John Mulaney: Baby J

The show forgoes a traditional opening, instead beginning as Mulaney is already onstage. He begins by talking about his need for attention, and how he used to pray that one of his grandparents would die, so he could receive sympathy from his class. He apologizes for starting the show on such a dark note, before launching into an acapella song about the last two years. He talks to a fifth grader in the audience, and explains that he has 'kind of a different vibe now', and tells the child never to do what he describes in the performance.

From there, he launches into a routine about the night of his intervention, stating that he had just been to his drug dealers apartment, as well as going to get a haircut at Saturday Night Live, resulting in him being two hours late. After detailing his 'star studded' intervention, he reveals that part of him is still angry at the people who saved his life, as there were too many people.

A brief bit about iCloud text messages prefaces a routine about arriving at rehab, and his prescription drugs being taken off him, as he shouldn't have been prescribed them in the first place. He reveals how he got these drugs, by going on WebMD and finding the lowest rated doctor in his area, specifically talking about one called Dr. Michael, who would write him prescriptions before asking him to take his shirt off to give him a flu shot.

He returns to the subject of rehab, and how he was woken up by a nurse who, due to his name on Mulaney's phone, mistook Pete Davidson for Al Pacino, and woke him up from Detox to take the call. He continues to tell stories from rehab including how he got in trouble for ordering Outback Steakhouse and being disappointed no one recognized him while there.

After bits about his childhood alcohol usage, he details the 'most desperate thing' he did to get drugs. He tells the story of pawning a watch he bought five minutes before, ending up getting six thousand dollars for a twelve thousand dollar watch.

He says that life is a lot better now, but as a reminder of bad things got, he reads from a GQ interview from four days before his intervention that he has 'absolutely no recollection of giving'. The special ends with a text card, stating all the people at his intervention, thanking them for saving his life.

Mulaney rose to prominence in around 2008, after becoming a writer on Saturday Night Live. He became sober in 2005, however it was revealed in 2020 that he had slipped throughout the pandemic, and went to rehab for two months.[4]

He started working on the material about two months out of rehab, he announced a string of shows at City Winery in New York[5] called 'From Scratch' he continued to tour the hour for around two years, before filming it on the 25th-26th February 2023.

The special received very positive reviews from critics, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes an average approval rating of 85%, the websites consensus reads 'Bearing the baggage of public scrutiny, John Mulaney reintroduces himself in a special that turns personal turmoil into comedic gold'[6]

David Sims of The Atlantic gave the special a positive review, stating 'There’s undoubtedly a lot more weight on Mulaney’s shoulders, and more retrospection in his storytelling. But few comedians are currently working with his kind of natural talent.'[7] Proma Kholsa of IndieWire also gave a positive review, stating '“Baby J” will charm new and old fans -- while never letting them lose sight of the flawed, fallible human being at its center.[8]

• John Mulaney: Baby J at IMDb
• John Mulaney: Baby J at Rotten Tomatoes