Plenty of the cultural and comedic norms of 2013 look embarrassing from a modern perspective — let he who never participated in a “Harlem Shake” video cast the first stone.

Back at the beginning of Barack Obama’s second term, Bo Burnham, a grown-up YouTube star who first amassed his following of Tumblr teens and theater geeks by playing crass, creative and original comedy songs in his childhood bedroom, released his debut Netflix special what. that would prove to be a turning point in his transition from internet darling to mainstream star. Gleefully teetering between comedy special, one-man show and performance art, what. merged Burnham’s boyish musicality with his maturing creative ambitions as Burnham launched himself into artistic adulthood to critical acclaim.

At its core, what. was about Burnham growing up as an artist, but unlike Burnham himself, what. didn’t advance into the 2020s gracefully. So, when the official Netflix...