Bo Burnham: what. (2013 TV Special) User Reviews

Ooh edgy

[TheCorniestLemur · 7/10 · 2 September 2021]

Much like Make Happy, I had a lot of fun with this, but I can't help thinking that this may have landed on the side of those things that Bo isn't all that proud of anymore.

There is definitely a lot of clever stuff in this, but equally there's a lot of stuff that feels like it relies on edge over wit and good writing, and if I thought Make Happy slightly lacked a focus, holy hell is this all over the place.

Bo himself performs it as flawlessly as ever, but it still goes from dark fairytale, to left brain/right brain craziness, to poetry, to frog pedophiles, and it felt more like a series of his "lol random" YouTube videos than something with any kind of connecting theme.

There are some really great songs and jokes here though, and I wouldn't say I was disappointed as much as I was intrigued by him having gone from this to Inside, and seeing the evolution - even if I did see it going backwards.

Something I did note as being more impressive in this than in Make Happy is the sheer amount of times he must have rehearsed this to make sure he had it absolutely perfect, because I think this must have relied much more on the background sound effects and Bo's ability to know exactly which ones were coming and how to react to them with such precise timing...especially the ending bit. That must have been a nightmare to get right.

But it's a worthy entry in his stand up for sure, and equally worthy in his discography, even if it does seem like a bit of a relic from the age of random = funny that we've thankfully seemed to have moved past.

what makes this special so good.

[trevtokos · 9/10 · 24 May 2020]

I enjoy stand up. very much. but whenever i watch a stand up performance or a comedy special, i look for something not as usual of what in use to seeing. bo burnham exceeds this greatly. out of this world creative and different from just watching someone do stand up. it's more then stand up honestly. this special and his other are very good. another comedy special with this type of boy the usual stand up performance is the middleton and shwartz improv on netflix.

This

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 8/10 · 20 December 2013]

Bo returns to the stage, and delivers on his multiple talents - playing instruments(mostly "air" ones) and comedy - musical(including making it largely out of sampled sounds), verbal and physical. He goes for wordplay, the clever, and the silly, with universal jokes, rather than ones that will date this.

As usual, he prioritizes being consistently funny and challenging over having one specific focus - with that said, he does get rather introspective(such as the "two halves of the brain" bit), and one can tell that he has grown since he launched on the internet. Of course, this doesn't mean that he is unrecognizable, far from it. His brand and identity remain intact, and in-between, sometimes even in, the intellectual parts, he gets just as immature as we want him to.

Awkwardness is embraced, not shied away from. That of himself, and some of the things that go into shaping a show like this - yes, he does go as meta and self-referential as usual(a child of YouTube, that much is clear). We can follow his line of thinking, and yet he throws curve-balls our way. Plain and simple, we never, for a second, know exactly what he's going to do next, and whenever he jumps tracks in his train of thought, the audience(including the live ones for the video recording of this) loves it. It is simply that carefully crafted.

Among his material are social problems(with an indictment of himself and other artists, making this simultaneously the illness and the cure, the reason for needing, and the actual pursuing of, therapy), integrity, religion, sexuality, etc. At the time of writing this, the entire well-paced 60-minute presentation is up on, and thus endorsed by, his own channel, so legally free to watch.

There is brutal and disturbing imagery in this. I recommend this to any fan of Burnham. 8/10

The most artistic and daring comedy show I've ever seen

[broadwayacr · 10/10 · 18 October 2017]

I have admired Bo Burnham since he was 16 and I was 22. At the time (and still), I was teaching 16-years-olds how to write music; but for me, Bo was a source for my own study. His wit, his timing, and his absolutely genius writing was simply something I had never seen before in lyrical form.

Bo started out as a giant: and still he continued to grow. This show is, simply put, masterful. It is laugh-out-loud funny, it is surprising, it is honest, and simultaneously real and surreal. Bo: my hat is off to you. Please keep doing exactly what you're doing: and please keep surprising us with something different.

what?!

[scoobz_93 · 10/10 · 2 July 2016]

Bo Burnham found accidental fame after posting a couple comedy songs on YouTube. His first special "words, words, words" was a collection of pun heavy comedic songs which would have you laughing instantly and than hours later after the puns finally caught up with you. This special 'what' follows in his trade make style of quick and quirky comedic songs while this time being accompanied by an arrangement of lights and backing tracks. Burnham talks about religion, modern 'pop stars' and ask's questions we never knew we needed answers too.

This musical style of comedy is very quickly becoming my favourite genre. 10/10 glittery dick jokes.

A masterpiece

[granthidy · 10/10 · 7 August 2022]

This wasn't just a comedy show. In fact, I think the comedy was secondary to what was an introspective, artistic masterpiece of debatably unmatched proportions. Every second of this special was incredible, even when the jokes weren't - which wasn't often. I get that comedy is subjective, but this was more than comedy. Bloody brilliant!

Great Comedy Show!!!

[TheHoodOfSwords · 8/10 · 14 August 2019]

I love Bo's comedy, this show is great. The ups and the lows contrast so well, and the end song when you know that he quits later and the reason just hits so much harder. It's hard to rank comedy shows on my ranking. But I think of it as a solid 8.5/10. It's fun, crude, and subverts expectations.

A beautiful special for its time

[andrewjames-49320 · 10/10 · 28 April 2022]

DISCLAIMER: FOR ITS TIME

This special was peak Bo Burnham (EARLY) comedy. This was his comedy before he was subjected to cancel culture. I'm not saying by any means the jokes that used offensive language were right (or should be told this day and age), I'm just saying, when I watched this in high school when it was put on Netflix, it set the bar for comedy specials for me, and no special has ever reached it.

I don't get the 8+ rating

[redproton88 · 6/10 · 25 December 2015]

I had not heard of this comedian before and found this special on Netflix and thought I would give it a try. To sum up my thoughts... I do appreciate Bo Burnham's wit and cleverness. I also appreciate his silly and zany performance as well as his musical talents. I just don't find it laugh out loud funny.

Unfortunately, I found What. to be annoying and Bo's singing voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me. It's looking doubtful that I will continue watching past 35 minutes. That said, I give him credit for being young, clever and making it happen for himself. And hey, I suggest at least checking out his set because who knows, maybe his comedy is right up your alley.

Bo Burnham Is Back... But Maybe Not Better

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 23 December 2013]

After seeing Bo Burnham's "Words Words Words" I became a bit hooked on his style and musical taste. And then seeing another person call this new special a "masterpiece", I had to see if he could pull it off again. My initial opinion is no.

With a voice that sounds more like Weird Al every day, the show featured a large amount of pre-recorded material. While the bits surrounding that material was funny at times, it stretched on a bit long and really took away from the natural spontaneity of stand up comedy.

Burnham has also become more obscene. While his misogyny is clearly ironic, he pushes the sexual humor to a new level. Funny? Yes. But also a sad thing, because he is smarter than this and going for a laugh with a sex joke is the easy way out.

The "God song" (title unknown) was a high point, and he still has plenty of musical creativity in him. I would gladly see Burnham live and look forward to the next special. This was not perfect, but it shows he has not run the well dry just yet.

Nobody is gonna relate to this review. Oh Well. "what."ever

[doonkovlog · 10/10 · 27 January 2023]

Look. I think the best comedy shows leave a person's eyes wet. I'm elated after seeing this a third time, and I'm let down by the fact that I expected over a hundred reviews on this, and I only see twelve. In my ignored opinion, this special is just... underrated.

I have my own performance tomorrow and I'm watching this to help me mentally prepare. It's not going to be nearly as big of a crowd, and it's not going to on Netflix like "what." but it's my 6th performance and Bo Burnham is the ONLY guy in this world (so far) that I identify with as far as the anxiety, creativity, dark thoughts, desires to please people, and a craving to stand out and be unique for the sake of being unique not "Edgy" like another review on here says.

"Part of me loves you, part of me hates you. Part of me fears you." I'm BLOWN AWAY by how similar I feel to Bo on a personal level. I don't know if it's just something that creative people understand, but I wish everyone could understand. Cause otherwise I may as well be talking to the dang wall. It honestly makes me angry. I don't want to be angry. I want to understand why people don't like what Bo is trying to do. I want to know where people's distaste for... ANYTHING stems from, rather than be offended by their differing opinions.

I feel like "Inside" is the most relatable special he's ever done, and gets significantly more praise than his other specials, like this one. Rightfully and deservedly so, but still... I feel like I identify with this special the most because it's his FIRST Netflix special, and it's unlike any other comedy show I've ever seen. What an entrance he made with this one. His debut show, and yet, I feel like the crazy person in the room for liking it as much as I do. That's messed up.

It FEELS like an experience for me every time I watch it, and it just... bums me out that I can't share that feeling with anyone else. I hate feeling alone in enjoying something I consider to be beautifully crafted and brilliantly executed. He even uses his "awkward quirkiness" as comedy. I can't wrap my head around that! Maybe I'm naïve or even stupid, but man, I just love watching what I consider to be a REAL, be it, damaged, artist at work.

Whatever. I don't know if anyone is getting anything out of the message I'm trying to convey. I doubt this review is going to be helpful to anyone. So, bye.

If anyone is still reading this, thank you for your time.

Cemented as One of the greats

[ScourgeOfImdb · 10/10 · 14 April 2023]

When I first saw 'what', I was expecting levels of brilliance which were on par with his previous special 'words words words'. Did it surpass my expectations? Indeed it did. There are many highlights to this daring, creative and catchy comedy special. When you watch this special, it truly gets ingrained in your mind. This has happened to me so much that I can do the entire opening segment by heart(not as good as Bo). Notable songs include, repeat stuff, from god's perspective, we think we know you, sad and left brain, right brain. This comedy special will keep you laughing and have you talking about it for a long time. Overall, 9.2/10.