There’s editorial negligence and malpractice—and we’re certainly guilty of that in the past—and then there is editorial negligence and malpractice that makes you want to shrivel up into a ball, cry, and die. This is how we (mostly I?) feel about not having reviewed comedian Bo Burnham’s outstanding Netflix special “Inside.” Less of a traditional comedy special with stand-up, an audience, and whatnot, “Inside” is more of a film of stream of consciousness vignettes based on Burnham’s soul-crushing experience of being trapped inside during the pandemic. And it’s just utterly brilliant, a hilarious meditation on the nature of despair, losing your mind in the tedium of the pandemic, and a cathartic howl into the nothingness.
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The special is also filled with some amazingly catchy songs, just total earworms that’ll stick in your brain for hours on end. If you’re not familiar with Burnham’s career, you may know he wrote and directed the fabulous indie film, “Eighth Grade,” and he recently co-starred in “Promising Young Woman” with Carey Mulligan. But Burnham’s first love is comedy and music. In fact, it’s his YouTube videos where he made comedic songs that first gained him attention, made him internet famous, and caught the eye of producer Judd Apatow ages ago. Like the mentoring comedian and producer he is, Apatow tried to help Burnham get a few films made, but they never happened (though he did land a part in “Funny People”).
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Burnham has several comedy albums out, available on Spotify and whatnot, but it might be safe to say the 30-year-old’s comedy and songs have never sparked on quite like this; the insight, hilarity, and catchiness and the way the songs weave through these notions in their narrative are just insanely good. Anyhow, that’s the long-ass way of saying Inside (The Songs), the album will be available on Thursday according to a tweet Burnham just wrote. Thank Christ. “Inside” is available now on Netflix, it is one of the best pieces of “content” you’ll see all year. The countdown to Thursday begins now. In the meantime, check out the trailer below and the song, “Ima Facetime With My Mom” tonight, which is essentially Burnham’s parody of wanting to sex-up a partner with a soulful-ish electro-pop song, but instead, about talking with Mom. Enjoy.
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