Showing @ Pleasance Courtyard until Mon 19 Aug @ 23:15
Former Youtube sensation and now award winning comedian Bo Burnham begins his second Edinburgh show with a madcap physical routine on his own ridiculousness and ends it with a polyphonic, bittersweet mix of the opinions of others. What exists in between is a shockingly mature dissection of his rise to fame and the falseness of his celebrity. Gone is the gawky teen who made cringe-worthy raps on a keyboard on his bedroom. In his place is a gawky 22 year old who still makes knowingly offensive remarks but balances it with a philosophical waxing infused by Bill Hicks and George Carlin.
The piano remains a feature, but the songs now appeal more to the school of Art is Dead than I’m Bo Yo. Smutty poems resurface but in smaller amounts than in Words Words Words. Honestly, there are significant portions of the show, particularly towards the end where very few ‘jokes’ are said. However, Bo arrests the audience’s attention with a magnetic charisma, flawless delivery and one of the most sophisticated technical shows you are likely to see from a stand-up. Bo is becoming an institution, simultaneously embracing and maligning his genre. He closes his show thanking the Fringe for welcoming him back and the Fringe can’t have him back soon enough.