What Bo Burnham’s “Inside Outtakes” Reveals About the Creative Process

Exactly a year after Burnham released his Inside special on Netflix, he released the outtakes on YouTube

I watched Bo Burnham’s Inside Outtakes while waiting to board my flight at the airport. It’s the first time in years that I’m flying international as I, like many others, spent a great majority of the last few years inside. While I wore a mask, I was surrounded by mostly maskless people. I’m flying to teach a study abroad and taking precautions. The airport is crowded. The pandemic isn’t over. Bo Burnham’s special reminds me of where we were.

It’s been one year since Bo Burnham’s Inside was released on Netflix. It was a meticulously edited and produced comedy (?) special about what a performer goes through when he’s stuck inside a single small space for over a year. When Inside first came out, I couldn’t watch it. It was too… real. But when I finally did, I found myself tearing up several times. The songs and sketches were ridiculous, but they felt raw and emotional. A performance of solitude for invisible viewers.