Alex Edelman

Alex Edelman’s first show, MILLENNIAL – about very traumatic stock photos and young people – won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer, the first show by an American to do so since 1997. The follow-up, EVERYTHING HANDED TO YOU – about identity and the availability of outlets in airports – was even more acclaimed: selling out its entire Edinburgh run and garnering the second best reviews of any comedy show at the Festival.

His third show, JUST FOR US – which centers on a meeting of neo-Nazis that Edelman attended in New York – has cemented his reputation as a writer-performer of impressive ambition and technical skill. In its premiere run at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, it was nominated for a Barry Award for Best Show. In Edinburgh, it earned a Herald Angel Award, a nomination for Best Show, and superlative praise that made it the best reviewed comedy show at the Festival in a decade.

Besides Edinburgh and Melbourne, JUST FOR US has had several extended runs in London’s West End at the Soho Theatre, the prestigious comedy haunt where many of Edelman’s solo efforts have premiered. The show has also been presented at Just For Laughs in Montreal, at the Bell House for New York Comedy Festival, Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theater, the Cherry Lane Theater, and the Soho Playhouse. JUST FOR US premiered on Broadway at the Hudson Theater summer 2023 and was later released as a special on Max. It won a special Tony. And an Emmy.

His album UNTIL NOW - released in July of 2020 - was warmly received by critics and audiences alike, and was named one of the year’s best by NPR’s Bullseye.

TV writing:
He’s recently completed a writing stint on the forthcoming Jenji Kohan-produced TEENAGE BOUNTY HUNTERS for Netflix. Prior to that, he served as a staff writer on THE GREAT INDOORS for CBS.

Besides his narrative stuff, Edelman has written for countless awards shows, including the BRITs and the BAFTAs.

He is a troublesome Jew and the head writer and executive producer of SATURDAY NIGHT SEDER, a star studded 70-minute special, posted on YouTube, that has so far raised $3.5 million for the CDC Foundation (COVID-19) Emergency Response Fund. More than 1 million people watched the initial stream, which was hosted by Jason Alexander with participants that included Nick Kroll, Josh Groban, Rachel Brosnahan, Idina Menzel, Debra Messing and Bette Midler. You can watch SNS here.

Outside his solo shows:

Edelman has made numerous TV appearances in the US, Australia, and the UK.

He has been featured at JFL as a New Face, appeared on CONAN multiple times, and is a staple on those “Comedians You Should Know” type lists. He is the creator of PEER GROUP – a show about the Millennial generation – on BBC Radio 4 and his hour-long special, LIVE AT THE BBC, is available on Netflix in some countries. He tours both nationally and internationally and is one of the founders of Jerusalem’s Off the Wall Comedy Club.

Edelman has been on the road with comedians like Ricky Gervais, Jack Whitehall, Patton Oswalt, Gary Gulman and a handful of musicians like Beck and San Fermin. In August of 2019, he was handpicked by Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch to appear on the band’s Boaty Weekender, where he performed alongside Yo La Tengo, Buzzcocks, Alvvays, and many other bands as the outing’s lone comedian. He got a sunburn.

In 2015, he travelled to Berlin and Moscow with Eddie Izzard to perform two shows to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Beyond comedy:

He writes for outlets like THE ATLANTIC, THE BELIEVER, and THE NEW YORK TIMES, has written and produced documentaries for the US State Department and ESPN’s 30 FOR 30 series, and spent more than a decade working as a speechwriter for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox. Alex was named to the Time100 list of the world’s most influential people in 2024.

He likes ramen a whole lot.