Going to a Jam Band Concert and Getting My Mind Blown - The moe. Experience

I’ve been going to concerts for a pretty long time. It’s interesting to look back at my concert progression over the course of my life to think about all the different kinds of shows I’ve been to, and all of the fantastic genres I’ve been able to experience live. I’ve seen mid-2000s ‘emo’ (A Fall Out Boy concert in seventh grade, my first live experience), progressive metal (Trans-Siberian Orchestra), 90’s music (Weezer) and much, much more.

Recently, since coming to college, I’ve tried to see the pantheon live bands that my friends profess as life-changing experiences, even if I’ve never heard a song by that band before. And, while hyperbolic, I can say that going to these shows has allowed me to enjoy genres that I never would have imagined finding interest in.

This past Wednesday was my first jam band show. There’s a lot of ‘jam band’ people in the world, and before last week, I would have said I was not one of them. I tend to think back to the “Die Hippies Die” episode of South Park – where Cartman piledrives through a massive amount of hippies who have converged on the town to have a jam festival. It always seemed like jam bands never went anywhere, and that they just played hours and hours of music with no narrative. The music happens, and it sounds nice, but there’s no progression to a musical climax .

It's the corporations, man

I am now happy to report that I was entirely wrong, after seeing the Buffalo, NY band moe. at Stage AE. The band holds many values of a traditional jam band – 45 minute songs, improvisational solos, very few lyrics. But within these long stretches of pure music were the rises and falls, and the climaxes that I had assumed were absent at a jam band concert. I had never even heard of the band before I went to the concert, only knowing what my friend Jason had told me regarding the last time he had seen the band: “They walk on, play three hours of music, and walk off.” And while the three-hour experience was broken up by a twenty minute set break, I can say that this statement totally encapsulates a moe. concert. There was very little interaction with the crowd, which I found interesting. Usually a lead singer will stop every so often and converse with the crowd, or talk about the lyrics in his song. But moe., with only a couple of exceptions, comes on the stage and plays music. They’re not reserved from the audience, but they seem to know there’s no need to entertain the people in the crowd in any other way other than their riveting and exciting musicianship.

moe. is a jam band of five – consisting of two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, and a percussionist. The percussionist, Jim Loughlin, mostly stayed concentrated on his xylophone. It was a jarring sight to see before the concert – a huge xylophone at a rock show. But Loughlin’s xylophone solos were some of the best pieces of live music I’ve ever seen. 

An example of Laughlin's xylophone expertise

The two guitarists, Chuck Garvey and Al Schnier, were absolute maestros, dueling each other with longer and longer solos throughout the night. Each of these solos occurred inside a larger song, but were songs in their own right, with beginnings, middles, and ends.

The moe. concert wasn’t my favorite concert, because they weren’t my favorite band going in. But I can say that it was the show with the most musical expertise exhibited throughout the night. There was simply nothing to do after the show but admire the talent that the musicians in this band have. I’ll definitely be going to the concert the next time moe. comes to town. Next time, maybe I’ll know some of the words too.

Spike Jonze's Her Review

The story of Spike Jonze’s fourth feature film, Her, revolves around a man, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), who falls in love with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson). The catch of their relationship is that Samantha is trapped inside a computer – she has no body, and exists only as a sentient operating system. Jonze sets out to create a deeply compelling love story in his film, and does so quite well. The problem with Her, though, is that the compelling love story is not the one between man and machine, but rather, Theodore and his ex-wife Catherine (Rooney Mara).

            Before Theodore begins his relationship with Samantha, he has ended his relationship with Catherine. Or rather, she left him, because, in her words, “he couldn’t put up with real emotions and tried to put me on Prozac.” But before the demise of their marriage, there was true, passionate love, which Jonze shows the audience in montage form interspersed throughout the film. These montages, both cinematically and emotionally, are the most beautiful moments of the film. In a film laden with lingering, awkward close-ups, the montages instead pull back the camera and show the two caressing each other, laughing, smiling, and sometimes, even fighting. And we see the relationship end, with Catherine, tears in her eyes, sitting at the kitchen table, and Theodore looking upon her with his hands on his hips, tired and hopeless. But it’s beautiful, visible love, regardless of its end.

            But of course, this relationship was not meant to be the emotional core of Her. This distinction falls to Theodore and Samantha. And unfortunately, it happens to be the weak link in a film that surrounds it with fantastic secondary elements. Too much screen time is devoted to Theodore, sitting in his bed, or lying on a beach, simply talking to Samantha. And while Jonze’s intent of having the viewer solely focus on their relationship in these scenes is evident, he goes overboard with awkward close-ups of Joaquin Phoenix’s face. The camera hovers, and a feeling of intrusiveness sweeps through the theater, and it becomes hard to maintain focus on the screen, as Theodore speaks in a high pitched, nasally squeak that matches the awkwardness of the cinematography. The awkwardness is not derived from the fact that a man is dating his computer, but rather, that Jonze forces this relationship to be observed from an angle much too uncomfortable. Theodore is an awkward person, and Phoenix capably shows this part of his personality. But his awkwardness is not enjoyable in these scenes from the perspective of the theater seat.

            It is saddening that these close-ups and minimalistic man-computer scenes do not fully convey the beauty that the rest of the film does. Awkwardness aside, Phoenix’s performance is a passionate one, and his emotion regarding his relationships is strong. His eyes are heavy when he is sad and starry when he is happy. Amy Adams, as Amy, delivers a fantastic performance in support. Amy’s relationship with Charles (Matt Letscher) takes a toll on her, and the tiredness is visible on her face. She too begins a relationship with her operating system, and though it is platonic, Amy’s face begins to show more life as the film moves towards the conclusion. Chris Pratt, playing Theodore’s work companion Paul, is happy-go-lucky, and his lively, passionate smiles clearly show his love for both his girlfriend Tatiana (Laura Kai Chen) and the world around him.

            The soundtrack of the film is also fantastic, and matches up extremely well with the themes of love, happiness, and compassion. The preeminent indie band of the new millennium, Arcade Fire, scored the film, and their music provides a quirky, post-modern sound to the film. The soundtrack, full of slow, melodic piano rhythms, occurs mostly in the enjoyable montage portions of the film, and strengthens the passionate emotion seen on screen. The final scene, one of the most emotional in the film, would not be so without the fantastic post-rock instrumental piano piece that accompanies it.

            Jonze’s postmodern visuals, long a trademark in his films, also helps to set the mood of the film. The mis en scene is almost never symmetrical, and each of the sets is filled with low furniture and bright, aesthetically pleasing colors. Jonze also pumps a large amount of red and white into his design, whether it is in the color of clothing or in the luscious, bright lighting. These colors, symbolizing the purity and passion of love, are strong visual motifs that carry a large amount of emotional weight on their own accord.

            So while the main focus of the film is lacking, the supporting elements stand strongly enough on their own and make Her an enjoyable film. Jonze is a talented filmmaker, and even though, at some moments, the awkwardness overpowers the surrounding features of the film, the visual and audial aesthetics show a true beauty and passion. These features may not be the main element of the film, but are the definitive reason for buying a ticket to the movie.

On the Developing Jameis Winston Sexual Assault Situation

In the past couple of weeks, various outlets have begun to report on the sexual assault situation going on in Tallahassee, Florida, which centers around football player Jameis Winston, quarterback for the #2 Ranked, undefeated Seminoles of Florida State University. A relatively non-biased timeline of events was published by Grantland's Patricia Lee earlier today. At present, Jameis Winston's DNA is a match, and, as reads in the timeline, evidence may suggest Tallahassee PD Detective Scott Angulo worked to pressure the alleged victim to halt her prosecution of Winston because of his celebrity as a football player. Only now, some 11 months after the crime allegedly took place, is the investigation continuing again, with the Seminoles in line to play for a championship and Winston solidly in contention for the Heisman trophy.

It's important to mention Winston's football pedigree here - not because he's "a star football player, good student, watching his life fall apart", but because I can only write this post with my own perspective, as a college football fan. I'm in no way connected to the events that December night in Tallahassee and as such, I have no right to comment on whether or not I think Winston is guilty or not, because, believe it or not, the accused are rightfully innocent until proven guilty in this country. That does not, however, change the notion that if the timeline is correct, Florida State police probably should have laid charges on Winston months before the football season even began. Winston would have been automatically suspended indefinitely, and his pedigree, which makes up a strong portion of the stories being written about him, wouldn't even exist. Maybe I wouldn't have watched a 41-13 demolition of my Pitt Panthers because he wouldn't have even been on the team in the first place, and maybe Florida State wouldn't be #2, three games away from a surely exciting championship game against Alabama. And now, this season, pending the investigation, may have an asterisk on it because Florida State police didn't want to risk a football player getting in trouble.

But the above paragraph is exactly the troubling thing about this case. I'm thinking about the repercussions towards the Vizio National Championship game, for God sakes. And in Tallahassee, there's a girl who's well on her way to being branded a liar and a villain for targeting a football player at a very volatile time in the Seminoles season. And that's why I have to talk about football - because if Scott Angulo actually did his job instead of protecting Winston, there probably wouldn't be this miraculous season in the first place, and maybe that girl could have had her privacy and well-being protected, instead of getting the label of "season-killing pariah".

It's sad, because this is going to keep happening. Celebrities and athletes will always be protected, regardless of their state of guilt, and an attack on the quarterback is an attack on the university the way things are right now. Until we finally grow up and treat everybody equally - men and women, football players and regular students, and give each and every person in this nation the true due process of law as both accusers and defendants, nothing will change. And again, this isn't a comment or accusation insinuating that Winston is guilty, or that he isn't - but he was looked at as Jameis Winston, Florida State quarterback, instead of Jameis Winston, suspect, and that's wrong. It's sad, because I love college football - I grew up on the belief behind alma mater and the players representing the university. And it sucks that the big dollars and the promise of the NFL have turned it into a pre-professional athlete mill. Until we all stop worrying about winning and the pressure, and college football returns to those values it championed for decades upon decades, this will be but one of many more morally troubling situations that will plague the game for years to come.

On 'Gravity', The Best Film I Have Ever Seen

One of my favorite feelings in the world is the moment after a film fades to black. After giving the movie total and undisputed attention for its entirety, you sink back in your seat, take a breath, and allow the real world to come back. A decent film ends with a nod of approval and a quick move to the exit, as you talk to your movie-going companions about what you did and didn't like. A really good film might cause you to remain in your seat for some of the credits, leading to more chatter about its merit. A fantastic, truly great film leads to a more intellectual response, as the feelings stay internalized for a time until you can formulate words to say, to give the movie its credit. 

Then there's Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity. A film so mesmerizing, so exhilarating, and so emotional, that there remains nothing to say even after a night of sleep and a morning to think about it. To those reading this blog post, I apologize, because there are truly no words that could give this film its worthwhile credit. As it ended, my three friends and I had nothing to say. We searched for words, but there weren't any. There still aren't, really. To call Gravity a cinematic masterpiece is a vast understatement. Perhaps the best sentence that can encapsulate how momentous this film is is a thought from my friend Jason, who equally shared in the speechlessness until quite a while later: Simply put, films up until now are Pre-Gravity, and everything that comes after will be Post-Gravity.

Of course, hyperbole and big adjectives only go a certain distance in stating greatness. I suppose I'll start with the effects. Cuaron has always had the gift of being able to place the viewer in the environment of his films, perhaps better than any other active director. Watching Children of Men felt like being in that post-apocalyptic London. Prisoner of Azkaban had the most active viewing experience of any of the Harry Potter movies by far. And now, with Gravity, you truly do feel as if you're experiencing space. The camera never stops moving, floating and suspended in zero-gravity. I've never actually flinched at 3-D before, but I did on several occasions here. And active viewing aside - the movie is stunningly beautiful. And even the smallest of details are so exact and precise that the tears and smallest droplets of blood carry a beauty that I don't think I've ever seen on such a small scale. The beauty is one of the most terrifying elements of the film, in fact. Cuaron places us in an undeniably claustrophobic environment in the most open vastness in existence. We experience a struggle for survival in the most visually stunning openness ever seen on film. We can't discuss cinematic beauty without mentioning James Cameron's Avatar - but Gravity's beauty has an incredible realism to it. Pandora doesn't exist, but Gravity's vacuum of space has a sense of believability that one would not expect it to contain.

Another thing Avatar just didn't have was strong acting or a strong story. And in Gravity, both of these elements fully match the wondrous effects. Whereas Avatar was simply created to make us notice what was possible visually, Gravity takes these visuals, adds believability, and contains one of the most emotional journeys I have ever seen on film. Sandra Bullock gives a once-in-a-generation performance, bar none. Truly stunning work through and through. And Clooney shows up playing Clooney in the best way possible. But the bulk of the film is Bullock, and I really can't say enough about how fantastic she is. The score is also one of the most riveting I've ever experienced. It has a heightened importance in the film because of the utter silence of space surrounding it. We either hear silence, the actors, or the score, which matches the intensity and emotion in every way. 

I would say more, but there is really no point in continuing on. Gravity is a momentous achievement and a complete landmark in every sense. I return again to the immediate moment after the movie ends. In this moment, I truly felt privileged to have experienced the previous 88 minutes. I gained an appreciation for my own planet. I cannot recommend a film more, because the wonder contained in Gravity is what makes the movies so great. It truly is the best film that I have ever seen, and I can't wait to see where cinema goes from here.

Here's a Conversation that HAD to Have Happened Between Kanye West and Jay-Z in September 2009

On September 13, 2009, Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards. This much is certain. It is, frankly, the only objective statement that one could make regarding the incident. Many events could have led Kanye to rush the stage on live television, but the blogosphere seemed rather content to align itself with the "Kanye West is just an egotistical jackass" argument. West, in the aftermath of the incident, seemingly went into hiding, only to emerge over a year later from Hawaii with his magnum opus, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, an album within which he pondered his status as a figure of society before ultimately giving a toast to himself as the best there is. The album was so highly praised that West was able to immerse himself back into the spotlight, and people seemed willing to forget the VMA incident.

Upon hearing Yeezus, however, I am fully convinced that the VMAs was part of the plan. I can imagine it now, Kanye and Jay-Z in a VIP section of a nightclub in early Autumn 2009. Kanye is lost in thought. Suddenly he turns to Jay-Z and flashes a grin. "Okay, who's the biggest pop star right now?" he asks. 

"Probably Taylor Swift," Jay-Z replies, sipping a very expensive vodka. "Everybody loves her. She's the media's darling."

"You think she's gonna win a VMA?" 

"Probably. I'd say Best Female Video. Beyonce will win overall though, hers was one of the best videos of all time," Jay-Z says. "Of all time," he repeats.

"I'm gonna interrupt her acceptance speech. I'm gonna go up there, take the microphone, and say how Beyonce should have won. Even though we all know she'll win later in the show," Kanye says, the grin never leaving his face.

"Why would you do that? Everybody would hate you for it, and they'd think you're stupid for not realizing Beyonce still could win later in the show," Jay-Z replies, utterly confused.

"That's the point. They'll all hate me. I'll get roasted by the media. They'll all say that I'm an egotistical jackass, and an idiot too. They'll say it doesn't matter how good my music is, because I made a fool of myself at the VMAs, and they won't play any of my songs on the radio," says Kanye.

"So why do it?"

"Because then I'm gonna buy a one-way ticket to Hawaii. And I'm gonna rent a bungalow on the beach and buy out the entire recording studio for a year. And then I'm gonna fly in Kid Cudi, and Nicki Minaj, and you, and John Legend, and maybe that guy with the band who's name I don't know how to pronounce right. With the I in it," Kanye says.

"Bon Iver?" 

"That's the one. And I'm gonna make the greatest album ever, and it will be so good that Rolling Stone will make another issue of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list just so they can include it," he says.

Jay-Z takes another sip of vodka. It didn't make sense to him. "Why go through all that trouble at the VMAs? Why not just go to Hawaii and not make everybody hate you?" he asks. 

"The whole point is that everybody is gonna hate me and I'm gonna make an album that throws their hate right in their faces. And they'll forget they hated me, just cause the album will be that good," Kanye says.

"That's a dark twisted fantasy," Jay-Z says, shaking his head.

"And not only will I make everybody love me, but Kim Kardashian is gonna have my baby too."

"What!?" Jay-Z exclaims, "She's dating Reggie Bush!"

"I know. But she's gonna move on to a basketball player next, and marry him, and then I'm gonna steal her and she's gonna get pregnant with my baby while she's still married to him," Kanye replies.

"Are you insane!? And how long have you been planning this?" Jay-Z asks, dumbfounded.

"Don't worry about it. So yeah, she'll be pregnant, and then she'll get a divorce. And we're gonna be the biggest couple in America. But I know she's gonna get a lot more attention than me when the baby is about to come, so what I'm gonna do is go to Paris for a while and make another album there," Kanye says.

"Even if this plan does work up until this point, you wouldn't want to stay with her while she's pregnant? Isn't that, like, an abandonment of fatherly morals?" asks Jay-Z.

"Well that's part of it too. I'm Kanye West. I'm not a secondhand man to a reality show personality. And just to prove that to everybody, I'm gonna drop the album a day or two before the baby's due date."

"That's just bad business. Nobody would pay attention to the album because they've been focusing on this hypothetical baby for nine months," Jay-Z says.

"Nah. I'm gonna tweet the date of the release a month ahead of time so they know it's coming," Kanye says.

"What about advertising? You don't really think one tweet will do the job, do you?"

"Yes it will. I'm Kanye West. And then the album will drop and nobody will pay attention to the baby. And not only that, but I'm gonna sing about some other chick in all of the songs. But nobody will care, because the album will be fantastic."

"This is unbelievable. That's like, four years of a huge master plan. I don't think you can pull that off," Jay-Z says, putting on his coat to leave for the night.

"Yes I can," Kanye replies. "I'm Kanye West."

The Great Gatsby Review

Last week, I had a conversation with a friend about my expectations going into The Great Gatsby. Neither of us had seen the movie yet, but I had read the book in tenth grade English class, as has much of American youth. Scholars, teachers, and great writers have said all there is to say about the everlasting greatness and importance of F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece - nothing I could add about the text would add anything new to the volumes of praise heaped upon its 192 pages. And so these were the expectations director Baz Luhrmann and executive producer Jay-Z faced as they attempted to re-tell the classic to fit the tastes of contemporary culture. Personally, I believe Luhrmann to be one of the most polarizing directors working in Hollywood today - he is loved or hated, very rarely does any critic hold and opinion of him in the middle of the two extremes. I happen to be on the "love" side of the argument - Moulin Rouge and, to a lesser extent, Romeo + Juliet (starring Leonardo DiCaprio on the brink of stardom) are two films I can always return to with great joy. Luhrmann is unapologetically avant-garde, and will throw highly stylized color and camera movements at you from start to finish. His characters are bold, nearly as colorful as the sets they stand upon. Simply put, there is no auteur quite like Luhrmann, a position he seems to relish.

And so I told my friend I would enjoy The Great Gatsby going in, because it would be a Luhrmann film, regardless of how closely he kept to the story of the book. And, plot aside, the setting of Gatsby is a perfect set-up for Luhrmann. The '20s was the most colorful, highly charged decade of the history of the United States - at the very least, in upper-class culture, which is precisely the subject matter. The story of Gatsby - what with the bootlegged alcohol, jazz music, and over-extravagant new money houses, was begging to be directed by Luhrmann from the very moment it was published.

Not only did Luhrmann show exactly how over-the-top this story really is, he ended up following the book extremely closely, with the exception of giving the narrator, Nick, a frame story for telling the story. This frame, a stay at a sanitarium in which a doctor convinces him to write, was kept decently to the side of the main action and never once got in the way of the emotions of the plot. In fact, as Nick begins to write, Luhrmann actively incorporates the words of the book with the action. Fitzgerald's prose is as much a character in the film as Nick or Tom Buchanan. Luhrmann truly makes the viewer pay attention to the text itself, understanding that there is a deep importance to the aching, blind hope of Fitzgerald himself.

This deep emotion is fully enhanced by brilliant performances by the main cast - especially DiCaprio as Gatsby and Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan. DiCaprio fully captured the iconic literary figure in a way that eluded Robert Redford some time ago, and his passion on screen was astonishingly exact to what I believed the character of Gatsby to contain. In addition, his youthful bravado shines through on screen in a way I haven't seen since Titanic - an exceptional feat considering that film came out some sixteen years ago. Mulligan, as if she hadn't already with Drive, cemented herself as one of the prime young actresses of our generation, providing Daisy with a level of sympathy I wasn't even aware was there in the first place. Joel Edgerton, as Tom Buchanan, masterfully holds his own against the powerful DiCaprio, and while I have never been a fan of Tobey Maguire, his awkwardness as an actor seemed to perfectly fit the character of Nick Carraway.

These performances are strongly assisted by the trademark color and pizzazz of Luhrmann's backdrops and camera movements - two elements that when combined, give the feel of a moving painting throughout the whole of the film. Another extremely important part of this film that must not be overlooked is the soundtrack. If there is a soundtrack with songs that more accurately fit the culture of both the characters in the film and the audience members watching them, then I would greatly enjoy hearing it. Luhrmann exclusively uses songs from the last decade or so, but each of them are stylized just enough to perfectly encapsulate the 1920s. Lana Del Rey, and her song "Young and Beautiful", in particular, is a fantastic choice to include. "Young and Beautiful", the lead single from the soundtrack, like most of Del Rey's music, is quite jazzy, yet is privileged with a fair amount of production and electronic background to make it listenable for modern day audiences. "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody", my personal favorite track, is also clearly a contemporary pop song, but is infused with elements of swing, providing a superb sound to the colorful Gatsby parties shown in the film. 

By the credits, I felt fully satisfied with the film and Luhrmann's directorial choices, and never once did I feel that there was anything pointedly wrong with it. I do understand that the style is not for everybody and thus, the 50% Rotten Tomatoes rating seems a perfect fit for its polarizing, take-me-or-leave-me boldness. The film never once felt slow, even at a length of 143 minutes. I highly recommend it for both fans of the book and movie fans in general, and I hope that DiCaprio can possibly break his Oscar curse with another legendary performance to add to the record books.

Zach Stone is Gonna Be Famous: Frank makes a Cameo in the Pantheon

On Thursday, Bo Burnham, seemingly my generation's favorite comedian, had a show premiere on MTV. I actually had no idea that Bo Burnham was up to anything - since his stand-up special Words, Words, Words, he had pretty much disappeared. However, he showed up on Reddit to do an AMA to promote his new show and, as a fan, I made sure to tune in. And so did Frank!

So we decided to have a mini e-mail discussion about it. Hope you enjoy.

Frank: I was expecting a raunchier humor before I watched the pilot episode of Zach Stone.  I was disappointed.  As a Bo Burnham fan who’s seen him live twice, I was confused about why the show wasn’t making me laugh.  During his live shows, Bo jokes about rape, religion, race, but Zach Stone is Gonna Be Famous mentioned maybe two “Bo Burnham” lines that could be considered funny.   The jokes Zach did succeed at were recycled from Bo’s live shows.  Bo throws glitter at all of his shows, makes a joke about “losing control of his stools” before he sits down at a piano, etc.  The rest of the show left a lot to be desired in terms of “Laugh out loud” moments.

It makes sense for Bo to make a show about getting famous for basically no reason because that’s how he became famous in the first place.  But it’s hard to sympathize with Zach as a character because Bo’s already famous in real life.  If the show was going for an authentic feel, they should have picked someone who wasn’t already famous.  If the show’s going for a “mocking every person trying to become famous” feel, then it’s just not funny.  And why the hell did Zach’s friends have the same boring personalities as sidekicks from Disney TV shows?  I think I actually like Alan Twitty from Even Stevens better than the characters they’ve introduced so far.  His best friend was sheepish and didn’t say more than two sentences.  His “girlfriend” has no personality whatsoever so far.  I understand that it’s the first episode, but I pictured bigger and better things for Zach’s posse from the get go.

As a character, I do like Zach Stone.  He’s a way for people who would be slighted by Bo Burnham’s music to digest the “mocking society in an offensive way” personae.   If the show wants to succeed, it needs to get raunchier.  Take the woman out of the casket and dance around with her.  Accidently grab her boobs.  Then drop her on someone in the audience.  Zach Stone isn’t “Bo Fo Sho” enough for me, but hopefully it gets better as more episodes air.

Garrett: Ok, so I get what you're saying about your missed expectations. I was reading Bo Burnham's AMA on Reddit, though, and he said that the reason he wanted to make this show was because it wasn't a fictionalized version of himself or anything like that. He didn't want to be Bo Burnham, he wanted to create an entirely new character. So the jokes he makes are supposed to be made by Zach Stone the character, who happens to be acted by Bo Burnham.

The problem, I think, is that Bo Burnham the comedian breaks through more than he may have intended. In his stand-up specials, Bo delivers his jokes in a certain way, and the delivery is the same in the show. He doesn't seem to be able to break out of his mold. I think that to be more successful he needs to really commit in one way or the other - as you said, Bo Burnham fans are disappointed because his style isn't coming through enough.

I also think there's a problem with the show being on MTV - Bo Burnham the comedian and Bo Burnham the writer are much raunchier than what's allowed on cable. MTV is one of those weird enigmas where you can show a sixteen year old using her pregnancy to get famous, but you can't use curse words or show drug use or anything like that. It's why the US version of Skins was so unbelievably bad. Jamie Brittain was the creator of the UK version, but just wasn't allowed to show the same hard-hitting content that he could in England. Bo Burnham has to work around the network that he's on and that may be a big problem for him moving along.

Frank: I watched Conan's interview with Bo Burnham and when Conan asked about Bo insulting Justin Bieber, Bo responded by saying, "Yeah I have a bit where I make fun of all the Bieber songs describing the most general girl ever, so that they apply to pretty much anyone."  Bo is mocking today's pop songs, which are creating ridiculous expectations about love for teen girls and guys.  Bo has the same mentality with Zach Stone.  He's mocking the way reality shows are by making a fake reality show and a fake character who isn't as funny as the real Bo.  Whether this is intentional or unintentional, it doesn't matter.  But  it's good in a way.  I'm glad that he's creating a satire about how incredibly hard it is to become famous unless you're really good at something.  But Bo is good at multiple things: singing, beat-boxing, playing piano and guitar, and gut-bursting comedy.  You can't pretend to be ordinary, untalented Zach Stone when Bo Burnham is a fucking genius and everyone knows it.

He needs to shine through as Bo.  He can't do that on MTV.  He needs to find an outlet that will allow him to express himself.  As for the Skins comment, I agree.  I feel like Bo needs to move to the UK and release a raunchier Zach Stone and then have it appear on Netflix so that I can actually laugh at it because right now, American Zach Stone ain't cuttin' it.

Garrett: It's also tough because Bo is clearly much more talented than everybody around him in this show. I don't know where MTV finds their supporting actors, but they're all atrocious. The entire show relies on two factors: can Bo Burnham carry the entire show on his shoulders, and can he do this while walking the censorship line? I, for one, think Bo Burnham is creative enough to make the character of Zach Stone funny. There's a social commentary in this show, as you said, about the idea of fame and what it means to people. Maybe the reason the show works is because an already-famous comedian is pretending to be one of those people we see all the time, trying to do everything they can to be famous in spite of themselves and their established relationships. Bo does seem to understand the ridiculousness of our society in that we reward fame regardless of how it's obtained, and I think his characterization of Zach is pretty on point with that.

But Bo Burnham wants to be himself too much. The already-famous, near A-List comedian who everybody knows the style of. Therein lies the issue with the show - it's not that I don't find it funny, I just think he's gonna run out of material to put on the censored MTV.