Words Words Words
Encyclopedia
Words Words Words refers to both a stand-up comedy
routine and the derivative album
by American comedian, Bo Burnham
. The live performance debuted at the Boston House of Blues
on May 21, 2010, and the album is derived from a special live performance of the same set at Carolines on Broadway on June 30, 2010. In addition to the Carolines performance, the album has two studio singles, "Words, Words, Words” and “Oh Bo".
The House of Blues debut performance and the Carolines on Broadway performances were released on DVD and MP3/CD respectively, with the constituent material from the set being generally well received. The album alone charted on four separate Billboard charts
, topping out at number one on the Billboard Comedy chart.
on May 21, 2010 (postponed from April 16, 2010). This was recorded as the inaugural performance of Comedy Central
's "House of Comedy Live from House of Blues" series. Burnham shared his debut evening at the House of Blues with fellow stand-up comedian Myq Kaplan
. The one-hour special of Words Words Words aired on October 16, 2010 to over 700,000 viewers, and was released on an unrated one-disc DVD
three days later (October 19). , Burnham was the youngest artist to garner their own hour-long special on Comedy Central. The DVD is presented in anamorphic widescreen
and Dolby Digital
5.1 surround sound
and has, in addition to the special, two music videos for the songs "Words, Words, Words" and "Oh Bo".
In August 2010, Burnham was nominated for "Best Comedy Show" at the 2010 Edinburgh Comedy Awards—"the world’s most prestigious comedy prize" with a £10,000 cash prize—after his performance of Words Words Words at the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He was instead awarded the "Panel Prize"—carrying a £5,000 prize—for "the show or act who has most captured the comedy spirit of the 2010 Fringe."
as a music download
on both Amazon.com
and the iTunes Store
on October 18, 2010, and on a single Compact Disc
on October 19, 2010. All live tracks for the CD were recorded at Carolines on Broadway on June 30, 2010.
, praises Words Words Words, citing Burnham's excellent wordplay coupled with an age-defying stage presence and fluidity. SanDiego.com's Gordon Downs spoke highly of Words Words Words; after describing the two studio songs as "sounding like a modern day Ray Stevens
coupled with the slick production of a Yes
album", Downs lauded the live set's flow and energy and Burnham's skill with his material. Bill Brownstein of Montreal's The Gazette
praised Burnham's wit claiming "[h]e could be the love child of Allen Ginsberg
and George Carlin
. And there's no telling what kind of comedy monster he can morph into by the time he hits 30 -even 25."
Allmusic's David Jeffries said of the album, "...if you happen to enjoy the way Burnham turns from erudite to ignorant on a dime, then Words Words Words is the gift that keeps on giving. Things move fast in this act, giving the home listeners a distinct advantage over the audience captured here, who often seem to be laughing five seconds after the fact as they unravel the wordplay. [...] Hilarious, plus you get the thrill of feeling smug and horrible at the very same time."
About.com
's Patrick Bromley again praised Burnham's dense wordplay and cleverness, but felt that the artist was simply re-treading the same ground without making any significant advances. Whereas Bromley saw Burnham's from-the-bedroom charm as a boon to 2009's Bo Burnham
, he opined the re-invention as a self-aware brash wunderkind was not an improvement. In contrast to any perceived deficiencies in the music, Bromley felt the traditional stand-up tracks to be the distinguishing factor of the album.
top 40 charts, and sold over 10,000 copies in its first week. The second week however was less kind to the album, though not unexpectedly so; it fell 121 places to number 161 (selling only 3,000 copies).
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
routine and the derivative album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by American comedian, Bo Burnham
Bo Burnham
Robert "Bo" Burnham is an American comedian, singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and Internet celebrity. Writing comedic and satirical songs with a politically incorrect slant, he achieved fame when his YouTube videos took off; they have received more than 70 million views...
. The live performance debuted at the Boston House of Blues
House of Blues
House of Blues is a chain of 13 live music concert halls and restaurants in major markets throughout the United States. House of Blues first location was in Cambridge's Harvard Square. It was opened in 1992 by Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, star of The Blues Brothers...
on May 21, 2010, and the album is derived from a special live performance of the same set at Carolines on Broadway on June 30, 2010. In addition to the Carolines performance, the album has two studio singles, "Words, Words, Words” and “Oh Bo".
The House of Blues debut performance and the Carolines on Broadway performances were released on DVD and MP3/CD respectively, with the constituent material from the set being generally well received. The album alone charted on four separate Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
, topping out at number one on the Billboard Comedy chart.
Words, the stand-up
Burnham debuted his stand-up routine, Words Words Words, at the Boston House of BluesHouse of Blues
House of Blues is a chain of 13 live music concert halls and restaurants in major markets throughout the United States. House of Blues first location was in Cambridge's Harvard Square. It was opened in 1992 by Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, star of The Blues Brothers...
on May 21, 2010 (postponed from April 16, 2010). This was recorded as the inaugural performance of Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
's "House of Comedy Live from House of Blues" series. Burnham shared his debut evening at the House of Blues with fellow stand-up comedian Myq Kaplan
Myq Kaplan
Myq Kaplan is an American stand-up comedian. Born Michael Kaplan in Livingston, New Jersey, he is based in Boston and New York City.-Education:...
. The one-hour special of Words Words Words aired on October 16, 2010 to over 700,000 viewers, and was released on an unrated one-disc DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
three days later (October 19). , Burnham was the youngest artist to garner their own hour-long special on Comedy Central. The DVD is presented in anamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen, when applied to DVD manufacture, is a video process that horizontally squeezes a widescreen image so that it can be stored in a standard 4:3 aspect ratio DVD image frame. Compatible playback equipment can then re-expand the horizontal dimension to show the original widescreen...
and Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...
5.1 surround sound
5.1 surround sound
5.1 is the common name for six channel surround sound multichannel audio systems. 5.1 is now the most commonly used layout in both commercial cinemas and home theaters. It uses five full bandwidth channels and one low frequency enhancement channel . Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS, and...
and has, in addition to the special, two music videos for the songs "Words, Words, Words" and "Oh Bo".
In August 2010, Burnham was nominated for "Best Comedy Show" at the 2010 Edinburgh Comedy Awards—"the world’s most prestigious comedy prize" with a £10,000 cash prize—after his performance of Words Words Words at the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He was instead awarded the "Panel Prize"—carrying a £5,000 prize—for "the show or act who has most captured the comedy spirit of the 2010 Fringe."
Words, the album
Words Words Words was released by Comedy Central RecordsComedy Central Records
Comedy Central Records is a record label founded by Jack Vaughn and Comedy Central that puts out comedy albums by comedians that have appeared on their network....
as a music download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
on both Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
and the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
on October 18, 2010, and on a single Compact Disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
on October 19, 2010. All live tracks for the CD were recorded at Carolines on Broadway on June 30, 2010.
Track listing
- "Words, Words, Words" (Studio) –
- "Oh Bo" (Studio) –
- "What's Funny" –
- "Ex-Girlfriend/Racial Humor" –
- "Men & Women" –
- "One Man Shows" –
- "Ironic" –
- "Binary Reality" –
- "Words Words Words" –
- "A Prayer/How Do We Fix Africa?" –
- "Haikus/Sonnet/Shakespeare" –
- "Rant" –
- Theoretical Dick Jokes/Statistics" –
- "Art Is Dead" –
- "Traditional Stand-Up" –
- "Oh Bo" –
Reception
Critical response to Words Words Words, both the album and DVD, has been mostly positive. Francis Rizzo III, of DVD TalkDVD Talk
DVD Talk is a website for DVD enthusiasts founded in January 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman when DVDs and DVD players were first beginning to hit the market.The site started as an online forum, an email newsletter, and a page of DVD news and reviews...
, praises Words Words Words, citing Burnham's excellent wordplay coupled with an age-defying stage presence and fluidity. SanDiego.com's Gordon Downs spoke highly of Words Words Words; after describing the two studio songs as "sounding like a modern day Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs.-Early career:...
coupled with the slick production of a Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
album", Downs lauded the live set's flow and energy and Burnham's skill with his material. Bill Brownstein of Montreal's The Gazette
The Gazette (Montreal)
The Gazette, often called the Montreal Gazette to avoid ambiguity, is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with three other daily English newspapers all having shut down at different times during the second half of the 20th century.-History:In 1778,...
praised Burnham's wit claiming "[h]e could be the love child of Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
and George Carlin
George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
. And there's no telling what kind of comedy monster he can morph into by the time he hits 30 -even 25."
Allmusic's David Jeffries said of the album, "...if you happen to enjoy the way Burnham turns from erudite to ignorant on a dime, then Words Words Words is the gift that keeps on giving. Things move fast in this act, giving the home listeners a distinct advantage over the audience captured here, who often seem to be laughing five seconds after the fact as they unravel the wordplay. [...] Hilarious, plus you get the thrill of feeling smug and horrible at the very same time."
About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
's Patrick Bromley again praised Burnham's dense wordplay and cleverness, but felt that the artist was simply re-treading the same ground without making any significant advances. Whereas Bromley saw Burnham's from-the-bedroom charm as a boon to 2009's Bo Burnham
Bo Burnham (album)
Bo Burnham is the eponymous debut album by American comedian, Bo Burnham. Released on March 10, 2009 by Comedy Central Records, the 2-disc album contains the Compact Disc musical album, and a DVD with Burnham's Comedy Central Presents special, all of his YouTube videos, and other performances.In a...
, he opined the re-invention as a self-aware brash wunderkind was not an improvement. In contrast to any perceived deficiencies in the music, Bromley felt the traditional stand-up tracks to be the distinguishing factor of the album.
Chart positions
The Words Words Words album is Burnham's first album to break into the BillboardBillboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
top 40 charts, and sold over 10,000 copies in its first week. The second week however was less kind to the album, though not unexpectedly so; it fell 121 places to number 161 (selling only 3,000 copies).
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Billboard charts The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine... Comedy |
1 |
| US Billboard Billboard charts The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine... Independent Albums |
3 |
| US Billboard Billboard charts The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine... Digital Albums |
11 |
| US Billboard Billboard charts The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine... 200 |
40 |