A trailer for Bo Burnham's Netflix special Inside teases his return to comedy after a five-year hiatus. Burnham's past Netflix specials include what. and Make Happy, the latter of which is his most recent filmed musical comedy routine. Make Happy was shot during the last leg of the tour at the Capitol Theatre in New York. Following its release in June of 2016, Burnham stated it may be the last show he would perform for the foreseeable future.
After that, it became clear Burnham was interested in a career in film. He appeared in the Kumail Nanjiani comedy The Big Sick and the ensemble film Rough Night in small roles. However, Burnham’s movie career began to burgeon in 2018 with A24’s Eighth Grade, his first film as a writer/director. The coming-of-age drama was met with widespread critical acclaim and received numerous accolades. Most recently in 2020, Burnham starred opposite Carey Mulligan in Emerald Fennell’s Oscar-winning Promising Young Woman. He was also cast as Larry Bird in HBO’s upcoming series about the 1980 Showtime Lakers, a sign Burnham will likely continue acting for the time being.
But now, Burnham is making his highly-anticipated return to stand-up comedy after his extended hiatus. Burnham announced the news on Twitter with a trailer for his upcoming Netflix special titled Inside, which he filmed alone, without a crew or audience, over the course of the pandemic. The trailer begins with a clip from the end of his Make Happy special, in which Burnham performs the song “Are You Happy?” on the piano, but then cuts to a current-day bearded Burnham. Watch the trailer below:
When Burnham announced he would be taking a break from stand-up comedy in 2016, it was unclear how long it would be for or if he would ever return, but those who enjoy his work have always held out hope. Though Burnham has not disappeared completely from the public eye, he has shown tremendous chops in film as a writer, director, and actor, but his roots will always be in comedy.
Burnham initially got his start on YouTube in 2006, posting videos of himself performing songs in his room, and quickly became a viral sensation. For this reason, it will be intriguing to see the comedian return to his roots with his latest comedy special. Inside does not yet have a release date, but the trailer says it is coming soon, which likely means sometime this year. Hopefully, Burnham's special will wind up being worth the five-year wait.
Source: Bo Burnham