Now that we are submerged in the middle of 2022, it seems like a distant memory, almost like a movie that is vaguely remembered or a particularly vivid dream that faded after waking up, but the collateral damage of the pandemic is still very present. A little over two years ago the world we knew stopped completely and, in the midst of the prevailing chaos, Bo Burnham gave us ‘Inside’.
Watching the Netflix comedy special was an almost cathartic experience which, without expecting it, broke me completely and plunged me into a strange state halfway between comfort and desolation. A cocktail of laughter and tears like fists channeled through a Burnham who bared his soul to capture the desperation of the moment and who served as a reflection for all of us who struggle with our mental health, aggrieved by the pandemic scenario.
Now, the one from Massachusetts has pulled out of his sleeve this little marvel titled ‘The Inside Outtakes’, served on a silver platter on his YouTube channel. A fantastic rarity in form and substance that goes beyond the collection of “B-sides” and discards and the “behind the scenes” to use; complementing the original with a brilliant look at the loneliness of the content creator.
Much more than a “behind the scenes”
Anyone who has embarked on a creative project —especially solo— will be able to recognize in ‘The Inside Outtakes’ many of the phases, not necessarily pleasant, through which one barely goes through until reaching, or not, the final goal. An element that, although it was already present in the 2021 title, has greater weight here thanks to the — even more so — full freedom to experiment.
The frustration at a thousand and one shots repeated without obtaining a single decent result, the euphoria at the unexpected success, the pointless tests, the progressive loss of one’s head plunged into an exhausting process that invites you to talk to yourself, the suffocating responsibility of act as one man band… The accumulation of sensations that are transmitted in just one hour is immenseand yes, it is again marked by bitterness.
Because in ‘The Inside Outtakes’, between gags as lucid as usual, bursts of laughter and moments one hundred percent making ofthere is room for another good dose of vital panicless severe than in ‘Inside’, but equally sharp when it is proposed, and for the sharp and corrosive sociopolitical commentary that is the house’s trademark interspersed between great song and great song.
Rounding this off, Burnham once again shows off an enormous talent, giving cohesion to what could have been a potpourri without head or tail with an impeccable edition and narrative proposal that, in addition, take advantage of its nature as a YouTube video by leaving some cool metalinguistic segments —banners, ads and formats included—.
‘The Inside Outtakes’ is a perfect complement to the Netflix production. Another little miracle from Bo Burnham’s mind that go looking for a haven of peace and a certain disconnection to end up crying your eyes out with a song about a chicken and with another existential crisis under his arm. She has been worth it.
You can watch ‘The Inside Outtakes’ on Bo Burnham’s YouTube channel.