Bo Burnham: Words, Words, Words

Foster’s Comedy Award nominated show by a 20-year-old with a gift for wordplay, delivery and catchphrases

It’s been quite a month for Bo Burnham.

The young, middle-class American musical comedian arrived in Edinburgh a relative nobody – albeit one with a loyal online fan base. Those who saw him spread the word. The number of hits on Burnham’s YouTube channel rose to 65 million, new dates were added to his run and the 20-year-old has now been nominated for the Foster’s (formerly Perrier) Comedy Award. No, not on the newcomers list, on the actual prize, up against comedians who have been in the business since Burnham was a pre-teen.

His success is fully deserved. Burnham is a genius whose masterful wordplay, bitter cynicism, catchy choruses and stop-and-start delivery make it impossible not to leave the theatre wildly impressed. “Some call me a young comedian, I prefer prodigy,” he boasts, and the further you get into his set of songs, sonnets and Shakespeare the less that will seem like an exaggeration.

Words, Words, Words is not for the easily offended. But for every ditty about Christian hell (“Hitler was there and so were all the Jews, it got a little awkward,”) there is a haiku, funny fact or serious condemnation of slavery.

In the space of two weeks Burnham has soared from “one to watch” to fully-fledged comedy superstar.