Beth Stelling Looks Homeward on New Special If You Didn’t Want Me Then
Photo courtesy of Netflix
The homecoming comedy special is a move generally reserved for those stand-ups that have become household names or synonymous with their place of birth. The prodigal child oh-so-humbly returning to the place that made them as a kind of magnanimous gesture or to, as Colin Quinn did in his 1989 special Going Back To Brooklyn, try to reconnect with their comedy roots.
It’s a trope that comedian Beth Stelling must have known well when she decided to film her latest hour If You Didn’t Want Me Then in her former hometown of Dayton, Ohio. The move was partially practical as much of the set revolves around her childhood, which she spent there and in Orlando, Florida. And even the material that spins out into her more recent days living and working in L.A. have threads that connect back to her formative years.
This isn’t an unusual place for Beth Stelling to work. Even her justly celebrated 2020 special Girl Daddy devoted a good chunk of time to her younger days. But there’s something that makes her jokes about trying to awkwardly flirt with Tim, the teen boy who babysat her, and her 8th grade exploits of getting drunk at frat parties that hit a little harder knowing that she’s telling them to the actual people or at least folks who might know them IRL. Especially when a single laugh jumps out of the crowd after Stelling recounts Tim asking her out on a date recently—a bit that gave this special its title. She admits that it could have been Tim laughing and a quick subtitle pops up to confirm that it was. (Stick around through the credits for the cutscene where Stelling points out some other Dayton friends and family in the theater.)