Monday, January 30, 2012

Bo Burnham: "Art is Dead"


After a rollicking weekend filled with friends, curry, wine, music, laughter, excitement, intrigue, romance, and Bill Murray, Monday can be sort of a letdown. For a pick-me-up, enter 21-year-old Bo Burnham, a comedian with both musical talent and a fluency with language that translates into fantastical, fast-paced puns and plays on words. (His second album and lead single were titled, appropriately enough, "word words words.")

In today's jam, Bo ruminates on what it means to be an artist:

Entertainers like to seem complicated
But we're not complicated
I can explain it pretty easily
Have you ever been to a birthday party for children
And one of the children won't stop screaming
'Cuz he's just a little attention attractor
When he grows up to be a comic or actor
He'll be rewarded for never maturing
For never understanding or learning
That every day can't be about him
There's other people, you selfish asshole! 


And it really only goes downhill from there as he describes how he wastes time and money being a comedian when he could be feeding starving people, or otherwise being useful to humanity. He wears makeup, sleeps in, and expresses concern that comedic icon George Carlin is rolling over in his grave.

Of course, Carlin was probably one of those annoying kids at the birthday party too, screaming the seven dirty words at the top of his lungs while his compatriots, high on sugar and pure adrenaline, screamed and hooted and egged him on. And this is the guy who ended up earning five Grammys, millions of dollars, and the admiration of comedians and fans everywhere.

Despite his complaints, I'm pretty sure Bo would be fine with the same fate.

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