDeleteHey Hannah!
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of Bo Burnham and this is a great post because even if someone doesn't know who he is they can still understand this post! Great work, and yes I do agree he is HOT.
I know we talked about this quite a bit last week, but after reading your post I can't resist talking about Bo Burnham again ;) I agree with everything you've said about this miraculous angel of comedy; I think that what makes him truly appealing to his audiences is that they see a piece of themselves in his songs. Whether it's his humor, his musical ability, or his less than adequate social life, Bo manages to find a way to connect with everyone who stumbles across his videos. When talking about serious topics, he combines simple logic and reasoning with humor in order to make even the most "offensive" subjects bearable and easy to talk about. I think the way that he goes about these kinds of social debates is quite admirable in an age where just about anything you say can be used against you. So, yes, I love Bo Burnham as well - after all, even if you don't like his humor, he is rather dashing ;)
ReplyDeleteBo Burnham is absolutely fantastic, and every word of what you said above I can agree with wholeheartedly. I especially like what you had to say about how he brings all three rhetorical strategies, ethos, logos, and pathos. I didn't entirely understand how he could connect with his audience almost immediately like that, but seeing how he establishes all of those, that's definitely a no-brainer now. Oh man, you don't know how much I love "We Think We Know You." I'm completely and utterly obsessed with it. It gives a more in depth sense as to how he feels as a comedian, or so I think. It's as if this fame and who he's become wont ever change him, and how anything like this shouldn't change anyone. My love for that sketch knows no bound. As you probably know, I'm reading this and writing this comment as I'm listening to "what.". Dealing with another one of his musical sketches/sections, have you ever heard of his song "NERDS"? If you haven't seen it yet, I definitely recommend that you listen to it on soundcloud. It's AMAZING. Dealing with his looks, I never knew that he was 6'6". That just makes him a billion times more attractive. Like, whoa, he's the most attractive guy I've ever seen in my life. I guess we'll have to have a little competition to see who gets to marry him, I 'm sure not going down without a fight. :P I would have a bunch more to add, but I don't want to take up all of the comment space. Great post, and a FANTASTIC topic. ;)
ReplyDelete