Today (12/16/23) is the 10th anniversary of one of my favorite comedy specials—
what.
Yes, it's been a whole decade since Bo Burnham graced the world with his YouTube special (and now major comics are following his model lol). While people think of what. as a Netflix special, Bo's plan was to distribute it freely via the internet on 12/17/13 (and he took a pay cut to make it happen!).
Here are some other fun facts about Bo's second comedy special:
1. The trailer is filmed in the Ruhm, Bo's guesthouse and studio that makes an appearance again in Make Happy and in a little special called INSIDE 😉
2. This comedy special was Bo's first professional collaboration with Chris Storer (creator of The Bear) after they met on Adventures in the Sin Bin and it marks Bo's first time directing. They would go on to co-direct Make Happy together and Bo's obviously directed MANY items since, including his incredible story about a teenage girl called Eighth Grade!
3. Bo begins the special wearing three pairs of pants—two red ones and one black pair—a white tee, a dark gray hoodie, confetti in one pocket, a pack of playing cards in his OTHER pocket, and his mouth is full of water. Damn, that's a lot of stuff! 🤯
4. But he doesn't have the water IN his mouth for the stool scene! That was spliced together with the live performance footage (and pretty seamlessly, clearly, since folks asked him about it online).
5. The song Repeat Stuff has a brilliant music video that accompanies it. And the girl that Bo murders at the end is none other than the Vice President's stepdaughter! That's right, Ella Emhoff is Kamala Harris's daughter through marriage, and she is a famous model and artist.
6. Speaking of that music video, the exterior of the house Bo breaks into at the beginning is Bo and Lorene's own home at the time. And that house was used in The Nightmare Before Elm Street franchise (a fact the realtors emphasized when selling the place in 2021—I would have focused on Bo's studio personally haha).
7. The music video also has a cameo from one of Bo's friends, Paul Scheer, as the manager! I actually met Paul at a Human Giant event back in the day, and he was very nice (along with Aziz Ansari and Rob Huebel).
8. While Bo released his special entirely for free, he did have two other items that were for sale at the time—the what. CD (recorded in Madison, WI, thus he says "Get on my level, Madison" in Sad) and his book of poems Egghead. I own the poetry book, obviously, but I cannot find the CD for sale anywhere.
If you or someone you know is willing to sell their copy, PLEASE DM me! It's the only item he put out that I don't own in some capacity—and I would love to complete the collection! 🥰
9. Egghead is amazing in both its print and audiobook versions. In fact, the latter is like a whole separate comedy special and well worth the price to hear Bo reading so enthusiastically and with different hilarious voices. Highly recommended...and I have a kid-friendly list of poems here if you're interested.
10. Finally, what. features two of my favorite subversive bits: Andy the Frog and the Fishing song.
I was thinking a fun video idea would be to create a Bo Burnham "Kids Show" with all of his darkest routines that seem like they came out of a demented Sesame Street (so like Wonder Showzen haha).
Here's the potential order:
-Disney Lessons (Words Words Words)
-what. Intro (starting with "melted into childlike wonder" to Lizard)
-How to Make the Perfect PB Sandwich
-A Slow Joke
-Andy the Frog
-The Squares poem
-Fishing in the Park
-How the World Works (can include Outtakes Bo and Socko as well)
-YouTuber Thank You
Anyway, I just think that would be hysterical if any editor wants to take a crack at it. Please give me credit tho! ✌🏼🐔
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Harley Quinn Gets New Anthology Series “Harley Quinn: Black + White + Redder”
You just can’t stop Harley Quinn. DC Comics has announced a follow-up to Harley Quinn: Black + White + Red. Harley Quinn: Black + White + Redder is a new 6-issue limited series utilizing black, white, and red artwork.
Issue #1 of Harley Quinn: Black + White + Redder will feature three stories. writer Chip Zdarsky artist Kevin Maguire’s story finds Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy inside Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. Writer Leah Williams and artist Natacha Bustos’ story will take place in Harley’s past showing her as a high-flying gymnast with a mind for vengeance. Writers Paul Scheer and Nick Giovannetti and artist Tom Reilly will pair Harley up with Gaggy Gagsworth, The Joker’s original sidekick, on a risky heist, if they can set aside their vendetta for each other first.
Harley Quinn: Black + White + Redder #1 (of 6) goes on sale on July 18, 2023. The comic features a main cover by Bruno Redondo, open to buy variant covers by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau and Guillem March, a 1 in 25 ratio variant cover from Tom Reilly, and a 1 in 50 ratio variant cover by Kevin Maguire.
(Image via DC Comics - Bruno Redondo’s Cover of Harley Quinn: Black + White + Redder #1)
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Yet another celebrity not worth following. How the hell is your reading comprehension so low that you get “this women should be held hostage” from someone simply pointing out what’s going on in Gaza? Unbelievable.
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#HappyBirthday @paulscheer #paulscheer #actor #comedian #AndyBillups #startrek #LowerDecks #theleague #BlackMonday #humangiant #NTSFSDSUV #freshofftheboat #veep #YearOne #Piranha3D #DaddysHome #HowItEnds #electriccity #tronuprising #adventuretime #appleandonion #futureman #bigmouth #BigCityGreens #theloudhouse #startrek57 @startrek @startrekonpplus @hbomaxla
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6. Wolf/Tuck Live with D'arcy Carden and Paul Scheer
Plot summary:
Jordan and Sharon are two teens that are sort of in love with each other. Jordan doesn't really understand consent and that's the main reason Sharon doesn't want to be with him. In the meantime, a bunch of teens are hanging out with their old man friend Todd Benji (or T.B) for short) who smokes a lot of weed, watches Twin Peaks, and has a van with a unicorn in a KKK hood on it. It's called the Clan Van. He's probably racist. Back to the woods, Jordan comes across 3 wolves disguising themselves as little girls and they explain consent to him, but wolf consent. They then eat him. A bunch of parents from the camping trip go to home depot look for weapons to kill the wolves. T.B. says the wolf man cleared all the wolves out of town but the wolves came back. The kids want to find the grave of the wolf man but T.B. says that's a horrible idea because he's long dead. Eventually he gives up and the kids all pile into his car to go find the guy who killed the wolf man and try to kill him with a George Foreman grill. The kids figure out that T.B. actually is the wolf man and all talk about how badly they want to fuck him. T.B. admits he's the wolf man and immortal and the kids accept him for who he is. The paint on the Clan Van peels away and it's revealed that it actually says Wolf Man Van and the unicorn is actually a wolf holding up two peace signs and saying black lives matter. The wolf man hollers with his magical collar and turns all the wolves back into good wolves. The kids and T.B succeed and the wolves and humans lived side by side together.
Best quotes:
• "That's what this show is by the way"
"An hour of party cats"
• "Well I realized that I'm just like an animal, you know? But like an animal that wears clothes. Like a Muppet"
• "I'm not saying we kill 'em I'm just saying we look at them when they're dead!"
• "As an actor, I thought that a wolf is social media, and that's the metaphor we were doing"
Best songs:
• I Hate Home Depot
Thoughts overall:
The show began with party cats. If you dont know what I'm talking about you should go listen to this episode. Jess McKenna sure knows how to make the ladies swoon. Also this is the episode where the infamous "You Touched My Boob" song came from. I loved this episode so much more than I did the first time and I think it's because I just adore D'arcy Carden
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