Bo Burnham: Make Happy Review

In his new hour long comedy special, available only on Netflix, Bo Burnham brings a performance like no other to an audience looking to be happy.

In the last ten years or so, Bo has built a name for himself as a signing comedian who tells jokes about depression, sexuality, and general realizations about the world. For someone only twenty-five years old, Bo has done a better job of understanding the world and his fans than most people twice his age.

This new special is particularly introspective, with almost all of it’s songs laced with emotion. His comedy strewn into his songs seems only to be there to soften the blow of the harsh realities that Bo is singing about. Take for example “Straight White Man”, a song about how hard it is to be a straight white guy who never gets anyone to listen to his problems. It talks about how certain people are actually dealing with issues in the world, but as a straight white man you’re biggest problem is whether your iPhone has the right case. Of course the song is satirical and he isn’t actually saying that all white guys have it super easy, but the examples he gives are pretty on point.

Another song in this special talks of love. Love is actually a recurring theme in this special; self-love, loving each other, and love as an idea all come up. In this wonderful song, he tells the audience to stop being so picky, get over yourself and find someone to love. It’s a message that so many people need to hear. The fact that he makes us laugh while singing it is a relief, because we’d probably cry if we weren’t.

These are songs you’ll find yourself singing to yourself days after watching this incredible special. If you stop and think about the lyrics to them all, you will see how Bo is a man ahead of his time in terms of understanding the world. So much of his act deals with depression, suicide, and uncomfortable feelings. Suicide isn’t something that’s funny, yet in another song on this special you’ll be laughing along as Bo tells you to Kill Yourself. Without getting spoilery, I will say that he was kidding. He doesn’t want you to kill yourself. Infact, that specific song has an entire verse explaining how if you really feel depressed and are contemplating suicide you need to reach out for help and that those feelings need to be reigned in.

In his previous special, What., Bo says that he is sometimes accused of reusing jokes. I daresay that he doesn’t reuse jokes here, but instead refines the archetypes he’s created for his joke structures. He’s using tropes that he himself have developed, and though you may find a similarity between the jokes he tells and ones you’ve heard him use before, I think you can agree that the new ones are a better telling, or a better use of that structure.

And why does Bo do it? As he says over and over, it’s to make you happy. Maybe you’ve used this as a distraction from your troubles, or maybe you’ve used this as a way to look for answers. If you’re looking to a comedian for answers you may want to seek a therapist, but no one can tell you that a comedian can’t get that ball rolling for someone to feel better about their lives. I also don’t want to assume you need therapy, but given the nature of the Kill Yourself song, I think it’s an apropos thing to mention. The appeal for some to this special is the connection they can make with the feelings Bo is expressing. It has made some people wonder if he’s actually OK or not. On his subreddit page as of two days after the special airing, people were posting about whether he was alright. It must be said that Bo’s on stage persona is an exaggeration of his real life self. While I can’t speak for him, I believe these jokes and songs all originate from a place within him that is truly feeling doubt and sadness, yet he takes those feelings and flips them on their head to examine them. After that examination he can relate those feelings to something funny and write it into lyrics.

Truly, Mr. Burhman has created something like no other. He has said in past specials that being called a comedian is disingenuous because he doesn’t do comedy shows, he does one-man shows. I think that this special, more than all the previous ones, showcases this. Unlike most comedies, instead of saving the “funniest” joke for the end, Bo ends this special on two emotional notes. No other “comedian” out there would dare do something like this.

If you’ve never heard of Bo before, or maybe only know of him a little from MTV or NBC appearances, this is a great time to get acquainted with his unique style of performing. Make Happy is available on Netflix right now.