Who is art for? The audience or the artist? When Bo Burnham began uploading his comedic piano ballads to YouTube in 2006, his art was only a way to express himself. Becoming successful through YouTube was barely concept at that time, so two years later at the age of 18 it was almost impossible for him to say no to a record contract with Comedy Central. The consequence of becoming a professional was the increased necessity of having audience appeal, despite getting into comedy for self expression. Coming from YouTube meant that there was an almost non existent barrier between him and his audience, allowing his fans to influence the art more. In traditional stand-up comedy, there isn’t any feedback after the comedian walks off stage, but with an internet based audience, Bo is immediately and constantly aware of his fans’ expectations. It is impossible for him to ignore his audience, like he could if he came from the comedy club scene.
The low barrier between Bo and his audience on the internet lead them to believe his onstage persona is identical to his real life personality, but they aren’t. Comedians are devoted to proving their authenticity to the audience, but their onstage persona will never be an accurate self-portrait. They bend and stretch their most marketable personality aspects into a caricature of themselves. He is extremely flamboyant and exaggerated on stage, but consistently attempts to remind the audience that the real Bo Burnham is nothing like that. Unfortunately, the audience still thinks they love Bo the person, even though they’ve only seen Bo the performer. Thusly, Bo feels fraudulent and imprisoned by his audience. People believe his popular stage persona to be his true self, but the two are intrinsically distinct.
In his new special “Make Happy”, Bo almost directly answers the question of who the show is for by saying, “You’re here to laugh right? Well that’s only half right…I hope I don’t get more from this than you do.” The show is for the audience, but not entirely. To please the audience, “Make Happy” nearly perfects his usual mix of theater, music, and stand-up comedy. He continues to be critical of society and media, singing songs about: the dishonesty of modern country music, the ease of life for a straight white male, and how nobody should expect perfection from a romantic partner. But he leaves some room for himself in there too, lifting the veil to monologue about being unable to balance making art for himself versus art for the audience. During his dramatic autotune monologue finale, Bo reveals that performing for an audience makes him miserable. He tells us to “Come watch the skinny kid with a steadily declining mental health / and laugh as he attempts to give you what he cannot give himself.”
In all of his societal critiques, Bo Burnham hates inauthenticity, but as an onstage performer, he is what he hates. He’s been trapped by having an audience as well as his financial and psychological need to please them, but the way he entertains his audience best contradicts his self-interests. His final monologue is an autotune resignation letter, explaining why he has to quit for his own sake. Bo’s audience was thrown at him at a young age quickly snowballing out of his control to the point that he’s unhappy with his life. Despite all of his misgivings, Bo dedicates time to sing a post-performance questionnaire asking his fans if they are happy.
The title “Make Happy” is Bo’s to do list, to make both himself and his audience happy, but he was unsuccessful at making art to fulfill both requirements. His next move is quitting stand-up to go behind the scenes, attempting to find a new way to make everyone happy.
Article by Taylor Kalsey
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