What. Bo Burnham
what. refers to both a stand-up comedy routine and the derivative album by American comedian, Bo Burnham. Following the credible success of his first comedy special, titled "Words Words Words" in 2010, which cumulated in winning the esteemed Edinburgh Comedy Prize, Burnham disappeared for 3 years to write and record his new show. Wanting to escape from the boundaries of ordinary stand-up comedy, he slowly crafted a bizarre, theatrical hour featuring music, prop-comedy, observational jokes and miming. The live performance debuted at the Regency Ball Room in San Francisco on December 17, 2013, and the album is derived from a special live performance of the same set. In addition to the live performance, the album has 5 studio singles, "Repeat Stuff", "Eff", "Nerds", "Channel 5 News", and "Hell of a Ride". The entire show was paid for by Burnham himself and released for free on YouTube and Netflix, whereas the album was released via iTunes the next day. As of March 2016, it has 9.6M views on YouTube.
Background
Bo Burnham rose to fame after posting songs on his YouTube page with satirical, funny slants. He signed to Comedy Central Records and released his debut EP, "Bo Fo Sho", in 2008. In 2009 he released his debut album, Bo Burnham (album), a collection of his most popular songs on YouTube. Burnham toured extensively during this time, gathering material for his first official Comedy Central hour. "Words Words Words" was released in 2010 at the House of Blues in Boston, to critical acclaim. In 2011 Burnham finished voted #1 in Comedy Centrals Stand Up Showdown, and won the Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Prize for "Words Words Words". Following this success, Burnham opted to take a break from stand-up comedy and work on other material. Resenting the stigmas around traditional comics, he set out to write an hour that was theatrical, musical, and wacky. In the 3 years he was absent, he wrote a book of poetry Egghead (or You Can't Survive On Ideas Alone), which became a New York Times Bestseller, and wrote and starred in his own mockumentary, Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous on MTV. He began touring for "what." in late 2012 to test out new material. The show was released on YouTube on December 17, 2013.
what. The Album
what. was released by Comedy Central Records as a music download on both Amazon and the ITunes Store on December 17, 2013. The album features 5 new studio songs, 4 of which were not included in the special.
Track listing
- 1. Intro
- 2. Sad
- 3. I Fuck Sluts
- 4. WDIDLN?
- 5. Left Brain, Right Brain
- 6. #Deep
- 7. Beating Off In A Minor
- 8. Poems
- 9. From God's Perspective
- 10. Andy The Frog
- 11. Out of the Abyss
- 12. Repeat Stuff
- 13. We Think We Know You
- 14. Repeat Stuff (Studio)
- 15. Eff (Studio)
- 16. Nerds (Studio)
- 17. Channel 5 News: The Musical (Studio)
- 18. Hell of a Ride (Studio)
Reception
Reception to "what." has been primarily positive. Mark Monahan of the Telegraph writes, "If his Edinburgh debut was more impressive than it was laugh-out-loud funny, this lightning-fast, constantly wrong-footing, even more ambitious follow-up is supremely both ... one minute, he’s turning implausibly mawkish at the ivories; the next, he’s pogoing like the blue-collar rapper he knows we know he isn’t. He teases us with shards of political incorrectness as pointed as they are insincere, daring us to laugh at a slickly worded paedophile joke here, a spot of faux masturbation or a breathlessly brilliant “sluts” poem there. People say I’m too full of myself, he muses. Whatever: here’s a song in the voice of God. Brian Logan of the Guardian writes, "Still only 22, the American ex-YouTube star sets a high standard for live comedy: few others work harder, or are as thorough and thoughtful, in the name of laughs. That said, the cumulative effect isn't exactly a happy one: Burnham's comedy has a depressive streak, and his material is often base." James Krosner of the New York Times writes, "If any comedian could have a midlife crisis at 23, it would be Bo Burnham."
Chart Positions
Upon its release, what. debuted at #1 on the Billboard Comedy Charts, with first week sales of 10,000 copies.