Bo Knows Funny

Raunchy teen You Tube star graduates to the big screen

Bo Burnham is an 18-year-old You Tube phenom from Boston who posts songs about having a small penis, his family thinking he’s gay, and the benefits of dating senior citizens. Millions of people have viewed his videos, which often start with him apologizing for their offensiveness while simultaneously greeting his pedophile fans. He’s weird, which is why he was bound to cross paths with Judd Apatow.

After catching a performance by Burnham at a summer comedy festival in Montreal, Apatow tapped him to write a script for a High School Musical–inspired movie. Burnham may even star. This is a guy who graduated from an all-boys Catholic school in

June, turned 18 in August, and dropped out of his freshman year at New york university (as an experimental theater major) in September. As if being the newest addition to Apatow’s brood of comical man-children weren’t enough, he also recently scored a four-album contract and TV special with Comedy Central.

you wouldn’t know it to meet him. After crumpling his lanky six-five frame into a booth at a coffee shop near Nyu on a warm October afternoon, Burnham orders a giant cookie and a large mug of hot chocolate garnished with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. like any kid having an after-school snack.

“Just so you know,” he starts, “I really love High School Musical. Seen them all. lots. This won’t be a parody. More of an appreciative satire. Maybe like 30 Rock is to Saturday Night Live. It’ll be what High School Musical would be in reality. At my high school, I heard ‘faggot’ every ten minutes. Disney doesn’t go there.”

The movie, which should be out in 2010, is a big
step up from the bare-bones videos he began posting
two years ago out of that boredom/fun/vanity you-
Tube trifecta. Those just feature him playing guitar or
keyboard in his bedroom at his parents’ house. But
he says writing a musical comes
with a hefty safety net. “Musicals
are pretty easy,” he says. “They’re
all the same songs. And musi-
cal comedies are even easier,
because nothing can out-weird
randomly breaking into song.”
He’ll still have to ratchet up his
game; he’s mostly a lyricist and

only knows a few chords and progressions. When
the songs were just you Tube goofs, he’d write the
lyrics in a week, but now that this is a business, he’s
spending a few months on each one.

He’s not worried about deadlines, though. He has help: luke liacos is cowriting the script. luke who? “We graduated high school together,” Burnham explains. “He just started at Nyu. Screenwriting. He’s pretty serious about it.” And no one ever drops out of Nyu. RICHARD MORGAN

“Nothing out-
weirds randomly
breaking into song.”
BO BURNHAM

The Spin
20Ranking
on Pop
Culture
Since 1998
GUNS N’ ROSES RELEASE CHINESE DEMOCRACY

1 Nation goes into diabetic shock from overconsumption of Dr. Pepper

₂ PRESENTS Why are they called that if we can’t _{open them until the future?}

₃ SEEING TV ON THE RADIO ON TV _{Slow down there, champ}
PETA AND FRANK BLACK TEAM UP TO PROTEST
4 KFC PETA wants better treatment for chickens;

Frank wants more extra-crispy options

₅ KENNY CHESNEY PENS SONGS ABOUT DIVORCING _{RENÉE ZELLWEGER She had him at prenup}
U2 PAID IN STOCK AS PART OF LIVE NATION TOUR

6 DEAL ’Cause everyone knows there’s money to be made in the stock market

^{7 BRITNEY SPEARS’ CIRCUS Buy it—or else Sean and} Jayden are getting Kools for Christmas

KENNY ROGERS CLAIMS HE’S “THE PLASTIC

8 SURGERY KING” Michael Jackson gets another nose job, files lawsuit

 

9 ^{NEWLY SINGLE MADONNA BACK TO PROVOCATIVE} WAYS New book Sex 2 available in large print

^{10 TIME TO START COMPILING YEAR-END LISTS} A Dr. Pepper sure would hit the spot right now

₁₁ PINK SAYS SHE’S “PROUD” PEOPLE THINK SHE’S _{GAY Wait, that’s a chick???}
EMINEM RAPS ABOUT MUTILATION, SODOMY,
12 AND CANNIBALISM ON NEW TRACK

Dude’s mellowed

USHER SET TO LAUNCH LINE OF LINGERIE FOR

13 MEN AND WOMEN Available in a silk-poly blend or tear-away Velcro

₁₄ YES MAN _o

^{15 ZEPPELIN TO TOUR WITHOUT ROBERT PLANT?} “Mr. Page, David Coverdale on line 1. And 2.”

^{16 KEANU AS A SEMICOMMUNICATIVE HUMANOID} It’s the role he was programmed to play

^{17 ECONOMIC CRISIS HITS THE HOLIDAYS} Hanukkah scaled back to four nights

^{18 THE INCREASING NUMBER OF MOMS ON FACEBOOK} Our parents were right—the Internet is a scary place

19

PAVLA KOPECNA

PASSENGER TRAIN NAMED FOR LATE BRITISH
DJ JOHN PEEL The tracks are all exclusive
₂₀ BECOMING AMERICA’S BIGGEST MUSIC MAGAZINE _{Who says size doesn’t matter?}