50 Fun Facts About Bo Burnham

Where on his Los Angeles property did Bo Burnham film all of Inside alone during the pandemic?

The guest house was his only set: he wrote, shot, edited and performed the special there entirely by himself. The same room appears in the final scene of Make Happy.

Which billionaire does Bo Burnham mock with insincere praise in two short songs from Inside?

Jeff Bezos gets two tongue-in-cheek tributes in the special. The first, under a minute long, went viral on TikTok, where users set it to clips of warehouse working conditions.

Which British actress stars opposite Bo Burnham in Promising Young Woman, where he plays surgeon Ryan Cooper?

Carey Mulligan earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination as Cassie, who reconnects with Burnham's character, a former classmate, during one of her shifts at work.

What did Bo Burnham reveal in Inside had made him quit live stand-up comedy five years earlier?

Panic attacks on stage pushed him away after the Make Happy tour in 2016. By January 2020 he felt well enough to consider a comeback, just before the pandemic arrived.

Why did a 16-year-old Bo Burnham first film himself singing in his bedroom and post it on YouTube?

To show his older brother Pete, who had left home for university in New York, two songs he had written. A friend suggested YouTube, which was then a fairly new website.

Which comedy star's 2018 Netflix special Tamborine, his first in a decade, was directed by Bo Burnham?

Chris Rock later re-edited the special himself as Total Blackout: The Tamborine Extended Cut, adding about half an hour with no involvement from Burnham.

Which Celtics legend was Bo Burnham cast as in HBO's Winning Time before he dropped out of the series?

Larry Bird went to Sean Patrick Small instead when scheduling conflicts took Burnham off the Lakers drama in August 2021, five months after his casting.

What is the name of the puppet who sings about worker exploitation in Bo Burnham's Inside?

Socko turns up in 'How the World Works', which begins as a sweet song for kids about nature before the puppet starts singing about historical genocide.

Which rapper's concert-closing rants inspired the final stage song of Bo Burnham's special Make Happy?

Kanye West ended his Yeezus Tour shows with rants, so Burnham rants about the width of Pringles cans and overfilled burritos before turning to his conflicted relationship with his audience.

Which app does Bo Burnham spoof in an Inside song filmed in a narrow frame shaped like a phone screen?

Instagram is the target of a song mocking the app's clichés. Its phone-shaped frame widens to full size only when the character writes about her late mother.

A property listing revealed that the home where Bo Burnham filmed Inside also appears in which horror film?

A Nightmare on Elm Street was shot at the same Los Angeles property in 1984. The link surfaced through a Zillow listing after Burnham moved out, a few months after the special's release.

Which voice of Agnes in Despicable Me went on to play vlogger Kayla in Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade?

Elsie Fisher was discovered by Burnham on YouTube and auditioned three times. He said every other hopeful felt like a confident kid pretending to be shy, not the reverse.

How did A24 and Bo Burnham respond when Eighth Grade was rated R, shutting out its teenage audience?

Free all-ages screenings were arranged in every US state instead of an appeal, so the eighth graders the film is about could watch it in a cinema.

What does Kayla burn with her father's help near the end of Eighth Grade, having made it in sixth grade?

A time capsule holds a video of her younger self asking about her friends and love life. Kayla later buries a new one with a message for her future high school senior self.

At what kind of event does Kayla retreat to the bathroom before volunteering for karaoke in Eighth Grade?

A pool party hosted by popular classmate Kennedy, whose mother extends the invitation, is also where Kayla first meets Kennedy's nerdy cousin Gabe.

Which film festival premiered both Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade and, two years later, Promising Young Woman?

Sundance put Eighth Grade in competition for its Grand Jury Prize in January 2018. Burnham and his editor had finished post-production only three days before the premiere.

In which romantic comedy starring Kumail Nanjiani did Bo Burnham play a fellow stand-up comic named CJ?

The Big Sick cast Burnham, Aidy Bryant and Kurt Braunohler as the comedian friends of Nanjiani, who plays a fictionalised version of himself.

In which sitcom did Bo Burnham turn up in 2014 as a spoiled teenage country singer?

Parks and Recreation booked him for 'Flu Season 2', an episode directed by cast member Nick Offerman, during the build-up to Pawnee's Unity Concert.

In which Adam Sandler film does Bo Burnham appear as a student in the fake sitcom Yo Teach!?

Funny People features scenes from the made-up classroom sitcom, which stars Jason Schwartzman's character as a teacher. Its promo clips spread online before the film opened in 2009.

What kind of book is Egghead, which Bo Burnham published in 2013 with illustrations by Chance Bone?

Poetry collection it is: Burnham began the verses in a Los Angeles café while making Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous, and one radio reviewer likened them to Shel Silverstein.

Which song from Bo Burnham's Inside casts him as a malign tour guide to everything the online world offers?

Welcome to the Internet was certified platinum in the United States and reached Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100, making it one of the first three songs of his career to chart.

Which Inside song, sung to a pre-recorded crowd, won Bo Burnham a Grammy for screen songwriting?

All Eyes on Me won Best Song Written for Visual Media in 2022. It was also the first comedy song ever to enter the Billboard Global 200.

Which indie singer-songwriter released a charity cover of Bo Burnham's 'That Funny Feeling' in October 2021?

Phoebe Bridgers gave all the proceeds to Texas abortion funds, two months after singing the song with Burnham during an unannounced appearance at Largo at the Coronet.

Bo Burnham became the first person to win three of which award individually in one year, all for Inside?

Emmys for directing, writing and music direction all went to Burnham alone, with no co-winners, because he had made the special single-handed.

Which podcaster's show does Bo Burnham send up, spoof adverts included, in The Inside Outtakes?

Joe Rogan was the model for the sketch, which one critic found even more relevant in 2022 for mocking hosts who complain of censorship to tens of millions of listeners.

In Inside, Bo Burnham parodies a video game streamer by commentating on a game about what?

Himself crying in a room is all that the game involves. The sketch comes soon after an intermission in which Burnham cleans the camera.

Which song from Bo Burnham's what. argues that fights over religion are pointless and Earth can be heaven?

From God's Perspective comes from the 2013 special that Burnham financed with his own touring money, then released free on YouTube and Netflix on the same day.

Which track from Bo Burnham's what., later a single with its own video, mocks love songs for teenage girls?

Repeat Stuff accuses modern love songs of psychologically manipulating teenage girls with mindless words. On stage he played it on piano alone, then cut a studio version.

Which jokeless Bo Burnham song says entertainers are rewarded for never outgrowing attention seeking?

Art Is Dead, from Words Words Words, tells the audience they should not respect the man performing for them, a message the crowd greets with cheers and applause.

Which nursery rhyme joins 'Baa, Baa, Black Sheep' as a hip-hop number in Bo Burnham's Make Happy?

I'm a Little Teapot gets its rap makeover in a show that also sends up bro-country and inspirational pop, and that opens with Burnham waking in a hotel room in clown makeup.

Which city near his hometown of Hamilton hosted the 2010 taping of Bo Burnham's special Words Words Words?

Boston is the big city next door to Hamilton, the Massachusetts suburb where he grew up. His taping opened a new series of stand-up specials filmed at a single music venue there.

Bo Burnham has gone by a short stage name since his teens, but what is his given first name?

Robert Pickering Burnham is his full name. He was already posting songs online as Bo at 16, while still a high school student in Massachusetts.

Which subject was Bo Burnham accepted to study at New York University, only to defer and never enrol?

Experimental theatre at the Tisch School of the Arts was the plan, but he put it off for a year after high school to try stand-up and in the end never took up the place.

In which city did 17-year-old Bo Burnham record The World Stands Up, the youngest comic ever to do so?

London hosted the January 2008 recording, months before he left high school, and he signed a four-record deal for his comedy albums around the same time.

At which city's festival fringe did Bo Burnham win the comedy awards' Panel Prize in 2010?

Edinburgh also handed him the Malcolm Hardee award for the act most likely to make a million quid, plus a nomination for the festival's main comedy prize.

Which comedy director met Bo Burnham at a 2008 festival and set him writing an 'anti-High School Musical' film?

Judd Apatow met him at Montreal's Just for Laughs festival. Burnham spent eight hours a day writing the film's music, but by 2010 admitted he had no idea what would become of it.

In Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous, what does Bo Burnham's character hire instead of going to college?

A camera crew, paid for with savings from his grocery store job, films his bid for overnight celebrity. MTV cancelled the mockumentary after one season in 2013.

Which musical satirist did Bo Burnham honour with his own song titled 'New Math'?

Tom Lehrer recorded a song of the same name in 1965, and critics have compared Burnham's musical style to his. The tribute appeared on Burnham's self-titled debut album.

Which comedian did Bo Burnham name as the most important of his many influences?

Steve Martin, who built music into his act from the very start of his career, heads a list that also takes in George Carlin, Mitch Hedberg and Tim Minchin.

Which comedian came out as gay in Rothaniel, a 2022 HBO special directed and edited by Bo Burnham?

Jerrod Carmichael took the special's title from his real first name. Burnham had already directed his previous HBO hour, 8, inside a New York Masonic hall in 2017.

Which filmmaker, Bo Burnham's partner until 2022, appears with their dog at the end of Make Happy?

Lorene Scafaria shared the Los Angeles home where Inside was filmed, and the outtake song 'Five Years' has been read as a nod to their relationship.

Which Inside song has Bo Burnham apologise for offensive material from his early years as a teenage performer?

Problematic doubles as a send-up of celebrity apologies: he first blames his young age, then says sorry in the next verse for using that as an excuse.

Which rapper does Bo Burnham appear to parody in 'Five Years', an anniversary song from The Inside Outtakes?

Drake is the usual reading of the pastiche, which Burnham submitted for a Grammy for songs written for visual media, though this time no nomination followed.

What unusual release did Bo Burnham's Netflix special Inside receive across the United States in July 2021?

A run in US cinemas lasted from 22 to 25 July 2021, and some theatres added extra showings after that first weekend had passed.

Which comedian's special Cinnamon in the Wind sat on the shelf for over three years after Bo Burnham directed it?

Kate Berlant made it after Burnham saw her perform and suggested filming a special. It reached Hulu in 2022 while her next show, which he also directed, was running in New York.

Which director's book Making Movies did Bo Burnham study before shooting Eighth Grade?

Sidney Lumet's guide was part of eight months of reading before the shoot. Burnham had never directed a feature, yet was adamant that nobody else should direct his script.

What was the working title of Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade when he began the screenplay in 2014?

The Coolest Girl in the World had more than one protagonist in an early draft. Burnham narrowed the story to Kayla because her voice felt the truest.

Which children's song is a young Bo Burnham seen singing in the home video that opens his special what.?

Old MacDonald Had a Farm, sung by a pre-adolescent Bo in family footage, gives way to the live show, where a robotic voice introduces him by insulting his looks and character.

Which public radio show devoted a 2014 story to the work of Bo Burnham's mother Patricia, a hospice nurse?

This American Life covered her work in 2014. She had earlier been the nurse at St. John's Prep, the Catholic school that educated Burnham for free as a result.

Which video site's link to 'My Whole Family...' first made a teenage Bo Burnham's YouTube clip go viral?

Break.com shared the link soon after he posted the bedroom recording, and other sites followed. The song later appeared on his 2008 debut EP, Bo fo Sho.