Bo Burnham: Make Happy

Bo Burnham does it again... I've only been following Bo for about a year so I was excited to see that he was going to make another comedy special! I really enjoyed "what." and I couldn't wait to see his new innovative material. What I got was very unexpected.

This special is not comedy, it is art. From the deep lyricism in the last act to the cinematic camera-work throughout, this show took my breath away. I never thought that a comedy special could be so... well... special! It's truly not you everyday stand-up comedian.

When compared to "what.", the jokes are realistically not as strong. I was going to give this a 9 at first, but then I realized that I was comparing apples to oranges. I think "what." is a 10/10, but I wouldn't lower the score because it's as not deep as "Make Happy"!

In conclusion, don't watch "Make Happy" expecting a full on comedy show. The comedy is pretty good for about 3/4's of the special, but the last quarter is not a happy fun time. If you want some really good comedy, go watch Bo Burnham's other special, "what.".

I have fell in love with this man's mind. If you think you know what true comedy is and you don't know Burnham, you really don't know what true comedy is.

I'm a long time fan of Bo Burnham (started seeing his stuff on YouTube back when he was in his bedroom) and every special he's put out has left me feeling different.

Words Words Words made me see art differently, especially performance art.

What made me question how I think and perceived my identity.

But Make Happy made me realize how shitty being a creative can be and how ageist the society at large can be surrounding ideas of love and acceptance.

This show explores the system surrounding commercialism of the music industry, how the rich shape the minds of the poor, how being down to earth can be an act, and how looking okay is a mask.

I loved the show. I felt awkward and uncomfortable when facing the realness of depression and working through it because life must go on. I laughed at the impressions, at the face value jokes, at the wordplay, and the interesting lyrics. I teared up at the end because it's hard to put into words how fleeting happiness is...

And Bo captured it.

I have watched it already a couple of times but never saw the ending of the special after the standup. That 5 minutes end after the standup. Man, I don't even remember the last time I cried watching something. Standup is good, but it doesn't even hold a candle to the emotional ending. If you have netflix account, watch it from start to finish. By the end, you will be crying with laughter and at the end, you will have real tears of emotion. Do watch it.

Watched "what." some time before and really liked it, so I jumped right into Make Happy, when it was uploaded on Netflix and i loved it. I have to admit, he already has gotten my favourite Comedian now and I hope for a few more shows that can make you think and laugh in a different manner than other Comedians do. Highest Recommendation on my part, obviously. And even if you didn't like it, it's just an hour long, so don't worry about "spending too much time on something you didn't like".