1. Bo Burnham is exultant to announce the release of his poetry book, Egghead: Or you
can’t survive on ideas alone, today: 1st October 2013. It’s essentially 240 pages of deep,
comedic poetry that makes you comprehend the meanings, laugh and then question why
you just laughed at something so morbid – his poems are enticing, elaborate and almost
brutally honest with the reader which is what hauls you in and keeps you reading.
Bo teamed up with Chance Bone, (artist, illustrator, friend) to create this unique book of
surprisingly mature and excruciatingly truthful insights – it ranges from rather morbid
topics such as: break ups, religion, suicide and death to cheerier subjects like romance,
self confidence, a dogs perspective and farts. The idea is that you can experience Bo in
the comfort of your own home, it’s also to get himself out there, though he has already
been named one of the ’50 comedians you should and will know’ by Vulture.
Bo’s poetry attacks real issues, especially in the media; this helps him relate to the
audience – the poems have them laughing but also keeps them highly aware of real
world problems such as: ‘body image and self esteem issues.’ He mentions that unless
the material produced in the way he’s done it is worth it, younger, internet raised
audiences are ‘going to get bored’ – it’s why this book is so unique.
There’s also the fact that it’s actually a book – it’s not a video or an audio clip – it’s fine,
genuine literature – even if the overall concept is sometimes a little crude.
Bo describes his poetry book as a collection of ‘sort of adult Shel Silverstein poems’
(American poet, singer-songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter and
author of children books - September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1990) – even going as far to
say that Burnham is the new Shel Silverstein, this is because their general ideas contrast
– although they have a similar writing style and an even similar illustration style – Bo’s
work is definitely not for children.
Egghead is an anti-intellectual metaphor (mistrust towards intellectual individuals)
directed at people who are considered ‘out-of-touch’ with ‘ordinary people’ as stated by
Chris Roberts for ‘Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme’– in British
slang, Egghead it’s considered the same as ‘boffin’ which is also the equivalent of calling
someone a ‘nerd.’ This is quite a clever play on words on Bo Burnham’s behalf – the title
of the book itself easily explains the types of poems and subjects you expect to find in
the book without actually having to open it.
Bo came up with the poetry when he was still writing for ‘Zach Stone is gonna be
famous’ – his MTV reality show – he’d go to a coffee shop and write whatever came to
mind, he had a large collection of poems and after sorting through them, picking out the
ones he thought would attract or would be worthy of the publics attention, he
transferred them in to a book of poetry – which is Egghead, he mentions that he hopes
‘it’s a fun, weird and whimsical collection of things which are hopefully reflective of
things people enjoy in my act…’
Egghead is a wonderfully elastic anthology of poems, Burnham composes these poems
with an almost music meticulousness – a truly diverse range of poetic techniques – The
Guardian
A strange and charming collection of hilariously absurd poetry, writing, and illustration
from one of today’s most popular young comedians - Goodreads
