Like most of the world, my first encounter with Bo Burnham was through his comedy specials, where he was essentially just a charming young comedian in his early twenties, playing the keyboard and reciting a variety of peculiar songs, interspersed with hilarious anecdotes that fit his particular brand of humour. These very very funny, and always entertaining and highly-quotable, and stood the test of time. However, over the course of the last few years (after taking a short hiatus from live performances for reasons we only learned recently), Burnham repurposed himself as something much more than just a quirky comedian, evolving into one of the most fascinating young artists of his generation. He appeared in a variety of acting roles that showed he was much more capable of deeper performances than just his stage-bound work, and his debut feature film as a director, Eighth Grade, was a minor sensation and proved that he was someone to watch on both sides of the camera. However, the last year has proven to be a challenge for everyone, but through the perils of a global pandemic, Burnham was able to do something spectacular, setting out to write and record an entire comedy special from his home over the course of a year. The result is Inside, a daring and provocative project that is as hilarious as it is ambitious, with Burnham’s unhinged brand of humour, but also a hyperactive sense of self-awareness, providing us with one of the most unconventional comedy specials ever recorded, one that is doubtlessly going to be considered of historical importance, both for the situation surrounding its creation, and the content contained within. Inside offers proof that Burnham is well on his way to fashioning himself into one of the most exciting auteurs working today, and someone whose artistic curiosities are going to continue to provide us with the unique perspective that he has been carefully curating for his entire career, both behind and in front of the camera.

It’s not often that I relent and decided to put words to paper about comedy specials – they’re a medium that are certainly enjoyable, but with the exception of a few, they don’t necessarily lend themselves to thorough analysis, at least not in such a format. This is an unconventional review of a non-traditional film – but if the last year and a half has taught as anything, it’s the value of expecting the unexpected. I’ve often avoided writing reviews from the perspective of specific contemporary events – it tends to date the work, and often distracts from the fact that most art should be produced outside of specific temporal and geographic confines, even if the subject matter does focus on notable world events. A global pandemic is an entirely different matter, and we can easily wax poetic about how inspiring it is that, after months of being shut down, the entertainment industry led the way in showing that great art can still be produced in times of trouble (although many would argue that those producing films during and after the Second World War proved this over half a century ago, and we perhaps just needed a reminder). However, it becomes a bit stale to remark on the extent to which the industry went to re-emerge – and there’s a finite amount of praise that can be heaped on those that made entire films through video calling technology. Inside is entirely different – this isn’t a film that uses the pandemic as its impetus – it’s not even mentioned by name once, with much of the commentary coming through Burnham’s subtle inferences. Undertaking this project was ambitious enough, but how the director elevated his craft, and used a dreadful global situation as the impetus for more of the most creative and compelling deconstructions of comedy ever produced is absolutely magnificent, and immediately establishes Inside as a masterpiece of the genre, and a film that will have a long-lasting influence on how comedians produce their material, as well as how we consume it.

There are several moments during Inside where Burnham, speaking directly to the camera, remarks on how this is a very intimate and personal project for him – one of the most heartbreaking segments occurs when, in a moment of unscripted despair, resigns to the fact that he is going to be working on this project forever. Many of us have felt that this crisis is neverending, but this isn’t entirely what Burnham is talking about here. At its core, the inspiration for Inside came from the fact that, like most of the world, the comedian was stuck inside his home for long stretches of time, isolated from the outside world. However, it goes much deeper than just being an elegy for the endless days of solitude, more than the constant ruminations on whether we’ll be able to return to ordinary life anytime soon. Burnham has made his own issues with mental health and depression extremely clear, and while Inside is still a very funny comedy special, the director isn’t afraid to dig deep into his own psychological state, and make some bold assertions that are often quite disturbing, but still oddly profound. We’re given unfettered access into the director’s mind, which isn’t something we normally expect from a comedy special – the concept of these films is often to make us feel as if we’re in the sold-out auditoriums, part of a huge audience, our laughter intermingling with the cacophony of joy inspired by the single figure on stage before us. Inside is radically different – as Burnham said, the film is an experiment that occurs between him and his camera, and the individual viewer and their screen. There’s nothing between them, no buffer other than empty space. It’s a truly compelling deconstruction of how we look at comedy, and it becomes quite intimate, perhaps even disquietingly so, which only makes the experience of sitting through this radical experiment all the more gripping.

Burnham is the embodiment of candour – while his observational comedy is hilarious, he has inherited the quality possessed with a small group of comedians, whereby their most impactful work is found when they’re speaking on the subject of themselves, focusing on their individual struggles and explaining how they fought (or in some instances, are actively fighting) their inner demons. Burnham’s happy-go-lucky personality as a comedian, and unique stream-of-consciousness approach as an artist, collide spectacularly throughout Inside, a film that finds Burnham frequently making us laugh, but more often provoking serious thought. It’s a very bold and admirable move to make a film centred so intimately on the inner machinations of one’s mind – and there are moments throughout this film where we start to question whether Burnham actually intended to have his most deep insecurities reflected on screen. It can be uncomfortable at times, especially when we aren’t sure whether the comedian means to show us what he did, or if he just underwent this project as a means of personal catharsis. Regardless, Inside is a truly inspiring work that shows that true honesty on film entirely possible, with every ounce of Burnham’s creative energy seemingly going into this project. This quality, coupled with the fact that his work is actually impeccable (nearly all of the songs and segments are brilliant) only proves his creative talents, and confirms that difficult situations often breed the best kind of art. The bravery it took to expose himself and his deepest vulnerabilities for the worldwide population should not be downplayed – this is the kind of freeform artistic expression that brings genuine change, since Burnham speaks about very real struggles that aren’t necessarily unique to him, but can be understood and appreciated by many people – so it’s entirely possible that through speaking through his own issues, Burnham gave representation to a wide variety of people who had endured similar experiences, allowing us to laugh through the pain, and showing us the value of looking for hope, regardless of the situation that surrounds us.

Inside is a perfect encapsulation of who Burnham is as a performer. For devotees of his comedy, it’s a wonderful follow-up to his previous work, while those more agnostic to his talents may soon come to make the startling decision that he’s not the quirky young man he was before, but a fully-fledged auteur with a unique voice. One concept that is almost undeniable when watching Inside is that Burnham is an artist who is constantly changing – his evolution over the past decade has been truly magnificent to see, and while in theory Inside may not be the kind of project we’d normally equate with ambition and artistic expression, the execution is just absolutely impeccable, each moment being incredible and layered with so much meaning. The themes that Burnham touches on throughout this comedy special are far-reaching and shattering – there are certain moments where the veneer of joyful observational comedy disappears, and we’re left with just a young man telling us of his own struggles, both prior to the pandemic, and how the past year has only worsened his mental state. Yet, through the midst of these challenges, he produced something that isn’t only destined to become one of the best comedy specials of the current era (which is undeniable, considering how original its approach is), but one of the most powerful films on the subject of alienation and mental health produced in the last few years. Layering comedy and serious discussions together in the form of an experimental approach to a traditional comedy special was a risk that only someone with as much fearlessness as Burnham could’ve possibly executed, and the final result is an achingly beautiful, painfully funny glimpse into a year in the life of one man trying to make sense of the madness that surrounds him, turning his insecurities, quandaries and concerns into the most exuberant, poetic art imaginable. Inside is an incredible achievement, and one of the most important works of social commentary to come out over the course of the last eighteen months, both for how it serves as a snapshot of the current social and cultural milieu, and as a representation of the torturous experience of isolation, which is something we can all relate to a bit too much.