Alex Edelman

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Alex Edelman
Edelman performing in 2024
Birth nameDovid Yoisef Shimon ben Elazar Reuven Alexander Halevi Edelman
Born (1989-03-20) March 20, 1989 (age 35)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma materNew York University
Parent(s)Elazer Edelman (father)
Relative(s)Adam Edelman (brother)
Websitewww.alexedelmancomedy.com

Alex Halevi Edelman[1][2] (born March 20, 1989) is an American stand-up comedian based in New York City. He is an internationally touring comic and found early success in the United Kingdom where he was named Best Newcomer at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[3] He has toured three shows since 2014: Millennial (2014–2015), Everything Handed to You (2015–2016), and Just for Us (2018–2020; 2023–2024[4]). Just for Us opened Off-Broadway in 2022 before premiering on Broadway in 2023; it was named a NYT Critic’s Pick both times.[5]

Biography[edit]

Edelman was born in Boston to Cheryl, a real estate lawyer,[6] and Elazer R. Edelman, a biomedical engineer, cardiologist, and professor. He has two brothers, Austin, and Israeli Olympian Adam Edelman.[7] He was raised in Brookline, Massachusetts.[8] He began performing stand-up at age 15.[9] He attended and graduated from Maimonides School in Brookline, an Orthodox Jewish based school. A baseball fan, he also worked for the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers associations as a teenager.[8][10]

Edelman grew up in a Modern-Orthodox Jewish family and, following high school, spent a year in a yeshiva in Jerusalem. During his time there, he helped to establish the city's first comedy club, Off the Wall Comedy. In 2008,[10] he moved to New York City to study English at New York University[8] and graduated in 2012.[11] During college, he continued to perform stand-up and later joined Upright Citizens Brigade.[11] He first performed in the UK in 2012 while studying abroad.[12][8] He made his Australian debut in 2015.[13]

His show Millennial won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe,[3] the first American to do so since Arj Barker won in 1997.[3] Edelman's 2015 Edinburgh Fringe show was titled Everything Handed to You and was the second most well-reviewed show at that year's festival.[14] His 2018 show, Just For Us, was nominated for the Best Show award at the Edinburgh Fringe.[15] He has appeared in the UK on television shows such as The John Bishop Show, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, Live from the BBC, Roast Battle, and contributed several anecdotes about his experiences as a comedian to the 2015 book Off the Mic, by Deborah Frances-White and Marsha Shandur. He has done a BBC Radio 4 comedy series called Alex Edelman's Peer Group.

As a comedy writer, he has contributed to the American television shows The Great Indoors (2016–2017) and Teenage Bounty Hunters (2020). Edelman was the head writer for Saturday Night Seder, a virtual celebrity Passover seder held during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also trained rabbis to infuse humor into the High Holiday services as part of the Jewish communal response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]

Personal life[edit]

In Just for Us, Edelman quips, "If I was raised secular I would consider myself bisexual. But because I was raised religious, I consider myself straight with some secrets."[17] Edelman had an on-again, off-again relationship with Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan[18] and more recently dated comedian/actress Hannah Einbinder.[19]

Works[edit]

Shows[edit]

  • Millennial (2014–2015)
  • Everything Handed to You (2015–2016)
  • Just for Us (2018–2020; 2023–2024)

Radio[edit]

Specials and album[edit]

  • Alex Edelman: Live at the BBC (2016) – Netflix UK; hour-long special
  • Until Now (2020) – album
  • Just for Us (2024) – HBO

Awards and nominations[edit]

Year Ceremony Award Work Result
2014 Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer Millennial Won
2015 Leicester Comedy Festival Best Show Everything Handed to You Nominated
2018 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award Best Show Just for Us Nominated
Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Show Nominated
Herald Angel Award Won
2022 Obie Award Special Citation Just for Us Won

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Comedian Alex Edelman explores antisemitism, his Jewish roots". PBS. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  2. ^ "Alex Edelman Gets Political in "Just for Us"". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Best Newcomer - Edinburgh Comedy Awards". Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  4. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan (November 1, 2023). "Alex Edelman's Just for Us Launches U.S. Tour". Playbill. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  5. ^ Green, Jesse (June 27, 2023). "Review: A Jew and 16 'Nerf Nazis' Meet Cute in 'Just for Us'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  6. ^ "About AJ". Israel Bobsled Team. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  7. ^ "Skeleton racer AJ Edelman living the dream at Olympics - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com.
  8. ^ a b c d Zaino, Nick A. (July 12, 2018). "Comic Alex Edelman took the long way back to Boston - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  9. ^ "A funny thing happened on the way to the Yeshiva". Boston Globe. June 1, 2008.
  10. ^ a b "Meet Me In New York: Alex Edelman | The Comic's Comic". Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Oswaks, Molly (May 27, 2015). "Alex Edelman Makes Religion a Laughing Matter". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  12. ^ Edelman, Alex (August 8, 2015). "Alex Edelman: How I learned to love the British sense of humour". The Guardian.
  13. ^ Edelman, Alex (April 21, 2015). "I absolutely don't want to meet a koala". The Guardian.
  14. ^ "Nish of the Day! News 2015". Chortle UK. September 7, 2015.
  15. ^ "Comedy awards | Edinburgh Festival Fringe". Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  16. ^ Cramer, Philissa. "Jewish comedian helps rabbis nail delivery on High Holidays services". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  17. ^ Frick, Evelyn (November 19, 2021). "Comedian Alex Edelman Is a Troublesome Jew". Hey Alma. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  18. ^ Saunders, Tristram Fane (January 28, 2020). "Comedian Alex Edelman on antisemitism, millennials and being treated badly by the Baftas". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  19. ^ Frick, Evelyn (April 5, 2024). "18 Things to Know About Jewish Comedian Alex Edelman". Hey Alma. Retrieved April 7, 2024.

External links[edit]

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