Robert Pickering "Bo" Burnham (born August 21, 1990) is an American comedian, musician, writer, actor, and director. His work often combines elements of musical, sketch, and stand-up comedy with auteur filmmaking. His comedy special Inside (2021) and the coming-of-age film Eighth Grade (2018) have received critical acclaim.
Burnham gained notability in the early 2010s for his satirical and subversive stand up and musical comedy, following early success on YouTube. He released four comedy albums between 2008 and 2013 on Comedy Central Records, produced three comedy specials—Words, Words, Words (2010), what. (2013), and Make Happy (2016) and created the 2013 MTV mockumentary series Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous. He announced a career shift in 2016 and subsequently wrote and directed the critically acclaimed film Eighth Grade, released in 2018. As a filmmaker, he also directs live comedy specials. In 2020, he starred in the Academy Award-winning comedy thriller film Promising Young Woman. His fourth special, Inside, was released on Netflix in 2021 to universal acclaim; it was nominated in six categories at the 73rd Emmy Awards, winning three, and for Best Music Film and Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 64th Grammy Awards, winning the latter. Three songs from the special ("Bezos I", "All Eyes on Me", and "Welcome to the Internet") appeared on the Billboard charts and were certified gold in the United States, as did the accompanying album, Inside (The Songs).