Comedian brings laughs to Dallas

Comedian+brings+laughs+to+Dallas

Haley Brown, Staff Reporter

Bo Burnham brought his third comedic tour “Make Happy” to the Majestic Theatre on Friday.

Burnham is a popular musical comedian who has been innovating his own brand of comedy since he was 13. He rose to fame mainly via the road of YouTube popularity, and now at the age of 25 is performing sold out tours in some of the most famous venues around the United States and Canada.

After his last, and extremely successful tour “what.” Burnham’s audience was on the edge of their seats awaiting more “offensively creative” comedy. Unfortunately, while “Make Happy” was still hilarious, it did not rise above the innovative success that “what.” brought to the table. “Make Happy” seemed less fluid, pieced together, and lacked an overall theme, which separated it and placed it below Burnham’s previously set standards.

“Make Happy” was the first performance that Burnham had ever given that included songs from his past. His retrospective angle was sadly disappointing, because it makes the audience begin to fear that the brilliant comic may be drying up. Burnham brought back one of his first big hits “Men and Women” and gave the opportunity for the audience to sing along during “From God’s Perspective.” Another negative was that Burnham’s show feeling vaguely formulaic, as the audience could clearly see the blatant organizational tie-backs to “what.” such as ending with a highly emotional and introspective song.

“Make Happy” gave the audience everything they expected and have grown to love from the young comic; such as introspective material, criticism of organized religion, satire on love and marriage, and a formulaic look at music and musical artists. The most disappointing part of the night was of no fault Burnhams, but instead originated from the constant rude and sexual heckling from the crowd. Burnham handled the disrespect gracefully, by using his improv skills to respond to the hecklers in an attempt to silence them while still keeping his show light and running smoothly.

Burnham’s tour “Make Happy” proved that like wine, he is only getting better with age. The young comic has kept his innovative introspective criticism, but has found a way to tastefully refine the way he presents his ideals, so that he can make friends instead of foe’s with the audience. By criticizing such touchy topics Burnham understands that he is walking on thin ice and must be careful of the way he chooses to broach these topics, and that is just what he did. “Make Happy” was an hour long journey, constantly surrounded by laughter, that I would see again in a heartbeat.