Ever wonder who influenced Bo's comedy when he was growing up?
In 2010, Bo posted a Facebook note about his favorite comedians and why his young fans should check them out (there was also an article about it).
I have been using this specific list as a guide to analyzing his comedic heroes and how he has incorporated/referenced their personas and hilarious bits in his own works.
Here are all of the deep-dive threads I've written about Bo's favorite comedians so far (plus Kate Berlant since they have been working together recently):
- George Carlin
- Steve Martin
- Maria Bamford
- Kate Berlant
- Mitch Hedberg
- Anthony Jeselnik
I am also working on a post about Tim Minchin that should be out in the next week or so. Super excited about that one!
Hope you enjoy the threads, and stay tuned for more! ✌🏼
As a special Turkey Day treat, please check out my newest post about Bo's comedy influences. This time around, the focus is on musical comedian Tim Minchin!
Tim and Bo have been friends for many years, and both have been influential to each other. In fact, there is a distinct possibility that Welcome to the Internet's lyrics about "unstoppable, watchable" are an homage to Tim's song Inflatable You!
If you'd like to read more about Bo and his relationships with other famous comics, here is the aggregated list of all the posts in the series so far. Enjoy!
With Bo and his Child Mind Institute interview doing the rounds on TikTok and Twitter, a lot of people are beginning to realize how intelligent and perceptive he is.
In fact, some are comparing Bo to a young George Carlin! This is something I've been promoting for months (I'd especially love Bo playing George in a biopic about the '70s comedy scene with Jerrod Carmichael as Richard Pryor...yes, I've spent too much time thinking about how Bo can achieve EGOT status) haha
Anyway, if you would like to learn more about how Carlin influenced a young Bo, here's my analysis from July about the two comics—enjoy! ✌🏼
Inside (The Songs) has officially spent a whopping 80 weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Comedy charts! 🥳
Comedian Patton Oswalt was on Justin Long's podcast yesterday, and he was talking about how brilliant Bo is and that his teen daughter is an enormous fan. So cool!
Patton Oswalt thinks Bo Burnham is the future of comedy, thanks to his 13 year old daughter, who is also a fan of Burnham's work.
Here's the Reddit thread.
I'll be covering Patton and his influence at some point since he's on Bo's list of favorite comics in 2010.
Bo specifically said this about Patton's genius wordplay:
PATTON OSWALT
an absolute wordsmith. such beautifully hilarious word choice. you know when people say "he paints a picture with words" – i hate when people say that. but goddamn it patton oswalt paints pictures with words. DAMN! what other person can come up with a phrase like "twat mist" when describing the air quality of a room that just housed an orgy? so brilliant and so funny.
And the two were even on We Bare Bears together (as Nom Nom and Andy Bangs, respectively)!
Quick question for my followers—do you all care if I go in the exact order of Bo's list for my 13-part series (which I've already mixed up because I saw Maria Bamford in July), or is it acceptable for me to talk about the comics who've influenced Bo in no discernable order?
I feel like I've pigeonholed my writing by setting up parameters no one actually cares about except for me, and it's leading to writer's block.
Please let me know your thoughts—follow the order I've already established or work on topics that interest me, regardless of the prescribed list? Thanks! ✌🏼
