Bo Burnham has been one of the key players in the musical comedy game for years now. Ever since he started uploading his comedy songs on YouTube in 2006, his comedic prowess has only strengthened and become smarter and more thoughtful over time. More recently, Burnham has moved away from music and is more focused on writing and directing. His directorial debut, Eighth Grade, has received phenomenal reviews and is out now. In this essay, however, I will be focusing on Burnham’s incredible achievements in the world of musical comedy.

Two of the most important recent musical comedians, in my opinion, are Bo Burnham and Brett Domino. While Domino has only achieved mainstream success a few times (this video in particular), Burnham has been a high-profile musical comedian ever since his first YouTube video posted when he was just 16.

Some of his most popular songs from this era, like “Bo Fo Sho” and “I’m Bo, Yo” were filled to the brim with witty jokes, but they lacked any continuity or structure. The music was just a place to put the jokes that came to Burnham’s mind. Just take a look at either song’s Genius page to see just how many jokes were stuffed into these songs (“Bo Fo Sho” “I’m Bo Yo”). These jokes fly by so fast, the listener will inevitably miss more than a few.

While these types of songs may have been his most popular, some of Burnham’s earliest music did have more cohesion to them. “High School Party” comedically details the uncomfortable setting that is a high school party and “My Whole Family,” Burnham’s first upload, tells of Burnham’s “struggle” with his whole family being uncertain about his sexuality.

Many of Burnham’s songs that were uploaded to YouTube were then put on albums on Comedy Central Records, but Burnham’s first proper live standup/music show came in 2010 with Words Words Words. This album features live songs as well as traditional standup material. The music is very similar to Burnham’s YouTube material with songs like “Oh Bo,” a song parodying hip-hop music filled with clever wordplay and “Words Words Words,” which is literally a collection of puns.

However, one song on this album stands out among the rest, “Art is Dead.” This song is a commentary by Burnham on the state of the comedy/entertainment world, leading to the chorus that states quite simply, “Art is Dead.” There may be some humorous moments in the song, but they all come from very real feelings held by Burnham. He introduces this song with, “This song is not funny at all, but it helps me sleep at night.” While this statement is made in jest, I do believe that there is some truth to it, even if it is exaggerated. The genius of this song was only a sign of the things to come.

Burnham’s next comedy special did not come for three years. Nearly all of this time was spent writing new material for his ambitious new project (he also created a television series and wrote a book of poetry). In December of 2013, Burnham released his second comedy special titled, what., for completely free on YouTube. This hilariously titled special is a massive step up from his previous release. Not only are all of the songs as multilayered as “Art is Dead,” but the production value of the special is much higher, with a more engaging performance by Burnham on stage. Gone are the traditional standup portions featured in Words Words Words, instead Burnham utilizes poetry, storytelling, and pantomiming.

A perfect example of the complexities of the music pieces on what. is the song, “From God’s Perspective.” There are jokes on this track, but nothing in the song IS a joke. The song begins with Burnham taking the perspective of God in a humorous way, but by the final portion of the song, it’s completely serious with lyrics like, “Maybe life on Earth could be heaven, doesn’t just the thought of it make it worth a try?”

Even some of the more lighthearted songs on the album, like “Sad,” end up having a real world meaning towards the end. The special ends with a creative performance by Burnham called “We Think We Know You,” that takes advantage of complex audio cues. The performance uses pre-recorded audio clips of Burnham acting like people meeting him. You really just have to watch it for yourself to understand the brilliance.

On what. Bo Burnham stepped his game up by mixing introspection with comedy with music perfectly. If Bo Burnham had stopped making comedy specials after this, I would have said that this was his peak. Then he made Make Happy.

Make Happy is less of a comedy show and more of a performance by Burnham. There are multiple consecutive minutes in Make Happy in which there is not a single joke and the audience, in silence, watches Burnham perform on stage. Not only does Make Happy improve on what. comedically and musically, but the production value is significantly higher. The lighting and audio cues in the performance are so precise and advanced and they enhance the performance in a big way.

Some of the songs on Make Happy are very reminiscent of what. like “Straight White Male,” and “Lower Your Expectations.” These are fairly light-hearted songs with real world messages behind them. But where Bo Burnham really shines in Make Happy is with the new ideas he implements into his musical comedy.

The special ends with another experimental performance called “Can’t Handle This,” slightly reminiscent of “We Think We Know You,” but much deeper and more complex. The spoken-word/musical piece starts off with Burnham complaining about his “first-world problems,” like Pringles can openings being too small and getting an over-stuffed burrito at Chipotle.

The song eventually evolves into Burnham confessing to the audience about what he really can’t handle, the pressure he faces from himself. Towards the end of the song Burnham delivers a wonderful line, “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.” This is such a complicated line with so much meaning behind it. My writing cannot do this piece justice, so please watch it for yourself.

When this song finishes, Burnham delivers one last line to the audience before dropping his microphone, “Thank you, I hope your happy.” Coming after the emotionally powerful performance of “Can’t Handle This,” Burnham saying this to the audience is very important. He’s not being sarcastic, he truly hopes that the audience is happy because that’s what he wants. He wants to know that the audience truly wants to see him. This is a theme throughout the special, even in the title, but this theme also comes up in one of Burnham first “serious” songs, “Art Is Dead.”

Burnham leaves the stage and watching at home, you are under the impression that the special has just ended. But then the camera follows Burnham backstage where he sits a piano and performs one last piece only accompanied by his own piano playing. This last song goes back to the theme of the special, happiness. The song, titled “Are You Happy,” is a song nearly devoid of any humor. Burnham is really asking the audience if they are happy, before finally finishing the song with, “Hey, look ma, I made it. Are you happy?” The theme of happiness is clearly very important to Burnham and the decision to focus his special on this theme was a genius decision. I can safely say that Make Happy is my favorite comedy special of all time, even if the term comedy special is being used loosely.

Bo Burnham’s musical comedy has evolved dramatically over the years. Burnham began as a 16-year-old kid creating songs on YouTube about how his parents think he’s gay and grew to creating one of the greatest comedy specials of all time. As Bo Burnham continues to make his mark on the entertainment industry, with his film Eighth Grade releasing soon, I am certain that he will continue to create innovative and fascinating art pieces that I anticipate excitedly. At only 27-years-old, Bo Burnham has already changed the comedy world a couple of times, and his influence will last generations.