As a young person, finding comedians with similar senses of humor to yours can be difficult. Personally, only a handful of comedians can consistently make me laugh. One of these comedians is Bo Burnham.
Burnham is a 25-year-old comedian from Boston who started on YouTube and was then noticed by Comedy Central. He even starred on a TV show, "Zach Stone is Gonna Be Famous," on MTV. His recent comedy show, "What.," is on Netflix. Burnham also published a book of comical poetry in 2013.
Burnham has a variety of different medias in which he performs comedy. During his live performances, one of which I was happy to see last week, he combines classic comedy bits including jokes with witty songs. His songs typically take sarcastic approaches to common social issues and address these issues while still staying funny. Burnham also utilizes dramatic shifts in lighting, voice alteration, and prerecorded roles to convey his jokes.
For me, the major appeal of Burnham as a comedian is that his jokes are tackling major current issues and social problems. Ranging from racism, gender, religion and other topics, his jokes take the side of the typically incorrect or more difficult side of the argument. For example, Burnham has a song about the exploitation of young girls by boy bands and pop artists simply for money, and still manages to make it funny while also causing you to realize how messed up that system is. On his most recent tour, Burnham sings a sarcastic song about how hard it is to be a straight, white male in a time where other genders and races are still fighting for their rights. While poking fun at some white male stereotypes, Burnham addresses real issues occurring today. I believe the reason he appeals to the younger generation is because he is addressing the issues that the younger generation is truly focused on and understands, instead of some sort of crude joke.
So if you're looking for a laugh or an interesting comedy show, Burnham's comedy special "What." is currently on Netflix. Also, his poetry book "Egghead" is a hilarious read and he is currently on his "Make Happy" North American tour.
