Reviews

As much as I love Bo Burnham's comedy/shows/general existence, the vast majority of these poems weren't anything to write home about. I'm just not a fan of comedy that relies on swearing and making things sexual rather than actually writing something genuinely funny. Bo's comedy routines do this too, although when it's in a live show it seems to be more effective (but still juvenile). Basically it's the kind of humor that you don't really want anyone close to you to watch or read alongside you, because they're probably going to think you've got an underdeveloped brain for finding it funny.

This is not to say I disliked the book, because I did like it, and there was definitely gold scattered throughout. It was witty and lyrical, basically like the XXX Shel Silverstein (who was obviously a giant inspiration for this book). A few of the poems were genuinely sweet and lovely and a lot of them make you think. Unfortunately these were overshadowed by poems aimed at people who think cussing a bunch and saying 'pussy' and 'dick' as often as possible is funny. And this is coming from a girl with the mouth of a sailor who still laughs until she cries at fart jokes... so.