Robert Pickering "Bo" Burnham (born August 21, 1990) is an American comedian, musician, actor, film director, screenwriter, and poet. He began his career on YouTube in March 2006, with his videos gaining more than 300 million views as of March 2021. Burnham signed a four-year record deal with Comedy Central Records and released his debut EP, Bo fo Sho, in 2008. His first full-length album, Bo Burnham, was released the following year. At the age of 18, he became the youngest person to record a half-hour comedy special with Comedy Central. In 2010, his second album, Words Words Words, was released along with his first live comedy special of the same name on Comedy Central. His third album and second comedy special, what., was released in 2013 on his YouTube channel and Netflix. He finished in first place at the 2011 Comedy Central Stand-up Showdown. His third stand-up comedy special, Make Happy, was released exclusively on Netflix in 2016. His fourth comedy special, Bo Burnham: Inside, premiered on Netflix in 2021. In 2013, Burnham co-created and starred in the MTV television series Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous and released a book of poetry called Egghead: Or, You Can't Survive on Ideas Alone. His first feature film as a writer and director, Eighth Grade, was released in 2018 to widespread critical acclaim; among other accolades, it received the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – First-Time Feature Film. In 2020, Burnham starred as Ryan Cooper in the film Promising Young Woman.

Filmography

• 2026Primetime — Thanks
• 2025Eddington — Thanks
• 2023Beau Is Afraid — Thanks
• 2023Past Lives — Thanks
• 2022Bo Burnham: The Inside Outtakes — Self, Director, Writer, Original Music Composer, Director of Photography, Producer, Editor, Sound Editor
• 2022Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel — Director, Executive Producer, Editor
• 2022Kate Berlant: Cinnamon in the Wind — Director, Executive Producer
• 2021Bo Burnham: Inside — Self, Writer, Director, Original Music Composer, Director of Photography, Editor, Sound Editor, Executive Producer
• 2020Promising Young Woman — Ryan
• 2020Whitmer Thomas: The Golden One — Executive Producer
• 2019Home Videos — Executive Producer
• 2019Lil Rel Howery: Live in Crenshaw — Executive Producer
• 2019Sermon on the Mount — Executive Producer
• 2018Chris Rock: Tamborine — Director
• 2018Eighth Grade — Director, Writer
• 2017Jerrod Carmichael: 8 — Director, Executive Producer
• 2017Rough Night — Tobey
• 2017The Big Sick — CJ
• 2016Bo Burnham: Make Happy — Self, Director, Writer, Original Music Composer
• We Bare Bears — Andy Bangs / Additional Voices (voice)
• 2013Bo Burnham: What. — Self, Writer, Director, Executive Producer
• Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous — Zach Stone, Executive Producer, Creator
• 2012Adventures in the Sin Bin — Tony
• Key & Peele — Lyle
• 2011Hall Pass — Bartender
• 2010Bo Burnham: Words, Words, Words — Self, Writer, Executive Producer
• 2009American Virgin — Rudy
• 2009Funny People — Yo Teach Cast Member
• Parks and Recreation — Chipp McCapp
• Yo Teach...! — Bo
• Comedy Central Presents — Self, Writer
• Gay Kid and Fat Chick — Writer, Producer
• Outside — Director

Appearances as themselves (7)

• 2017Joe Mande's Award-Winning Comedy Special — Self
• Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter — Self
• Off Camera with Sam Jones — Self
• Conan — Self
• The Green Room with Paul Provenza — Self
• 2008YouTube Live — Himself
• The Soup — Self