A few months ago I briefly raved on here about the Bo Burnham comedy special “Inside” (see: Netflix).

Written and filmed entirely as a one man band during lockdown, the show is an absolutely brilliant expression of contemporary angst, melding skits and songs to create a single whole that sums up what it means to be alive and deeply unsettled in 2021. He’s managed to be funny and tell the truth both at once, and all without leaving the house.

There are a number of wonderful tunes involved (White Woman’s Instagram, All Eyes On Me, et al) and the album is worth listening to, even divorced from the show itself. It’s also had a big impact on the culture: you haven’t had to go far this year to hear kids chanting “Jeffrey, Jeffrey Bezos”.

The thing that really stuck with me though, and that’s been on my “Best of 2021” playlist for months now, is That Funny Feeling, a song about attempting to live your life accompanied by the constant, nagging sensation that things really are going completely to shit in the background and we’re possibly living right at the end of something.

I am, by nature, an optimistic person, » Continue Reading.