“Egghead” by Bo Burnham – A Comedic Reflection on Life

Only a few years ago Bo Burnham was an unknown teenager making YouTube videos from his parents’ attic. Unlike most other people in such a situation though, Burnham’s sense of humor catered to his many viewers, and nearly overnight Bo became an online sensation. 

Today, Burnham can fancy himself as a comedian, musician, celebrity figure, and perhaps more importantly from our point of view, a writer.

His first (and at the moment of writing this, his only) book is called Egghead: Or, You Can’t Survive on Ideas Alone, and it is not a run-of-the-mill novel, from the beginning to the end. Rather than telling some kind of story, Egghead is really a collection of thoughts, texts, poems and illustrations (courtesy of illustrator Chance Bone) reflecting on virtually all aspects of life Burnham could think of. 

Some have called it Shel Silverstein for adults, and I would have to agree on that one. However, such a classification, at least in my opinion, comes from the fact that Burnham uses lots of swearing in his writings, rather than being due to him discussing his ideas from a more mature perspective… so it’s kind of disappointing in that regard. 

Also, some of the jokes and poems fell kind of flat, looking more like filler content than anything else… and that’s where the negative ends on this book.

Most of the content in this book is, in fact, quite witty and hilarious. There are some times when he is just content with taking a more light-hearted approach to the whole concept of life, but in other instances he comes up with something insightful, deep, and meaningful that actually makes you pause in contemplation for a second or two. 

Also, it is worth mentioning that Burnham is quite the wordsmith, manipulating the English language to his will, in some cases creating true works of art worth reading just for the way the words are used.

There are different types of books out there with different purposes, and this one was made for pure entertainment. It is rather short, very sweet, and doesn’t really have any narrative structure or anything. 

It is the kind of literature you can read anytime, anywhere, for any length required. If you want a humorous book to help you relax and pass the time without engaging your brain too much, Egghead is a book I can safely recommend to you.

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Bo Burnham Personal site Bo Burnham is an American comedian, musician, actor, celebrity figure, and of course, writer. He achieved much of his celebrity status with the help of the internet and viral marketing, not to mention that he was awarded Edinburgh Comedy Awards’ panel prize and the Malcolm Hardee ‘Act Most Likely to Make a Million Quid.