Fast-rising standup comic Bo Burnham is a force to be reckoned with in the world of comedy, and his performance at ASU was one for the books.
More than 500 people showed up at ASU’s Murdock Hall Wednesday night to see the Burnham perform.
John Clarizio, comedy and lecture director for the Programs and Activities Board, said it was a huge accomplishment to get Burnham to come to ASU.
“After contacting so many people for him to come down here, we finally got an answer from his agency saying ‘yes,’ and we were pretty stoked about it,” Clarizio said.
Attendees piled into Murdock, and Burnham’s opening act, ASU student and comedian Jake Davis, kept them entertained, giving his opinionated viewpoints and quirky musings on real world events.
About a half hour later, the Burnham entered the stage and almost instantly had the audience laughing with his first musical piece “My Whole Family…”
Throughout the night, Burnham’s songs were filled with raps about his past, including certain depressing moments, including songs describing his high school love life.
“High school sucked, made me who I am today,” Burnham said. “Thank God I’m cute and have a dreamy voice, keeps people wanting more.”
Print journalism senior Allison Carlton said Burnham’s songs were the best part of the performance.
“I just love how he incorporates these songs into comedy, especially his song ‘New Math,’” she said. “It’s just genius.”
Throughout the performance, Burnham interacted with the audience, from giving people nicknames to shouting at them for outbursts and, for perhaps this show only, playing matchmaker.
Global studies freshman Oriana Gutierres said his crowd interaction was unique.
“I think he can relate to college students better than older comedians, which makes his interaction with a younger crowd ideal and so much fun,” she said.
Through the night, Burnham went through his comical lyrics, continuous crowd interaction, malfunctioning equipment improvising and comical poetic references toward life — all while bent on getting more and more reactions from the audience.
Burham said he enjoyed his show at ASU.
“I love the people here in Arizona. I love the girls the most, but everyone here has energy and are really good sports,” he said. “I’ll most definitely be visiting Arizona again, possibly even ASU.”
Reach the reporter at shane.erausquin@asu.edu.
