r/boburnham • u/Dense-Performance-14 Prolonged Eye Contact • Jul 29 '26
Question Would you consider INSIDE to be a "musical"?
Every Wednesday me and a group of friends gather round to watch a new musical we haven't seen. Whether it be stage play, movie adaptation, even Disney. The only rule in our group is music has to be a prevalent part of the art.
I'm choosing inside this week since music is a prevalent part but it's not something I ever considered a musical. Afterall, Netflix and bo himself never labeled it a musical. But recently we watched tick tick boom (stage play) and it got me thinking you could classify inside as a musical since they're both similar in that its a one man monologue style piece. Wikipedia simply defines a musical as a piece with music being the primary driver for story and development, which I think fits.
Either way we're watching it, we aren't stingy with who gets to pick what, it's variety hour.
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u/Meraki30 Zach Stone’s Camera Crew Jul 29 '26
It depends on the context for what definition you’re using I guess. Like if we were compiling a list of musical movies and proshots I’d be alright putting Bo’s specials on there. But if I asked someone their favorite musical and they said inside I would not accept that answer.
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u/Ryuu_K Jul 29 '26
Musicals tend to have an overarching and coherent storyline to them that's told through music and song. E.g. The Lion King tells the story of Simba's life through its songs. While there is an overarching theme to Inside that connects each of the songs, I'd say it's much more like his other comedy specials, which in his own words "is a series of discrete bits". They don't really tell that much of a coherent story when strung together.
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u/LogOk7746 Jul 29 '26
I'd argue the plotline for Inside is as linear as something like Company, Cats, A Chorus Line, etc. Those are all undeniably musicals.
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u/Guy_Number_3 Jul 29 '26
This is the best argument that I’ve seen, but I think the ensemble is essential to something being a musical.
I’d call Inside a one man show.
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u/ironickallydetached Jul 29 '26
There are countless musicals that use music to explore a theme that has a loose narrative when it comes to plot. Company, A Chorus Line, 35MM, HAIR, Assassins, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (to a degree, a bit of music drives plot but it’s mostly exploration of theme). There are more. Listen to the cast recordings of any of these shows and you won’t get a good idea of the plot, but you get a great sense of theme. Doesn’t mean they’re not musicals. Inside is an exploration of theme musical.
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u/Jomolungma Jul 29 '26
I think The Dissect Podcast’s analysis of Inside ably demonstrates that this is not a series of discreet bits. Further, I think Bo saying that in other specials is actually a misdirection.
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u/Lupiefighter Jul 29 '26
Inside in one respect Inside feels like an inverted version of tick tick boom. In both you have a man hearing the ticking clock to his 30th birthday.
One is feeling in crisis because he hasn’t achieved everything that he wanted to by 30 and is afraid he never will reach these achievements. The other is feeling in crisis because he has achieved so much in his early years that he is afraid that his best creative years are behind him after 30.
Both spend much of the time using singing, playing piano and lighting to interact with the with the audience.
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u/sleepingbabydragon Jul 29 '26
As someone who loves musicals and loves Bo’s comedy, no I don’t consider inside a musical. It doesn’t have a through line plot/story. Similar reasons I wouldn’t consider it a stand up special. It lacks the basic criteria to meet those definitions.
It’s just a comedy show and that’s fine. It’s an excellent piece of art in its own right
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u/SammySweetSpirit Jul 29 '26
I’m glad you picked it for you and your friends to watch. Either way, let us know what your friends thought of it.
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u/Dense-Performance-14 Prolonged Eye Contact Jul 30 '26
Update: we watched it and I think they liked it but credits rolled and everyone was very quiet. Someone left and said they needed to think on it, we talked a little bit but normally we talk for hours, seems everyone was hit pretty hard. I DID warn them though, explicitly
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u/imbadatgrammar Jul 30 '26
Bo doesn’t do comedy shows he does one man shows like in ‘99 when he adapted the grapes of wraith into a story about an intergalactic sexual predator called the Rapes of Grath.
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u/ParticularArea8224 I'm problematic Aug 01 '26
Yes. 60% of the film is music. It would not be Inside without the music.
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u/acquavaa Jul 29 '26
It’s absolutely a musical. It’s not even close for me, but imo the compelling piece of evidence is the reprise and recurrence of previous themes and motifs appearing later. Look Who’s Inside Again’s theme shows up a few times, and Goodbye is full of reprises of previous themes and motifs.