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In another development that is likely to thrill teenagers sitting in front of webcams in bedrooms across the nation, YouTube comedy sensation Bo Burnham appears to have been tapped as the new Michael Cera -- a nerdy, musical comedy superstar. Not bad for a teenager (he just turned 18) who just a matter of months ago was recording funny songs in front of a cheap webcam in his bedroom at home near Boston.
In fact, Burnham is still recording videos in front of his webcam in his bedroom at home, but now millions of people are watching, and he has not only gotten a blockbuster response at a major comedy show -- the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal -- but has also released a CD and has a four-album deal with Comedy Central.
Now Burnham has really hit the comedy big-time: according to The Hollywood Reporter, the baby-faced comedian is set to record the music for and could wind up with a starring role in a motion picture by Judd Apatow, the producer of such hits as Knocked Up and Superbad. The movie is said to be a bit like High School Musical, but about the dark side of high school rather than the lighter side.
Part of Burnham's appeal is clearly the contrast between his fresh-faced, teenage looks and the often disturbing content of his songs, which are set to cheerful-sounding tunes but are about things like dating Helen Keller (Perfect Woman), the KKK (Klan KooKout), or how his whole family thinks he's gay (My Whole Family Thinks I'm Gay). His parents -- his mother's a nurse and his father runs a construction company -- seem somewhat bemused by their son's Internet fame.
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