Make Happy

Make Happy is a stand-up comedy routine by Bo Burnham which he performed live in 2015 and 2016; a recording of the show was released on Netflix on June 3, 2016. Similar to Burnham's previous special what., the show is a specifically choreographed performance which amalgamates comedy with music, and uses pre-recorded music, stage lighting effects and sound effects. It has received an overwhelmingly positive critical response, with several critics complimenting Burnham's deconstruction of various types of performances, clever jokes based on misdirection, and his stage persona.

Background

Bo Burnham rose to fame after posting videos on YouTube. He signed to Comedy Central Records and released his debut EP, "Bo Fo Sho", in 2008. In 2009 he released his debut album, Bo Burnham, a collection of his most popular songs on YouTube. "Words Words Words" was released in 2010 at the House of Blues in Boston, to critical acclaim. Following this, Burnham wrote a book of poetry Egghead (or You Can't Survive On Ideas Alone), which became a New York Times Bestseller, and wrote and starred in his own mockumentary, Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous on MTV. Following this, in 2013 he toured with the stand-up show what., which was released on YouTube and Netflix for free on December 17, 2013.^[1] While touring for what., Burnham began to have panic attacks before shows, which may have influenced the writing and performance of Make Happy, his next live show.^[2] Burnham began touring for Make Happy in February 2015, at the age of 24.^[3] Make Happy was recorded for Netflix at the Capitol Theatre in New York, and released on June 3, 2016, at a time when Netflix was releasing several original content stand-up comedy specials per month.^[4] Following the release of Make Happy on Netflix, Burnham stated that it may be the last stand-up show he performs in the foreseeable future, as he plans to focus more on writing.^[2]

Synopsis

This synopsis describes the Netflix recording, which may differ in parts to the stand-up tour performances.

In the introduction, Burnham awakes in a hotel room wearing clown makeup and walks to the theatre as we hear a robotic voice address the audience. The show begins with a song based around call and response, where Burnham requests various groups in the audience (for example, virgins) to shout out "Hell, yeah!" After this song, Burnham immediately segues into a more introspective and meta song.

Following this, Burnham moves to his keyboard and performs an ironic song about the problems of being a straight white male, and then delivers a comedic monologue on the subject of race. As Bo begins to change the subject, a pre-recorded song interrupts him, calling him a "faggot", and continuing to call him a "fucking faggot" until he demands that the track be stopped. Burnham segues into a discussion of hip hop music, and delivers a hip-hop version of "I'm a Little Teapot" to illustrate his point. Following a series of subversive jokes based around misdirection, Burnham claims he will improvise a song about a member of the audience, and asks an audience member for his name—Rob. A pre-recorded track plays about Bo having sex with someone's mother, and he inserts the name "Rob" into the gaps in the track. Burnham then starts talking about country music and criticising the modern-day industry, singing a meta-country song about rich male country singers pandering to their audiences.

After criticising the lip-syncing segment of The Tonight Show, Burnham performs a mime about seeing a penis in a restroom and then a song about love, where he advocates people lowering their expectations. He makes some quick-fire jokes and then performs further mimes about making sandwiches while high on marijuana, and intoxicated. Following from a fake advert for Flamin' Hot Cheetos, he presents a song where he tells the listener to kill themselves, explaining (before the song, during and after it) that the song is about the dangers of listening to pop singers' advice and taking their lyrics too seriously.

He deals with some brief heckling before beginning a song about a breakup (and the man's emotional immaturity), singing the dialogue for both of the partners. He then begins analysing the show's meaning, the culture of performance promoted by social media and the concept of the Me generation. Burnham describes how Kanye West's Yeezus Tour performances ended and then spends several minutes delivering a mixture of a rant and a song inspired by this. This ends the stage show, but a closing segment features Burnham talking to the viewer with a song where he addresses the rhetorical question "Are you happy?"

Analysis

Thematically, as Burnham himself mentions in the special, Make Happy can be said to be "about performing".^[5][6] Throughout the show, Burnham maintains a "prickly persona" with the audience, "alternating between making them laugh and baiting them, even insulting them".^[2] The show is "meticulously choreographed"^[7] and makes extensive use of pre-recorded music, theatre lighting, sound effects and his audience;^[4][5][8] Make Happy has been described as a tonal continuation of what.,^[9] and intersperses comedy, music, theatrics and poetry.^[8] The show has "discrete bits" which are "seemingly disjointed" and contain many "small details", but there are connections between them.^[8]

Critical reception

Make Happy was very well received by critics. Hugar of The A.V. Club gave the show an A– rating, calling it "one of the best stand up specials of the year". Hugar noted that the show "gets more avant-garde and considerably darker" than Burnham's previous material and summarised, "Burnham is a skilled comic and his combination of rapid-fire songwriting and meaty observations about modern life are captivating".^[10] Newman of Forbes gave Make Happy an overwhelmingly positive review, describing it as "easily the best comedy special [Netflix] has ever produced", praising Burnham's "whipsaw swaps between fun and thoughtfulness" and "honed and self-deprecating" stage presence.^[4]

Caballero of Impact gives the Netflix special a very positive review, saying that Burnham "showcases the satirical, arrogant yet self-deprecating humor that characterizes him", creating a work which is "deeply personal", and ends the show with "a question so heartfelt it is hard to imagine any other comedian being so sincere" (the question "Are you happy?", which Burnham explores in the show's final song).^[8]

Williams in TheVine gives a positive review of the special; Williams says that Burnham "deconstructs himself in a hysterical, brilliantly self-conscious, sometimes unsettling routine".^[7] Czajkowski gave the show a mostly positive review in The Guardian, opining that Burnham is "exceptionally good at misdirection" and used a "mix of music, wit and experimental comedy" which created "a freshness rarely seen on stage", but critiquing some of his "raunchier material" and describing the show as "a little stuck".^[9]

Bennett of Chortle calls Burnham "intensively creative", with an ability to "surprise with a crafty turn of phrase", and believes the show to be an "hour of happiness".^[5] McCarthy of Decider says that Burnham displays a "shrewd knowledge of those funnymen and women who have hit the stages before him, as well as a propensity for deconstructing the very nature of entertainment, and the relationship between performer and audience, between star and fans".^[6]

References

External links

• Bo Burnham's Official Website
• Make Happy on IMDb
• Make Happy at Rotten Tomatoes