A funny thing happened after Bo Burnham came out of nowhere at the age of 17 to achieve internet superstardom via a 2007 series of satirical, guitar- and keyboard-backed ditties: He turned into an honest-to-God comedian. Facing the inevitable backlash head-on (a great deal of which emanated from the comedy community itself), Burnham went from headlining theaters to immersing himself in clubs. He heard firsthand the journeys of the masters, the has-beens and the never-weres. He set out to earn some respect. His study of both the craft and the industry produced a noticeable shift; his new Words, Words, Words retains Burnham's traditional wit and wordplay, but his takes on racism, homophobia and religion are delivered with a harder edge and even through — shock of all shocks — legitimate spoken-word stand-up. In addition to releasing his second full-length, 2010 also saw Burnham tape his first hourlong special for Comedy Central, win multiple prizes at the notoriously unsympathetic Edinburgh Festival Fringe and juggle a spectrum of projects ranging from a requisite MTV pilot to writing for Judd Apatow. On second thought, perhaps it's other comics who should start taking notes from him.

Sat., Nov. 13, 7 p.m., 2010

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