Friday, December 4, 2015

Must be magic

I hadn't heard of comedian and poet Bo Burnham before, but I've been charmed by (some of!) his off-beat verse.  The following are all from his book Egghead: Or, You Can't Survive on Ideas Alone.

Click to enlarge

One can definitely sense the timing & beats of a standup comic in the words.  Many of these have likely been tested out on the stage.  Some, which I won't reproduce here, were designed more for shock value than for deep insight... but a comedian can't be blamed for getting laughs by whatever means necessary.



I think Burnham cites both Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein as inspirations.  You can see their influence, but he adds a unique spark of his own.


This post does have something to do with the big reveal teased over the course of the last few posts.  I'm nearly ready to do that, so keep an eye on this space over the coming week.  :-)

4 comments:

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    1. I agree... but the more pieces of Burnham's that I find, the fewer that I think rise to this level. Could just be an internet selection effect, though...

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  2. I LOVED reading Magic.

    --The Countess

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    1. It's been almost a year since I posted this, hm? I've meant to find more of Burnham's stuff, but I haven't done it. I think I remember not being particularly impressed by his standup comedy videos. Sometimes the medium is key...

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