Daily Archives: 4 March, 2009

Funny, Music, Music Video

Bo Burnham, not to be confused with Bull Durham…

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I got an email today regarding a young comedian / musician who I had never heard of.  The email asked me to “please post” the email so here ya go:

Internet phenomenon Bo Burnham is about to release his first full-length album, simply titled Bo Burnham. With a CD of 13+ of the best of his hilarious, irreverent, and craftily-worded songs and a full DVD of his internet videos, a Comedy Central Presents, and other performances, this is the package that the fans have been waiting for.

Before he reached his 18th birthday, Bo entered the mainstream consciousness with internet videos (that have been viewed well over 20 million times) of him playing uproarious songs with ingenious wordplay and bad puns.

Bo was also just tapped by Judd Apatow to write and perform in various upcoming films, and when Bo isn’t on set, he will be touring the country selling out shows from coast to coast.

Bo’s Comedy Central Presents special will air on March 27th. Check your local listings for times and channels.

This kid is only 17 years old.  Crazy… So how did he get his start? Well I checked out his website and found out:

Ever since his first temper tantrum, Bo knew he wanted to perform. After an awkward “athletic” phase, he started dedicating his time to school theatre. He continued to nurture his love for performance, receiving rave reviews from countless relatives. Bo chose to attend an all-boys catholic high school, thus giving his nickname “theatre queer” some additional validity. During the fall of his junior year in high school, Bo started teaching himself how to play piano and guitar. Soon after, he wrote and composed autobiographical songs, such as “My Whole Family Thinks I’m Gay,” as non-fictional jokes between him and his friends. On December 28th 2006, Bo recorded two of his songs as videos, and posted them on YouTube. Eight months and seven songs later, Bo’s videos have been seen over ten million times worldwide, generating literally hundreds of thousands of laughs. The songs, recorded in Bo’s bedroom with a camera resting on a stack of books (couldn’t afford a stand), have been remixed, rated, and reviewed thousands of times. Now amongst such elites as “The Chocolate Rain” guy and Chris Crocker, Bo hopes to capitalize on his “success” and share his stories with the world.

Here’s a few videos of the young crude dude:

For more info check out:
www.boburnham.com
www.myspace.com/boburnham
www.youtube.com/boburnham

Bo Burnham on tour:
3/19/2009 – Case Western University – Cleveland, OH
3/27/2009 – Comedy Central Presents: Bo Burnham Premiere –
4/04/2009 – Michigan State University: The Wharton Center for the Performing Arts – East Lansing, MI
4/11/2009 – Wilbur Theater – Boston, MA
4/17/2009 – Norwich University – Northfield, VT
4/19/2009 – 04/27/2009 – Melbourne Comedy Festival – Melbourne
5/01/2009 – University of Miami – Coral Gables, FL
10/16/2009 – Aladdin Theatre – Portland, OR
10/17/2009 – Moore Theatre – Seattle, WA

Hip Hop, Music, Music Video, Punk, Rap

P.O.S. “Optimist” Video

I know my last blog was about P.O.S. and I feel I am starting to sound like a super fan, but when artists release videos like this…

…you have to talk about it and share it with others.

I’m not sure if you read my review of the P.O.S. CD Never Better but I did state how organic sounding the beginning of “Optimist” was and how I thought it was cups.  I had no idea he created the beat from the game that combines cups and stacking skills…very original!

I was lucky enough to receive an email today on how the song was actually created:

P.O.S. describes how “Optimist” was created:

I made the beat to this song after my friend Alegra taught me how to play a game she learned when she was young. Based off of taking a few upside down cups and tapping on them and swooshing them around. The main rhythm of the beat was made by setting up some mics and playing the game. (You see it clearly at the top of the video) I added the organs and pads to kind of soften up the hard noise of the clapping and cups. I wrote the words while listening to the beat in my car, driving around mpls (Minneapolis) trying not to sweat how it came out. This was one of the last songs I wrote for the record and I was just not about feeling any pressure. Not from the label, not from my fans, no pressure no stress. That’s where the inspiration came from for this song I think. Not worrying about what anyone has to say about anything, ever. Doing my own thing and expecting the same from everyone else. That’s where the refrain comes from, “We make our own and if they don’t feel it, then we are not for them”.

I loved the idea of this video as well as how P.O.S. created the song and just had to post it here.  I hope you all enjoyed it.