Bo Burnham has a dark humor that many find funny but also that many find to be very offensive. Though he is very crude and attacks every group of people he can, he always does so with purpose. He is most well known for his work in his 2013 work, what., but he has much more material that has been released as audio. Bo Burnham's work does not fit the traditional definition of an Aristotelian comedy; it doesn't contain the rise and fall of a character and sometimes there is not a happy ending. His work is still comedy. It fulfills the definition of an Aristotelian comedy because he will usually have an important message at the end of each work he produces.
In his third full work, WORDS WORDS WORDS, Burnham plays on words to his advantage while still giving this meaningful message. In his song "What's Funny," Burnham mocks traditional stand up comics and, more specifically, the kinds of jokes that they make. His lyrics throughout WORDS WORDS WORDS are all funny but provide a much deeper meaning for society. Burnham acknowledges what stand up comedians usually talk about by making similar jokes to them, but then he asks the audience "what's funny?" This question brings the audience to question themselves and what they are laughing at exactly.
Similarly, in his work what., Bo Burnham has a song called "Sad" where he points out the comedic nature of tragedy. Throughout the song, he names several tragedies ranging from a blind man named Rich to the Holocaust itself. At the very end of the song, he says "tragedy will be exclusively joked about/because my empathy is bumming me out." Burnham acknowledges the nature of the laughing at horrific events, thus commenting on what society is likely to laugh at and wants the audience to realize the severity of the situation.
In all of his work, Bo Burnham is commenting on society and how flawed it truly is. While he never gives idea on how we can fix the problems at hand, he wants people to know what they are doing wrong even if they aren't always aware of it. His humor attacks the public in the best way possible.
Oh my god Bo Burnham is such a good choice for this! He is super critical of comedy and, in his comedy special, I recall him even roasting his audience. Thank you for this.
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