Bo Burnham is hands down my favorite comedian. For those of you who don't know Bo, he is a musical comedian, actor, writer, and poet, who gained fame on YouTube when he was only 16 years old. He inspires me with his comedy and knowledge of real world issues that I feel like other celebrities ignore. I actually picked my theatre minor because of Bo. Seeing him in his specials really made me think about what I wanted to do to express myself.
I first heard Bo's skits in middle school, I was probably 13. I thought he was a good singer and his comedy made me think a little deeper even though it was comical. That is something I love about Bo. He makes jokes, but there is always something deeper behind it. Which leaves a lot of room for critical thinking after his specials.
Bo currently has two specials on Netflix, "what." and "Make Happy". In my opinion, both of these specials are amazing. They are just very different, both are very theatrical performances, but "what." is more comical than "Make Happy". "Make Happy" is my favorite special of his because it is so real. I have never cried during a comedy special before, until I watched "Make Happy". I remember when it first came to Netflix I stayed up until 4am when they put it on Netflix and watched it. There is a song at the end that always hits me, and it just amazes me that someone as high up has similar feelings that I have.
I really look up to Bo. In interviews he has mentioned the anxiety that he feels on stage and meeting fans. This makes him very relatable, because I feel the same way about meeting people. Bo also is aware of the flaws in the entertainment industry, which is something I personally enjoy hearing him talk about. Bo is just very real to me, he might be the realist comedian I know of.
Bo does almost anything you can think of. Bo acts, writes, plays instruments, writes songs, and has his own poetry book which is quite good. He is a man of many talents, and I cannot wait to see what kind of things he tries next. No matter what he does I am sure I will find some way to appreciate it.
