Bo Burnham: nothing’s off limits for this Lil’ Bo Wow of viral funniness

While most of his pimply peers were busy scouring YouTube for exclusive Jonas Brothers footage and/or the Leighton Meester sex tape, teenage bedroom rapper comedian Bo Burnham was already posting his caustic ditties full of clever wordplays online. It didn’t take long before Hollywood caught on to the racy humour (“What’s a bag of chips divided by five? That’s a Nike worker’s meal,” he deadpans in New Math). Now repped by the same agent as Dave Chappelle and working on a feature script for reigning king of comedy Judd Apatow, this barely legal Massachusetts teen has rapidly cemented his status as a thinking woman’s Justin Bieber. So NIGHTLIFE invited the guy who’s “got more lines than Whitney Houston’s coffee table” to a rapid-fire email exchange.

Although you’re still just a kid under U.S. federal law, you’re of legal drinking age in Montreal. What are the odds we’ll get a sober performance?
Well, meth is illegal everywhere, so I’ll be riding my usual high.

What’s the creepiest fan mail you’ve ever received?
Um… probably a letter from a mother who had attached a picture of her daughter for me. That was just all types of fucked.

You’re developing the “anti-High School Musical,” a pubescent musical comedy based on your high school experiences. Does that mean Disney dreamboat Zac Efron isn’t being tapped for consideration?
No dreamboats. High school doesn’t have dreamboats. I hate dreamboats.

You’ve already ignited the ire of campus Black Student Associations and Gay-Straight Alliances. Which group currently tops your wish list?
I honestly never try to offend people. I think it’s a cheap laugh when you try to shock, but it’s pretty funny to see college groups that are so bored they need to protest my shows. I like when people are completely wrong in large numbers. So to go with that, I’d say some Christian group.

Other than being home to the highest concentration of drunken frat boys and KO’ed sorority chicks on the continent, what’s the next best thing about Boston?
Our next big thing is learning to generalize like all those poutine-eating strippers from Montreal. 🙂

Your material even addresses the plight of Asian child workers. Are you toying with the idea of becoming a celebrity activist à la K’Naan?
No. I’ll let the child workers do the toying.

What’s the best thing about YouTube, other than streaming Bo Burnham clips and those cloyingly cute cat videos?
It’s a place for people to express themselves and to express their gifts and it has lots of soft-core lesbian porn.

You attended an all-boys Catholic high school. Any standout homoerotic memories?
Yes…

What advice would you give to all wannabe rappers out there who aspire to make a shitload of money like you?
Sell out. Copy some people. Yuck it up with Canadian magazines.

To those French girls determined to woo you while you’re in town, what’s the quickest way to Bo Burnham’s heart?
Don’t be French. Merde!

Bo Burnham – Words, Words, Words
July 12 to 17 | Montreal Just for Laughs Festival
Théâtre Ste-Catherine | 264, Ste-Catherine E. | hahaha.com