Bo Burns Ham

As previously stated, I spend a lot of time on the internet. When friends of mine also spend time here, we double our efficiency at finding and sharing ridiculous and funny things. About three years ago, I was shown a YouTube video by a friend who said he used to hang out with this kid's older brother. This kid was pretty funny, at least the first few times you listen to it. Come to find out, he's on Comedy Central now and has an EP on iTunes and a full-length album in stores. Of course, I knew this, because I follow it and I've seen the kid at the local Denny's.

Bo Burnham, the cleverly named album by Bo Burnham has four studio tracks book ending a live performance. The kid is like, eighteen and has the same agent as Drew Carey and Dave Chapelle, so he must be doing something right. All the guitar and piano is played by Bo himself and he sings and writes his own songs. On a whole, the album is amusing, but I per usual have some piss to drain out of it before I'm willing to accept that it's decent enough to listen to.

Every song (except for the untitled bonus track) has been somewhere on the internet or his EP Bo Fo' Sho. The studio tracks are pretty solid and not overly produced as All My Family was on the EP. The live tracks, while funny, have some issues that seriously need to be pointed out.

First issue was with his live performance of his Bo Fo Sho rap song with no background music. I understand how this may have to be done live if he isn't playing a keyboard with built in beats, but it was seriously lacking--especially when he paused every other line waiting for the laughs. Rap is quick-paced and something you need to pay attention to to hear all the words and all the quips. Pausing in the middle, while is tolerable in his other songs, just breaks the flow of his raps. And if he couldn't play the piano part of Bo Fo Sho, why was it there in I'm Bo Yo?

Songs like Love Is... and The Perfect Woman are too close in proximity, because they are both "love songs" but are still good songs. His comedic remarks in between songs is pretty snappy and funny if not wholly inappropriate but I think that's what he's going for. The "Dicks and vaginas are kind of like Coke and Pepsi..." one was good, as with his lead into Klan Kookout. Ending the show on A Love Ballad was kind of lame, as it's not really a great finish. Think of Stephen Lynch if he ended on Taxi Driver instead of If I Were Gay.

I bought the album on iTunes, so I missed out on the DVD that has his Comedy Central special along with all his YouTube videos, but the meat of the album is the music anyway. As a whole, the album is pretty decent and worth a listen as long as you're not subjecting yourself to it over and over trying to show all your friends who are just now hearing it for the first time.

-Evan "Dez" O'Connor

NEXT TIME (hopefully): Fallout 3: The Pitt