Bo Burnham and the Illusion of Meritocracy

n a podcast episode from 2012, musical comedian Bo Burnham said his fortune felt unreal, as if his life were a futuristic VR game. “I could die, take off a helmet, and, look: It’s the Bo Burnham 2000. There’s a whole line of people crying waiting in line,” he told Maron. “I really do think: What’s more likely? That I’m lucky, or that I’m living in the future.” He’s only gotten luckier. Burnham put out two Netflix specials, in 2013 and in 2016 (which Sam Harris, host of the podcast, was “wonderful…the final song is one, an anti social media comedic-drama that has on Rotten Tomatoes. In the run-up to its release, Burnham: “The former YouTube star turns on the medium that made him famous.” (His fame began in 2006 when a song of his went viral.)