Bo Burnham stuns fans by announcing new Netflix special five years after planning ‘long break’ from comedy

Comedian recently starred in Promising Young Woman

Burnham in the trailer for Inside (Bo Burnham/Twitter)

Bo Burnham has announced that he has filmed a new stand-up special for Netflix, just five years after stating that he was giving up live comedy for a long time.

Following the release of his 2016 Netflix special Make Happy, in which he grappled with his love-hate relationship with his live audiences, the comedian said that he planned to take a long break from stand up.

Instead, he has focused on other projects, including directing the critically acclaimed film Eighth Grade and starring opposite Carey Mulligan in Promising Young Woman.

However, on Wednesday (28 April), Burnham announced on social media that he had single-handedly filmed a new special over the past year while in lockdown.

“Hi. I made a new special. It was filmed by me, alone, without a crew or an audience, over the course of the past year. It is almost finished. I hope you like it,” he wrote.

The accompanying video shows the end of Make Happy, in which Burnham plays the piano backstage at his gig. But rather than ending with the comic running off to an open door behind which a family is waiting for him, Burnham is seen lurking behind the door, this time with a full beard.

The special, titled Inside, is coming to Netflix soon.

Burnham’s original tweet was liked nearly 200,000 times, with his fans being sent into a frenzy by the unexpected announcement.

“Truly cannot overstate what a baller move it is for Bo Burnham to disappear from the internet only to reappear every few years with a perfect, fully formed new project,” writer Dana Schwartz tweeted.

“Bo Burnham just singlehandedly saved 2021,” another comment read.

Burnham, 30, originally found fame as a teenager posting comedy videos and songs on YouTube. His first comedy special, Words Words Words, aired on Comedy Central while the following two, starting with 2013’s what., were released on Netflix.