For Beth Stelling, every city she’s ever done stand-up in is like a plant, in that you have to make an effort to tend to them if you want your audience to grow. After a few years off the road, it was a big fear that she would be forgotten, but when it comes to Boston, that is far from the case — and the feeling is mutual.
After more than three years since last paying a visit to the commonwealth, Stelling returns to the area with a new show as part of her “Petty Betty” tour, which is set to be unleashed at Somerville’s Crystal Ballroom on Thursday (November 10). With fond memories of recording her Comedy Central half-hour at Royale, a stint at Laugh Boston, and most vividly, her time on stage in front of an extremely welcoming and lively crowd on the hallowed grounds of the now-departed Great Scott (RIP), Stelling is looking forward to adding to her love for the city with the new hour.
However, with her additional work as a writer on an upcoming season of cultural stoner phenomenon Rick & Morty, the Ohio native is quick to admit that she’s had to work at consistently flipping the switch between writer and comedian, and balancing the two creative outlets while being hard on herself for feeling like she’s not always doing her best in every area. But that’s not to say she’s taking away from either project to give to the other.
In fact, she’s digging deeper into her roots as a comedian with this new hour to expand on and revisit a more silly-forward and storytelling approach, much like she wielded early in her career, as opposed to the anger and frustration that fueled the call-outs of hacky perspectives and retorts that largely made up her smash-hit 2020 HBO special Girl Daddy.
“Our job is to think of something in a way that travels the less-traveled path, so for me, that’s where I was coming from with my last hour, but in this hour, I’m going back to my stronger storytelling skills,” Stelling tells Vanyaland. “I still have my hard jokes in there, but since I’m recording my next special in December at my hometown theater at the Victoria in Dayton, I’m tapping back into my home and family roots. I’m bringing back an old story that has found a way to grow since I started telling it, and when you can breathe new life into old stories, it’s such a rewarding experience. It’s why I enjoy adaptations of old books and movies so much. To breathe life into something that’s old is a fun challenge for me, so I would say this is tapping into my silliness and storytelling, but it still has those hard jokes in there, and of course my classic touch of pettiness and rage will be an underlying theme.”
Pettiness and rage are still are very much so intact, indeed, but as someone to claim that she’s “back on her feminist bullshit,” that element of being a non-compliment voice really never goes away for Stelling. Embedded in her well-crafted stories and verbal illustrations lies a deep-rooted passion for not only speaking up on what needs to be said in the moment, but also making those who need to hear it most uncomfortable. Whether that be in discussing the many facets of sexism both within and outside her industry, or in the form of a well-placed abortion joke, Stelling is significantly excited to continue her subsequent missions of making people laugh while also making them think and, perhaps, squirm a little if need be.
“There are so many words that people don’t like hearing, as you may have watched in my last special, and they oftentimes are related to women and our rights, so it’s interesting that people don’t like hearing the words, and I can’t help but think ‘might that be because you want to keep it silent and unfixable?’,” says Stelling. “Any time I can talk about it, I never want to underestimate that because as you go on as a comic, sometimes these more taboo topics create that rise in blood pressure and heart rate, or at least they used to, like when you try out a new joke or talk about something scary or difficult. I have to remember the joy of the women who came before me and talked about those things so that I can too. There are always people in the audience that need to hear it, and I like to normalize those things, because even if they don’t say it, it’s good for them to see it.”
With the amount of ingredients at play in this new show, Stelling is beyond excited to return to the area. And with Tooky Kavanagh featuring for the one-night stop, the diehard ultra-supporter of local comics she encounters from city to city is not only pumped to unleash her own comedic strengths once again, but also bring the heat stateside in hyping up the grinding artists who she teams up with night after night.
“I’m excited to be coming back to Boston, and Crystal Ballroom looks like a beautiful venue, so I’m just really excited to get back to the area,” says Stelling. “I always love seeing local talent too, and supporting them as much as I can, whether they need it or not, but it’s just fun for me to work with them and watch them be the great comics they are on stage. I had a lot of fun last time I was in the area, so I’m just really looking forward to making my way back after these last few years.”
BETH STELLING: THE PETTY BETTY TOUR :: Thursday, November 10 at Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square in Somerville, MA :: Event info