It seemed that all of TCNJ was talking about him for the weeks leading up to Mar. 1, and the internet blew up with students trying to get their hands on tickets for marked up prices. But who is Bo Burnham, and what’s all the hype?
Bo Burnham is a 25 year old musician and comedian from Massachusetts, who rose to stardom in 2006. In the beginning of his career, he put out many YouTube videos of his satirical songs which helped him gain momentum for stardom. Some of those songs are “I’m Bo Yo” and “New Math” which are low quality videos that were filmed in his bedroom by a keyboard.
After his career had started to kick off, Burnham started recording a few albums, and his most popular Words, Words, Words was released in 2010. It features the popular song “Oh Bo”; it’s music video has nearly 11 million views on YouTube and was also his encore here at TCNJ.
In 2013, Burnham recorded his first full length comedy show titled “what.” which is available on Netflix. The show runs an hour long, and has the same setup as his performance on Tuesday night. A popular song performed on “what.” is “From God’s Perspective,” which is also another song he played here, and “A World on Fire.”
Although he has risen to stardom over the years, he has always maintained the same elements of his comedy. Most of his jokes revolve around irony, sarcasm, and satire about politics, love, religion, and himself. In his shows he is always sure to mix in a few comedic songs to break up his standup routines. He also never fails to inform audiences that he simply “got lucky” and tells them to “give up on your dreams.”
As if CDs and a Netflix show weren’t enough, Burnham also has an abundance of followers on Vine, and has also written for shows on MTV. Burnham also released his first book “Egghead” in 2013, which was a collection of his satirical poems. In his 10 years of performing, Burnham has been on five tours, mostly in the United States, but also on in the UK.
Burnham is clearly has racked up many accomplishments in his 10 years of performing, and still at such a young age, he is sure to have so much more in store in the future.