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Writer's pictureStand-Up Comedy Historian

Bo Burnham and Peanut Butter: A deep-dive thread published on Twitter on 8/7/22

Updated: Oct 10, 2022

Hi, everyone!


It's August, so I am going to do some fun threads exploring Bo's connections with specific foods and drinks.


These are recurring items in his works and irl, and we'll be starting with peanut butter!



Bo really enjoys SMOOTH or CREAMY peanut butter!


In fact, he loves it so much he told this interviewer that it's one of the three things he'd bring with him to a deserted island (along with his dog and a plane lol).



And not just any PB—he appears to have a preference for Jif brand peanut butter (aside from this Skippy pic lol)



(Choosy Bos choose Jif!)


Its distinctive red, blue, and green container appears in a number of his creations throughout the years.


Let's dive in!


The first obvious reference to PB in Bo's act appears in what. when Bo uses "peanut butter tribadism" as a phrase that has never been spoken before.



And in Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous, Zach is seen eating a PB sandwich (with no jelly, it seems) while describing his first night at college in Ep. 5 of the MTV show.



Bo also has a funny Vine about his "girlfriend" filming him in bed (that gf being a jar of Jif Peanut Butter).



Here's the clip at 5:07 in!



And Bo REALLY ramped up references to peanut butter in his next special, Make Happy.


He mentions it three separate times!



The first mention of PB occurs after Straight White Male when Bo says that white guys invented everything BUT peanut butter (referring to George Washington Carver).


Fun fact: Carver did not actually invent it, but he did find over 300 uses for the peanut!


Directly after that section (No way, Joseph!), Bo begins one of his most hilarious yet controversial exchanges in the comedy special: The Salt and Vinegar chips bit—and peanut butter comes up again.



Bo starts a call-and-response part when he says the following: "White people, we like the same foods: Peanut butter and..."


The crowd then yells, "Jelly," a comforting answer that makes the audience trust Bo to their detriment (He told you he'd manipulate you at the beginning!).



After that section, Bo references PB again during one of his BEST jokes in Make Happy: Making a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich.


This bit includes Bo miming his way through assembling a PB&J while being stoned (excited and super active) and later drunk (tired and slow-moving).



While shit-faced Bo is digging into a "jar of peanut butter," we later find out from a background voice that it's actually mayonnaise!


Bo's reply after his gf character says she's not eating a jar of mayo is one of my faves haha


After Make Happy, Bo doesn't specifically reference PB again in his specials until the Inside Outtakes, and it's a doozy!


I give you—the *perfect* PB sandwich



This monstrosity is created by a very depressed and disgruntled YouTuber who is trying to sound as upbeat and cheerful as he can (and might be the same person as the knife-wielding guy in Inside!)




So the segment starts out with this title card that cleverly mimics through its typography the assembled sandwich itself, since the brown PB is between the pieces of bread ("PERFECT" and "SANDWICH")


As YouTuber Bo welcomes us #Insiders to another video, he starts out quite pleasant (if a bit forced in his enthusiasm).


He quickly goes off the rails when things aren't "perfect" though—issues like only end pieces are available for the bread and he ran out of plastic knives.




Another problem he humorously faces is that he's missing the lid to the jar of PB (again, clearly a Jif version like in the Vine) since he's "using it as an ashtray"



Then he angrily spreads the PB with a plastic fork while exclaiming that he knows it's bad for the environment, but he doesn't care anymore and will fight anyone who challenges him.


The YouTuber gets so mad, in fact, that he's casually flipping us off by the end of the clip!





Finally, we get a ton of glamour shots of his "perfect peanut butter sandwich," complete with jazzy dance music until the special cuts to the next segment.





But wait...that's not all!


Peanut butter-flavored items appear to be one of Bo's favorite snacks, especially peanut butter-filled pretzels.


In Adventures in the Sin Bin, Bo's character Tony Caito keeps this snack in a glass container on a table as part of his "office" in the boy's bathroom.





And this TRL video with Elsie Fisher for Eighth Grade confirms Bo's preferred snack food (just like Tony!)



Peanut butter-filled items also appear in this Promising Young Woman interview at Sundance, in which Bo says "almond peanut butter Snickers" are his 2020 obsession (this was pre-pandemic, so it's weirdly nostalgic to watch!)



That's all for now!


I hope you've enjoyed this deep-dive thread into Bo's PB references in his specials and in real life.


The next one will be a true obsession for Bo throughout his career—Red Bull!

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