August 21
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Bo Burnham
Bo Burnham
On this date in 1990, Robert Pickering “Bo” Burnham was born in Hamilton, Mass. Burnham started attending New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2008 and has a brother, Pete. His career as a comedian and musician began when he posted comedic videos to his YouTube channel, boburnham, beginning in 2006.
In 2008, when Burnham was 18, he became the youngest person to perform a stand-up special for Comedy Central. He is known for his comedy routine “Words Words Words,” which he began performing in 2010 and earned him the 2010 Fosters Comedy Award Panel Prize.
His first CD, “Bo Burnham,” was released in 2009 by Comedy Central Records. “I’m a heretic,” Burnham said during his song “Rant,” part of his 2010 “Words Words Words” routine. During the song, he critiques Christianity for its support of slavery and opposition to gay marriage, and raps about Christians who lack understanding of the bible and twist bible passages to support their own viewpoints.
He wrote and directed the popular and critically acclaimed 2018 film “Eighth Grade,” which won a long list of industry awards. Actress Elsie Fisher played the “endearingly awkward” Kayla struggling to navigate between the real and online worlds. “Inside,” his fourth special, was released in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic without a crew or audience and was nominated in six Emmy and two Grammy Award categories.
In 2025 he had 4.75 million subscribers to his YouTube channel.
PHOTO: Burnham at the Montclair Film Festival in 2018 in New Jersey; photo by Heather Martino under CC 2.0.
“Jesus wasn’t the messiah. Get back, I’m a heretic and I’m on fire.”
— "Rant," "Bo Burnham: Words Words Words" (2010)
Compiled by Sabrina Gaylor
© Freedom From Religion Foundation. All rights reserved.
