FIRST TIME REACTING TO | BO BURNHAM PERFORMS "ART IS *EAD" REACTION

[@webdrude]

i think he was probably very anxious during this performance. he's sitting with some of respected industry comedians, and one of them asks him to perform his song criticizing the entertainment industry. to his credit, he is an artist and put his all into it. and i think there is truth behind his message that the other comedians can identify with and respect, but it would be hard to have confidence of it being received well while performing.

[@Osma777]

Not to mention he just called them out a bit. In the original song he said "I wanted my name in lights..." but during this performance, all the associated lines were "We wanted our name in lights..."

[@chand911]

...do you seriously believe he went into this round table without knowing he'd be performing? You think a piano just happened to be there?

[@angelguerrero7655]

@@chand911 no, he's saying he was probably anxious because he's suffered from anxiety, especially during stage performances. You should probably read up on it

[@phaedralewis285]

I agree, the situation of being in front of comedians who's careers span longer than you have been alive has to be intimidating, and this wasn't a Bo Burnham show, with all of his fans, this was many people who have never heard of him before. And I think if I was performing in front of a bunch of comedians, and then knew I had to go sit back down next to them for the next half hour and discuss comedy, a little bit of me would be peeing myself because they could spend the rest of the show roasting me. Of course that didn't happen because Bo is a genius and everyone can see that.

[@leonametalian]

well yes, but you can see his slapping the keys in anger at the performers sitting down... he's singing a song about how hollywood eats you from the inside and how it exploits people and the exploiters are a yard away from you laughing (i think ray was the only one actually realizing what meaning the song holds to it)

[@alexjames4770]

The part I find so interesting about this version of Art Is Dead, is how the audience changes his performance. Bo typically has every second of every song planned to a T, from voice inflections, his gestures, what faces he makes, etc. But as he performs a song that is the embodiment of his own self hatred, and of his hatred for comedy as a whole, the Green Room audience laughs, the industry comedians all laugh (except one) and he takes note of it, slowly becoming enraged at the fact that they are ignoring the point, as if he’s realizing in real time the song’s purpose has failed, it changed nothing, ironically confirming the song’s message. Art is indeed dead, and it was artists who killed it.

[@stevemanart]

And he's wrong. Not so much that the people were just laughing along not really trying to take it in, but that his message wasn't getting through. Something he didn't know then, but I think does know now is that a first performance does not penetrate deeply for most people. It's the nature of performance. You get lost in it, and the message becomes secondary.

[@bigbirdmusic8199]

Bro youre looking waaaaay to deep into this. Hes probably more annoyed feeling like a prop monkey, but honored to perform in front of some big names. Thats it.

[@mrscary3105]

True story, the line "Rolling in dough while Carlin Rolls in his grave" made the show runner of this clip cry... because the show runner is Kelly Carlin, his daughter.

[@theeatherlash69]

George Carlin. RIP.

[@roguefenixC55]

He sometimes would start this song with "this song isn't funny at all, but it helps me sleep at night"

[@InedibleMattman]

Oh yeah, he has said he was VERY nervous when doing this. He said he couldn't believe he was sitting with those other comedians and was probably too nervous to have sung the song for everyone. I freaking love Bo!!! He needs a hug.

[@_WeDontKnow_]

i feel like the guy specifically asking for this song threw him off a bit as well. all of a sudden knowing the dude went through a decent amount of Bo's work, and the song selection says a lot about his respect for Bo and the quality of his work imo. easily one of the most impressive songs he's done when it comes to subject matter and writing

[@InedibleMattman]

@@_WeDontKnow_ that is a brilliant observation! In the full show, he held his own pretty well with the older guys, but you could tell there was a bit of resentment at the beginning. It wasn’t until this song that Ray Romano specifically seemed to change his mind and appreciate Bo.

[@unclefoot]

Bo was indeed nervous. For 2 reasons: 1, He was a 20 yr old comedian sitting around a table and having a conversation with Mark Maron, Ray Ramano, Judd Apotow, Paul Provenza and GARRY FUCKING SHANDLING. He was just a kid and he knew it. 2, Bo has a severe anxiety disorder. It’s the reason for his panic attacks as well as his depression and it’s why he had to step away from the stage for 5 years. He had it all the way back when he was still a teenager in high school…was in and out of the hospital multiple times for what appeared to be some kind of elusive stomach problems. Wasn’t until he was an adult that his condition was diagnosed properly and he started getting the correct kind of help for it. All that being said, that anxiety disorder definitely didn’t help his nerves any. Bo’s self awareness has always been one of his biggest assets as an artist. You can’t make the kind of art he makes without it. Something that’s kinda sad though, (and this is just spit balling) is that there’s a good chance that that incredible self awareness he has is in large part due to his anxiety disorder. One of the biggest signs of an anxiety or depression disorder is hyper self-criticism. If you are anxious your brain will default to critically analyzing whatever you have control over. In most situations, that’s just you. So if you have an anxiety disorder…then imagine not being able to turn that off. Even when the moment has passed or even if you’re receiving ever signal that there is nothing wrong, your brain won’t drop it and will just keep digging into every tiny little thing you’re doing, saying and thinking. If that’s just your reality…then yeah, there’s a really good chance that you’ll have a kind of ingrained, hyper self awareness. Sad to think about, but it would speak to that whole notion of “the greatest minds are often the most troubled”. Loving the reactions, keep ‘em comin! Cheers

[@lonecrow201]

This performance made everyone squirm cuz it pointed the finger at them. You can see Bo is aware of the moment and a few of them there are too. It’s a subtle moment never to be captured again.

[@hideshiseyes2804]

I like how he says here “I don’t think anyone wants to hear what a 20 year old thinks about how the world works” and then ten years later during covid lockdown he literally wrote a song called “How the World Works”. Probably coincidence but it shows how he’s gained confidence, which is nice.

[@johndinner4418]

People do want to hear what a 30 year old thinks about how the world works. He was self aware that he needed to grow up to actually confirm his beliefs are not just a child's thoughts and have age to them.

[@Randomninja47]

All those legendary comedians there and almost all of them missed the entire point of the song. I also find it interesting how he changed the lyrics. Normally he says "Cause I wanted my name in lights. When I could have fed a family..." etc. But he specifically changes it to "Cause WE wanted our name in lights. When WE could have fed a family..." He's literally talking to the comedians there and they missed the entire point of the song.

[@MrRagston]

In the stage performance, he says This song isn't funny, but it helps me sleep at night

[@icecremer]

I don't know if it was mentioned, but Bo had said several times that he deals with mental health problems in his songs alone. For example, in "can't handle this" he says "Come and watch the skinny kid with a Steadily declining mental health, and laugh as he attempts To give you what he cannot give himself" and in his latest special, in the song "All eyes on me" he basically described how he was having panic attacks on stage and that was the reason he quit doing comedy for five years. He is probably suffering from an anxiety disorder and probably depression. I am not a psychiatrist, but as someone who also suffers from this, I can say that it feels like he suffers from those crippling disorders. It's possible he has some other mental health issues, but what's certain is that he is definitely suffering from some form of mental disorder.

[@alangarcia5693]

You would love the conversations that happen on this show The Green Room. Even the convo they wre having before Bo goes up is awesome. Comics talking about life and comedy. This epsidoe especially..Bo, Mark Maron, Gary Schandling, Ray Romano. JUDD APATOW! Awesome group right there

[@needsomezzz]

I think the anxious and chaotic feeling of the performance is intentional to reflect how people in show business are

[@satoristeve]

He’s a genius undoubtedly. But in terms of his piano playing I think it’s just “normal” skill developed with years of practice. I wanna say he started at like five or eight or something? So even here at 20 he’s been playing piano for over a decade.

[@twistedbard]

You'd prob'ly enjoy this full Green Room episode. I don't know how many of these guys you're familiar with, but they're all comedy legends. It's just rapid fire, back and forth, insight and banter on the highest level.

[@Lost_n_Found_1]

It was a great episode. Gary Shandling was like the wise master of the circle, lol. What a legend.

[@barneyfromblueshift]

It's worth it for that immaculate roast of Maron by Bo alone.

[@MzyraJ]

I think in a lot of the early works you can see how self-aware and self-critical Bo is at such a young age, being so hard on himself it doesn't surprise me to learn he was having mental health issues, he needed to cut himself some slack poor lad

[@joshler2604]

whenever I watch this version of Art is Dead, it always creeps me out every time the audience laughs, because they shouldn't laugh at those lines. Like Bo said when he first performed this in a live audience, "This song isn't funny at all, but it helps me sleep at night." The lines should make you think, not laugh. And I think that's also why Bo intentionally played the piano in an angry manner/out of tune every time they laugh at the lyrics. Idk, but the laughter along with the solid lines in the song gives me Black Mirror vibes.

[@glHFMfG]

He was very propably anxious, as he sings about this problem of his later in shows. At Kayne Rant he is maybe saying he cant deal with it. After that very performance, he was gone for like 5 years, than INSIDE came out, there in the first song he is saying that he had anxiety problems and when he though about performing again, covid striked and forced him to make show inside. :)

[@JacobHeckBro]

“I thought it was cute”, his insecurities intensify 😂

[@jeffwestjr.4160]

This performance is legendary in the comedy world. I strongly suggest seeking out the full episode because it is amazing to watch Bo go to-to-toe with four TITANS of the comedy world and absolutely hold his own and earn his spot alongside them.

[@x3mslayer]

The Green Room show was truly a gift, with many unique moments.

[@joshoppenheimer1388]

He is super conflicted by his chosen profession and it really comes out in this song

[@PenneySounds]

This song has some similarity to Tim Minchin's "Beauty (is a Harlot)", and Bo references that song in "#Deep"

[@curtisholsinger6023]

Couple things here. tl;dr: you read it right. He played the song as a reproach to all the comedians in the room. 1. You're right, so are the other commentators, he was super anxious. Those are legends he's performing for. 2. This is a song of angst and range and self-recrimination. Bo feels better when he sings it because he's "calling himself out," basically. That's why he introduces the song as "this song isn't funny, but it helps me sleep at night." (Not here, but often when he performs it live he says that.) 3. He included the other comics by changing the lyrics a bit from "I wanted my name in lights, when I course have fed a family of 4" to "WE wanted OUR name in lights, when WE could have fed a family of 4." He's saying "hey, you're not innocent here either, you all are just as self-indulgent as I am." 4. The discordant parts, when he basically just bangs on the keyboard and his notes come out all jumbled. Those parts are deceptive. He plays it for laughs, but explicitly states (again, not here, but elsewhere) that this song isn't funny. In a way, he's showing us the man behind the curtain. This should be enjoyed and laughed at - it should make us cringe and be more self-aware. But we are laughing anyway. I'm glad you chose the Green Room version. It's his best version of this piece. The energy here is raw.

[@HollowGolem]

It's worth noting that a lot of the times he plays the discordant notes is in response to the audience laughing. Like they didn't get it. I noticed Ray Romano doesn't laugh. He feels the song at a deep level it seems like.

[@dapez1913]

sis you must watch the beginning of this. Bo killed 'em

[@Kwright304]

Bo Burnham was accepted to Harvard, Brown, and NYU, so he’s definitely a genius or prodigy, depending on how you want to phrase it.

[@Kwright304]

He decided to do this exact show at 20 instead of that.

[@trentbobo4171]

Watch the whole show. It gives a lot of insight into what goes on in a comics head. And they're all hilarious and they set around breaking each other's balls for 30 minutes. It's hilarious

[@michellewest4796]

At 20, he didn't feel confident to share how he thinks the world works. At 30, he literally released a song called "How the world works" which is amazing. In the special this song is from, he prefaces it with "This song isn't funny, but it helps me sleep at night," which tells you what he thinks of his job. He went viral with the rise of KZbin and was the youngest person to have a comedy central special. Every time I hear "We're rolling in dough while [George] Carlin rolls in his grave," I know that Carlin would be proud of Bo. Also, yes, Bo is a musical prodigy. He played guitar and piano in his earliest videos and has since mastered vocal manipulation and other electronic musical gadgets in real time. He's actively singing and changing his voice in real time on some of his songs. He wrote, edited, directed and performed an entire netflix special in one room during the pandemic. Lighting, sound, camera work, all him. I've been a fan from the start, and I'm impressed with everything he's done.

[@huvrmedia]

Ray's expression during this song was HEAVY. He was so engaged.

[@viridian5maureen853]

For some of his stand-up sets it was obvious the audience didn't get him or his jokes, which resulted in him occasionally doing things like throwing confetti or ringing a bell at the end of each joke to let them know when to react. He could sometimes come off as confrontational or snotty, but the era he came up in had a fad of "mean" comedy and comics, so.... There's a live performance he did of "Repeat Stuff" where he briefly breaks character to take about his gratitude for having an audience before putting a snotty face and voice back on.

[@entryofemotion12]

I think that the discussion in that episode of the Green Room was actually quite interesting personally. I also think that it's important to note that when this show was done in one of his specials he said before starting "This song isn't funny, but it does help me sleep at night" and I think he's insinuating that the song is some semblance of truth, however it's also done at a comedy show, so people will likely laugh it up and mostly ignore the actual message. It's interesting to see all the different perspectives on the songs, and you notice even these older comedians who have been around and made their names generally either ignore the message, or look past it because it's "mostly a funny song" of some sort, while only one of them is really taking in the song and listening, seemingly to the words vs the performance. You even see while Bo is singing near the beginning of the song that while he's talking about the attention grabbing kid, he looks over at the others(Probably playing this up, but looking quite annoyed/angry) when calls the kid an asshole, which I think could also allude to none of them taking the song for what it is, while also blaming them for being a part of the rise of money over art. It's been a minute since I've watched it, might be time to go back and rewatch this episode. Also I know this is almost a year old. I just find a lot of the psychology of this stuff interesting. I only barely got to touch on it in College but it's something I definitely want to consider going back for in the future.

[@MTG_Scribe]

The guy at the end that said, "Yeah I thought it was cute" is Marc Maron. He's got one of the best interview podcasts there is, called WTF with Marc Maron. He's also an amazing stand-up comic

[@Xtra_Medium]

I think you got it I've always seen the song as Bo grappling the commercialization of art in our culture and how that industry rewards selfishness and solipsism

[@terminatrix92]

Clearly Bo wasnt excluding himself from the criticism in this song; it is from HIS perspective, and he literally says 'please don't respect me.' It's just ironic that 90% of comments are cutting Bo slack when he clearly asks not to be forgiven for participating in the same system. Entertainers are overpaid and over-respected but it's also a FULL performance. Is Bo nervous here? Probably but if that comes across its because he wants it to. Bo is reciting a song from memory and playing it LIVE. Most likely he knew exactly which song would be asked of him, the piano is set up and ready. Ultimately this is still ART but if you are taking everything you see at face value you're not really getting the message of the song.

[@EmeraldCityVideo]

The weird energy is super easy to explain when you research who the other comics there are. Garry Shandling, for example, was friends with George Carlin, who is. Namedropped in the sonf

[@specialsause949]

If you haven't, I'd like to see you react to his song "Sad".

[@Bxn.jii_]

Bo's musical comedy is one of the best! I suggest checking out "Morgan Jay" his musical stand up is amazing as well!

[@Bubblez1991]

I have been watching Bo Burnham since he was doing song in his house he is so hilarious. If you haven't you should react to the Spice Girls Wannabe or 2 Become 1 good songs.

[@mattbrock7031]

He could have been pretty anxious. As you said he is relatively young in his career here and he is playing towards some of most influential and revered comedians here. It would be very understandable. He has always been a little awkward when he isn't on stage performing as well

[@ryangray1156]

When he performed this in his special he prefaced the song by saying "it isn't funny but it helps him sleep at night"

[@jablesboogley]

what I find interesting about this version is that he changes a lot of the "I"s from the original version to "We" as if he's calling out everyone else in the room

[@Smart-Towel-RG-400]

bo just accepted to Harvard and like 7-8 other top schools but he said yah f that and went down the entertainment route

[@jlgulleydesigns]

I just suggested this last night 😉 😍

[@vgjester3092]

Added you just for the Bo reacts, liking every one I come across

[@Street-Ryder]

I don't know if you caught it but he said "While Carlin rolls in his grave" at one point acknowledging the late great George Carlin

[@mikewright256]

You should watch that show, it's such a (fly on the wall) situation, I think this was when Bo just started to blow up, so he was probably nervous, The Green Room is a great show

[@dftb6165]

On stage he'd intro this song by saying: "this song isn't funny at all, but it helps me sleep at night"

[@avalean]

Yup, he looks up to (probably in some way) to all of those other comedians, so there definitely was some nerves.

[@kevint.184]

Yes feels like he "stuck it to them" a little to me too. It also feels like Ivan, in the comments, has the hots for you haha.

[@ruesurnameunimportant4816]

@sexymonkeyofficial cringe

[@curtisholsinger6023]

​@sexy monkey - Godfather That's just gross, bud. You may think those words are a compliment but they are not, please stop.

[@joshbull623]

@@curtisholsinger6023 Why would it stop? It is just a robot, it has no concept of what it says outside of its programming.

[@joshbull623]

@sexy monkey - Godfather Nice try bot, I am not going to be tricked 4 times in a row in the youtube comment section this month though. Admirable try though.

[@yungchu2568]

Your reactiojn was spot on.

[@unkelTP]

This song is about youtubers :)

[@vggeist644]

Anyone who puts out content should hear the song 🧐👌🏽

[@Trowa71]

This is an odd performance. I think it's the fact that bo likes to make the audience uneasy, and that's great if you aren't also watching the audience. It just seems like everyone feels awkward.

[@abducteeofearth1703]

Yay! More Bo yo!

[@illibrium4590]

He was super anxious - his performances are usually super choreographed so doing something ad-hoc like that was probably making him very nervous. However, this song seems to be about the core issues he has with his own success/fame ... he doesn't feel like he deserves the kind of money he makes for what he does - so he gets anxious about giving his audience a perfect performance every time.

[@haraldisdead]

Someone said this is like one of Tiny Rick's songs.

[@LOSTMUNK3Y]

Between about 15 and umm 25 or so most people think they know it all 💁🏼‍♂️ it's around mid 20s when we wake up like hold up mom was right life's hard 😂

[@ricktoole9991]

You know Britt, I'm not hitting on you ( 71 ) I think you are one of the prettiest ladies I've seen, your best look is short hair

[@christopherking4932]

Awesome video.

[@antivanti]

Maybe he's a bit nervous performing in front of these comedy legends but it might also be part of the act. In any case I think the other comics thought it was great and reflected some feelings they all deal with

[@AngelicBunnyBoi]

on the anxious feeling, he probably is. not sure when his mental health started to decline, but after his special called What. he quit performing for 5 years because he started having panic attacks on stage. he mentions it in the song All Eyes On Me from Inside, def recommend you react to that song next

[@Allfibs]

For the algorithm

[@Zero_Requiem]

React to "Problematic" pls.

[@rollingtwenty2266]

I just hope those other "comedy legends" took what he was singing about to heart.... doubt it though.

[@demonik2108]

Yes you are the villain LMAO

[@glygriffe]

I prefer the show version of this song, where he upfront tells the public that this is not a comedy song. And there aren't those other comedians also trying to hog the spotlight, making the song even darker.

[@ruesurnameunimportant4816]

yeah the two versions are starkly different. you can see the truth of the words in the way those obnoxious dudes respond for lolz.

[@wolfgecko2091]

you can tell he’s putting everything he can into this performance, everything he’s saying is true and it almost makes me a little bit sick

[@Time_Is_Left]

Ah yes. Young people thinking they know everything. A famously NEW phenomenon lol “There is nothing new under the sun”. Everything that is said about young people today, are the same things that have been being said about young people for longer than most of us imagine

[@Matthewrents]

I would not call Bo a musical prodigy or anything. Natural talent with practice makes him very comfortable, and he’s definitely smarter than his on stage persona, as you get during his interviews and talking appearances. He’s definitely a good player

[@nullakjg767]

I mean he had better rhymes/flow that most professional rappers WHILE playing his own beat on piano live at the age of like 16

[@willowmillard]

He was always incredible for his age, but if you look at someone like Tim Minchin, who arose to fame older, there’s a big difference in skill on the piano. Here for example, Bo tears that piano apart with those four chords, but in something like Dark Side Tim is just extraordinary. I think Bo’s greatest talent lies with lyricism

[@nullakjg767]

@@willowmillard I mean tim minchin isnt funny... the pope song is absoutlely god awful. Even trevor moore wrote way better songs and lyrics with more hard hitting musical critcisms and idk if he even plays an instrument.

[@184fish]

@nullakjg767 completely subjective, and using an example that isn't really a comedy song doesn't make sense. The comment you're replying to is that Tim is technically more proficient on piano, which is true at this time (give Bo the same years Tim has had and who knows). Both are extremely clever comedians with different niches, if one isn't your style then that's fine. With the amount of people who find both funny, you can't argue they aren't at all, just that they aren't to you.

[@devinup3981]

I thought it was cute.

[@uncle_thulhu]

If it helps, pretty much the entire audience is made up of professional comics.

[@Beltran15x]

he had mental health issues for most of his career.

[@chicken.fine.7716]

wait i just have to say.... GIRL YOUR 34??? I THOUGHT YOU WERE AT LEAST 23- DROP THE SKIN CARE ROUTINE-

[@rodneyharris3470]

I thought you were 20 😅

[@Antony_Oscar]

I always think this particular video has weird energy just because the point of the song isn't to be funny and the audience (including the other comedians) keep laughing. It just feels weird.

[@gaalanonim4503]

I really feel like the message went completely over all those ppl's heads in that studio. They're like "oh, funny song, artists so despicable, lmao" instead of "well, he says it in a funny way, but it kinda hit home". I'd have shat myself if I was there instead of him and I'd probably get very distanced after the performance, cuz that observation above would've made me a bit depressed. I have nothing but respect for "socially puzzling" people who push through their fears to do something important. Bo was a king there.

[@fezik8870]

It's gallows humor to them, they understood the message and where it was directed. Paul didn't have them add a piano to the set and ask for the song for no reason, the challenge is you're dealing with people whose entire defense mechanism is humor. Yeah Bo is nervous but within the context of comedians they were willing and able to have a discussion of it. Bo's first comment in the discussion before this is to deadpan ask who any of them are as if he has no clue, the whole tone of the show is dark but fairly mutual ribbing and Bo sets the tone in a lot of ways.

[@fezik8870]

Keep in mind that the audience is mostly comedians and friends of comedians as well. Not to mention the fact that Marc Maron (the guy who comments at the end of the song) is very vocal about his sobriety, to me adds another layer because they're blowing off some of the tension with those jokes. The whole episode is discussion of introspection and spirituality mixed with taking shots at one another. People keep saying that they're taking shots at Bo but to not do that would exclude him from the interaction they have with one another. The immediate conversation after that "it was cute" comment was about how they envy his talent at that age vs when they got success and then immediately talking about personal insecurity.

[@TeamEvil84]

I like your channel.....but you pause...alot lol

[@jeffstorey9147]

Just remember, whenever you say “nowadays,…” or “kids these days” you’re wrong, and you should know better.

[@TheArbiterOfTruth]

I love you Britt, but you clearly haven’t heard much music if you think Bo is a “prodigy” 😂 he’s a very average piano/guitar player and singer. The genius of Bo comes in his writing. He’s brilliant.

[@holdencaulfield8429]

I'm embarrassed for you.

[@kylejones9153]

I love how everyone thinks they just know how he felt personally during this. 😂😂. It’s funny cuz he has tons of jokes about how ppl think they know him and act like it but don’t know anything

[@duckduckpajamas3305]

when they all start laughing and he starts slamming on the keys..to me he's angry not anxious. because he's not being funny he's being honest, but everyone laughs when they are uncomfortable and they are watching a 'comedian'.

[@Algorythmfpv]

while it was wise, and you are correct. in most cases a 20-year-old could tell an 80-year-old nothing about life. at the same time life has gotten easy enough people who should have been screened out of the gene pool are now able to survive until they die from old age. and age no longer means anything when talking about wisdome. I've seen some ridiculously closed minded or just plain ignorant people of old age that have convinced me there are some 20-year-olds that know far more about life and love than they ever could in a million years and Bo is a great example of an outlier on the opposite end.

[@ivanveljkovic6242]

You are the most beautiful woman on the world♥️