Okay, who is he kidding? This comedy special is not ‘just for us.’ It is for the masses. It has been presented across the pond, it has been at festivals, it has been off and on Broadway, and you can even order the script/royalties for it as a community theatre event. It came to HBO Max in 2024 as an HBO Comedy Special, and I’m just getting around to it.
He deceives us a bit here. He comes bursting onto the stage of the Hudson Theatre in NYC and says he likes to present a simple premise and a simple set of jokes, but then launches into an intricate and interesting story that, yes, was based on a simple premise, but made me think hard. Before proceeding, he also plants a thread by relating the story of when the comedian Robin Williams met Koko, the ape who knew sign language. Edelman’s simple nugget of a premise is then presented – He, a devout Jew, attends, at a time of inflamed antisemitic sentiments, a meeting of White Nationalists. How, why, and what happens follows.
You can tell and easily appreciate that Alex Edelman thought and plotted this show quite well. He has a slightly more controlled kinetic energy, similar to Williams’ act. He races around the stage playing out all of the characters from his family, his friends, to his enemies. He entertains all the while, and yet hits us with what it’s like to be Jewish and what it’s like to face the negativity they face. As the PR states, in the wake of a string of anti-Semitic threats pointed in his direction online, Edelman decides to go straight to the source – specifically, Queens, where he covertly attends a meeting of White Nationalists and comes face-to-face with the people behind the keyboards. What happens next forms the backbone of the shockingly relevant, utterly hilarious, timely, and only moderately perspirant stories that comprise JUST FOR US.
He is, I think, the most devout Jew I’ve witnessed. Yes, there have been Jewish performers before, but not as devout as this one. He spouts out all the Jewish words & phrases, late in the special, he retells his version of a Jew experiencing Christmas and deals with the guilt and empathy of Jewishness like no other. I appreciate the opportunity to do so, and to do it in a lighthearted and fun way. You actually leave this session with some core facts and their situation, and Alex’s observations. The message is more than just about his encounter with the opposition at this meeting. And, of course, like all comedians do, he circles back around to his thoughts at the top of the show – if Robin Williams can communicate with a gorilla, then surely Alex Edelman can communicate with fellow humans of a different ideology, right? We learned that he can and he did.
This special did not just contain my mind to the whys and wherefores of this little meeting he attended, but to larger questions. One such question was the title of his show. It could have been easily titled ALEX EDELMAN: TAKING IN A MEETING (that is the incident that drives this work) or ALEX EDELMAN: CAN YOU BELIEVE IT (a handy phrase he teaches us to use more often), but instead he chose ALEX: EDELMAN: JUST FOR US. It refers to a quote from one of those in attendance at the meeting, a young woman named Chelsey. She is the one who ends up forcing Alex to leave the meeting when she was offended that he trespassed on their space – a space that was to be ‘just for us.’ Alex leaves after that, but his takeaway from Chelsey’s remark shows this young man’s wit and logic. If we leave these spaces to be ‘just for us’, then dialogue with the opposition will never flow, and chances of becoming more cooperative will never be able to flourish.
All a good strong message, which won this stage work acclaim and awards, and even this HBO Special an Emmy, A simple little premise that packs in so much, so wittingly, so effortlessly, or so it seems, that you are surprised when it comes to an end. Alex Edelman is a great storyteller if nothing else, and his show and this HBO special are not just for us, but should be just for ALL of us.
Find ALEX EDELMAN: JUST FOR US on HBO Max.
