Bo Burnham: what

Bo Burnham's first hour-long special what has been on Netflix for around two years now and I can not think of a more fitting name for it.

I started watching it when it first came out and was immediately turned off. If you're not familiar with Burnham, he first rose to popularity on YouTube as a teenager with some wholly original, if strange, comedy. I really didn't like his YouTube stuff so I was not coming into this with high hopes.

I really didn't like what the first time I watched it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why. I went back to watch it and it has become one of my favourite stand-up specials to listen to whenever.

To be fair, it's closer to a one-man show or performance art than conventional stand-up, but it is safe to say you won't find anything quite like this on Netflix.

He does weird joke songs like "Hashtag Deep", weird tongue-in-cheek parody poems like "I F**k Sluts", and his opening and finale bits are quasi-pantomime bits set to strangely specific music.

If you like comedy that's not traditional brick-wall stand-up, and think you have a brain that can process the difference between a stage persona and someone's real personality, i would highly, HIGHLY recommend watching Bo Burnham: what.

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Are Women Funny?

YES.

Yes they are.


It goes without saying (he says hopefully) that this is a stupid, asinine question. "Women" are no less funny than "men" are and to believe so is not only ignorant, but misogynistic.

I watched a "documentary" called Women Aren't Funny recently which is the brain-child of Bonnie McFarlane a comedian who I don't think is funny at all (having nothing to do with her lack of Y chromosome.) It sought to ask a number of professional comedians—both male and female—if women are "as funny as men."

It was not meant to be hard-hitting investigative journalism and it wasn't really all that well done. But it did show me how many comedians I once respected are misogynist ass-hats. 

An artist's rendering of the illusive "Ass-hat"

I don't have the energy to properly articulate exactly how upset it makes me when someone says "Women just aren't as funny as men." There are a number of comedians who I will not support anymore after hearing them say something like that.

Todd Glass (a great comedian) made a great point when asked to list "5 funny woman comics". Would anyone let you get away with saying "Ok, name 5 funny black comedians. They're just not as funny as white ones!" It's bullshit, frankly. 

There are certainly far fewer female professional comedians, this much is true. For the few ladies who make it their career choice, its a tough unbalanced group. Often, women won't be picked to headline because promoters know (or believe) that a male comedian simply brings more people into a club. 

I'm not going to demean anyone by listing 5 "female comedians who ARE funny" because that simply perpetuates a garbage cycle. But I am going to link to a few comedians who rank highly on my personal comedy scale. I hope you enjoy them!

Tina Fey is awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

Chelsea Peretti: One of the Greats

Sarah Silverman delivers a heartfelt tribute to Joan Rivers

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The Importance of Commitment

My good friend Laina Groom is a very funny person. I don't say this about every person I know who makes jokes. I may write a comedy blog, but her writing is way, WAY funnier than mine is.

She wrote that blog post as a response to a joke I made on a previous one, and in doing so, proved her own point about the importance of commitment to a bit.

There is nothing worse (in comedy)  than someone who fails to commit to the bit.

Stand-ups respect sketch actors because, to them, the idea of being locked into a written piece in front of an audience that isn't on board is the scariest thing in the world. Good stand-ups build their sets with break-away points so they have an out if something falls flat.

Conversely, sketch actors often express that same terror at the idea of being the only person on stage when something flops, and not having the herd mentality that sketch acting brings.

They're both right. In either case, a comedian who doesn't commit to whatever premise they're trying to establish will fail, every time.

For a very low-video-quality example, observe this sketch from MADtv, where Josh Meyers and Ike Barinholtz pretend they're simply explaining how improv works. Like the sketch or not, it takes commitment to make this funny.

It's impossible to talk about commitment to a joke without bring up Will Ferrell. 

Whether you love him or hate him (in my experience there is no middle ground) there is no one better at committing to a joke.
Many of his SNL colleagues have shared stories of Will's attitude towards this. If a sketch bombed in front of the audience at dress rehearsal or live, he shifted into a "if we're going down, you're coming with us" mindset, and would dig into every uncomfortable aspect of the character he could.

His acceptance speech for the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor is brilliant.

His Golden Globes bit with the incredible Kristen Wiig

Ferrell in character as Ron Burgundy sitting in on a real newscast KXMB-TV from North Dakota. Bonus points for watching the curling commentators struggle to deal with Ron Burgundy at the Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings

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