The Brilliant Brain of Bo Burnham
Early Life
Bo Burnham was only 16 years old when he began his career as a famous YouTuber/Comedian. Back then, he was just an awkward teenage boy who would record himself playing songs in the corner of his bedroom. Bo then gradually climbed up the latter of success, and is now appearing on late night television shows and coming out with his own comedy specials on Netflix. He’s known for having very intelligent humour and addressing current issues going on in the world. He’s also known for delivering his humour in very crude and sexual ways; even in his early days of performing. However, this hasn’t stopped his fans from continuously supporting him throughout his endeavour. His hour long comedy special “What.” that he released on YouTube in 2014 now has over 17 million views and almost 340 thousand likes. Although he‘s still not quite on the same level as comedians like Jerry Seinfeld or Chris Rock, it’s astounding how far he’s come since being that dorky kid who would record all his music in the corner of his room. So how did Bo Burnham become the successful comedian he is today, especially at such a young age? In several interviews, Bo has mentioned that his fame came entirely from luck. He may see it that way, but I believe there was quite a bit of strategy involved as well. Whether he knew what he was doing or was completely oblivious, here are three ways Bo Burnham utilised social media to create and grow his ongoing success.
- Excellent Timing
Sure his musical timing is alright, but that’s not what I mean when I say excellent timing. What I mean is that Bo hopped on the YouTube bandwagon while it was still in it’s very early stages. The first song he recorded was in 2006 which was around the time YouTube really started to blow up. This was around the same time Charlie the Unicorn and the Numa Numa guy swept the nation. Basically it was a time where if you posted something even remotely funny, there would be a solid chance it would go viral. Since the YouTube market was so niche at the time, it wasn’t as difficult for Bo Burnham to stand out from other YouTubers. Just the fact that he put effort into making his videos funny and creative would be enough to make it big in the YouTube community. In 2008, Bo was invited to premier his song Welcome to YouTube at the first ever YouTube Live event. This event was filled with old YouTube celebrities such as Smosh, What the Buck and Tom Dickson from the YouTube series Will it Blend. In addition to YouTube celebrities, there were also a variety of famous singers there such as Will.i.am and Katy Perry. Being able to perform at YouTube Live was a huge step in Bo Burnham’s career, and was a great way to make himself even more well known. He was only 18 years old at the time, and was already making it big in the entertainment industry. It’s much more difficult to get your name out there now because there are so many people with the same idea in mind. Although there was a certain amount of luck involved with Bo choosing when to start posting his videos, it was also very strategic utilising a social media platform before it became popular.
2. Taking Over Multiple Platforms
YouTube isn’t the only social media platform that Bo Burnham jumped into early to achieve success. Bo was also able to build up his reputation by becoming a popular Vine star. Vine was an app where you could record six seconds of video and share it on other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. It was a huge trend a few years back until it was eventually shut down in January of 2017. Although it was shut down in 2017, you can still find Vine compilations on YouTube which are still popular today. Bo Burnham used this platform to further his comedy career by making funny videos and occasionally promoting his new work. This not only kept him relevant with current media, but also introduced himself to the newer generations. People who didn’t know him as a YouTube celebrity now knew him as a Vine star. He was able to use his preexisting fame to stand out from the other Vine stars, and his quality content expanded his audience. Aside from taking over YouTube and Vine, Bo was also quite prominent on Twitter when it was at it’s peak. He didn’t stand out quite as much on Twitter as he did on Vine and YouTube, but the people who followed him seemed very pleased with his comedic content. Since there are so many celebrities that got on Twitter right away, Bo’s strategy of taking it over early wasn’t as effective as it was on other social media platforms. Lastly, Bo Burnham has also come out with three comedy specials on Netflix. Each comedy special is about 1 hour in length and was promoted by Netflix in the recommended shows tab. Although this moment of fame didn’t last too long before the next big feature took over, his shows were still a big success during their initial release.
3. Combining Interests
Another possible reason Bo Burnham became so successful is because he combines his stand up comedy with music. Since he’s actually a very skilled musician, people who love music can appreciate both the comedic and musical aspects of his shows. Parody musicians aren’t too uncommon to come by, (Lil Dicky, Weird Al ‘Yankovic, Jack Black etc…) but musicians who incorporate music into their stand up routine is very rare. His facial expressions and overall stage presence is something you don’t get to see with a lot of other parody musicians. The effect of his performance adds a whole new element to the music he creates. In addition, Bo Burnham often references classic literature in his material which opens up his content to a whole new demographic. It’s easy enough to follow that you don’t need to have read the literature to enjoy it, but some of the jokes may go over your head if you haven’t at least learned about it. It’s kind of like how kids shows often have adult humour sprinkled in so that if the parents are watching, they can enjoy the show as well. With that killer combination and the fact that he addresses real world issues in his acts, Bo has given his target market a very wide reach. His many talents are just one of many things that separate him from any other regular stand up comedian.
Bo Burnham’s Biggest Downfall
After reading all that, you might be wondering why Bo Burnham isn’t quite up there with all of the greats. I believe that’s because he has one major downfall that would be difficult for him to avoid. A large portion of his material is extremely controversial and borderline offensive. It’s all meant to be satirical, but sometimes he crosses the line with his inappropriate humour. Although I don’t believe his content is an accurate reflection of who he is, in his shows he touches on everything from homophobia to paedophilia. His comedy doesn’t tailor towards those who are easily offended, which is unfortunate because that is such a large portion of the population. If you look at some of the top comedians, such as John Mulaney and Kevin Hart, they tend to make fun of themselves rather than other people. Bo Burnham does make fun of himself too, but he focuses a lot more on making fun of other people than most comedians do. Unfortunately, the hole that he’s dug for himself isn’t as easy to get out of as you may think. He created a brand for himself at a very early age, and the brand that he created was extremely successful. Straying away from a successful brand can be a dangerous thing to do. Changing his brand may also be something that he doesn’t want to do, but I think that if he toned down his offensive jokes a bit, he would see a lot more success.
Where He Is Now
Recently, Bo Burnham has stepped away from the stage and started pursuing a career in directing. He still does his live shows on the side, but now he’s more interested in working behind the scenes as opposed to shining in the spotlight. Earlier this year he directed Chris Rock’s new stand up special Tamborine, and is currently working on the film Eighth Grade which is due to come out in July of 2018. His transformation throughout the years has truly been phenomenal, and his future is still looking bright. He says his success was all luck, but I would say it’s pretty clear he knows exactly what he’s doing.
Sources
