Alex Edelman

{{Infobox comedian

| name = Alex Edelman

| image = Alex Edelman (Jan 2024) 01 (cropped).jpg

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| caption = Edelman performing in 2024

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| birth_name = Dovid Yoisef Shimon ben Elazar Reuven Alexander Halevi Edelman

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1989|3|20}}

| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

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| alma_mater = New York University

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| parents = Elazer Edelman (father)

| relatives = Adam Edelman (brother)

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| website ={{URL|https://www.alexedelmancomedy.com/}}

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Alex Edelman{{Cite web|title=Comedian Alex Edelman explores antisemitism, his Jewish roots|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/comedian-alex-edelman-explores-antisemitism-his-jewish-roots|access-date=January 8, 2024|website=PBS|date=February 12, 2022 |language=en}}{{Cite magazine|title=Alex Edelman Gets Political in "Just for Us"|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/04/04/alex-edelman-gets-political-in-just-for-us|access-date=January 8, 2024|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en}} (born March 20, 1989){{Cite Instagram |user=alexedelman |postid=CMpQ8GtnDRL |title=I'm 32 today... |date=March 20, 2021}} is an American stand-up comedian. He was named Best Newcomer at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe for his show Millennial.{{cite web|title=Best Newcomer - Edinburgh Comedy Awards|url=http://comedyawards.co.uk/newcomers.asp|website=Edinburgh Comedy Awards|accessdate=November 29, 2015|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923205605/http://www.comedyawards.co.uk/newcomers.asp|url-status=dead}} He has toured three shows since 2014: Millennial (2014–2015),{{Cite web|title=BBC Programmes: Millennial|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b055jpnw|access-date=February 23, 2025}} Everything Handed to You (2015–2016), and Just for Us (2018–2020; 2023–2024{{Cite news |last=Culwell-Block |first=Logan |date=November 1, 2023 |title=Alex Edelman's Just for Us Launches U.S. Tour |url=https://playbill.com/article/alex-edelmans-just-for-us-launches-u-s-tour |access-date=April 7, 2024 |work=Playbill}}). Just for Us opened Off-Broadway in 2022 before premiering on Broadway in 2023 at The Hudson Theatre; it was named a NYT Critic's Pick both times and earned him a 2024 special Tony Award and an Emmy Award.{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Jesse |date=2023-06-27 |title=Review: A Jew and 16 'Nerf Nazis' Meet Cute in 'Just for Us' |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/26/theater/just-for-us-review.html |access-date=2023-06-28 |issn=0362-4331}} In 2024 he was named to the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people.{{Cite magazine |last=Waller-Bridge |first=Phoebe |date=2024-04-17 |title=Alex Edelman: The 100 Most Influential People of 2024 |url=https://time.com/6964753/alex-edelman/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}

Biography

Edelman was born in Boston to Cheryl, a real estate lawyer,{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=About AJ|url=https://www.israelskeleton.com/bio/|access-date=May 15, 2021|website=Israel Bobsled Team|language=en-US}} and Elazer R. Edelman, a biomedical engineer, cardiologist, and professor. He has two brothers, Austin, and Israeli Olympian Adam Edelman.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2018/02/14/skeleton-racer-edelman-living-dream-olympics/4X2wrTbBT5k8AHRtSYSXRP/story.html|title=Skeleton racer AJ Edelman living the dream at Olympics - The Boston Globe|website=BostonGlobe.com}} He was raised in Brookline, Massachusetts.{{Cite web|last=Zaino|first=Nick A.|date=July 12, 2018|title=Comic Alex Edelman took the long way back to Boston - The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2018/07/12/comic-alex-edelman-took-long-way-around-back-boston/SgXMUiFOKmDiFy0n1cwkuL/story.html|access-date=May 15, 2021|website=BostonGlobe.com|language=en-US}} He began performing stand-up at age 15.{{cite web|date=June 1, 2008|title=A funny thing happened on the way to the Yeshiva|url=http://matthewkalman.blogspot.com/2008/06/funny-thing-happened-on-way-to-yeshiva.html|work=Boston Globe}} He attended and graduated from Maimonides School in Brookline, a modern Orthodox Jewish day school. A baseball fan, he has worked for the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers.{{Cite web|title=Meet Me In New York: Alex Edelman {{!}} The Comic's Comic|date=May 20, 2015 |url=https://thecomicscomic.com/2015/05/20/meet-me-in-new-york-alex-edelman/|access-date=May 15, 2021|language=en-US}}

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, he moved to New York City to study English at New York University and graduated in 2012.{{Cite news|last=Oswaks|first=Molly|date=May 27, 2015|title=Alex Edelman Makes Religion a Laughing Matter|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/style/alex-edelman-makes-religion-a-laughing-matter.html|access-date=May 15, 2021|issn=0362-4331}} The photographer Mario Tama took his photo during graduation,{{Cite web|title=NYU Graduation Photo|date=May 16, 2012 |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/graduating-students-attend-new-york-universitys-news-photo/144580684|access-date=February 23, 2025}} which was featured in his special Millennial. During college, he continued to perform stand-up and later joined Upright Citizens Brigade. He first performed in the UK in 2012 while studying abroad.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/aug/08/alex-edelman-on-british-comedy | title=Alex Edelman: How I learned to love the British sense of humour | work=The Guardian | date=August 8, 2015 |first=Alex|last=Edelman}} He made his Australian debut in 2015.{{cite web|last=Edelman|first=Alex|date=April 21, 2015|title=I absolutely don't want to meet a koala|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/apr/21/i-absolutely-dont-want-to-meet-a-koala|work=The Guardian}}

His show Millennial won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the first American to do so since Arj Barker won in 1997. 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2015/09/07/23179/nish_of_the_day! | title=Nish of the Day! News 2015 | work=Chortle UK | date=September 7, 2015}} His 2018 show, Just For Us, was nominated for the Best Show award at the Edinburgh Fringe.{{Cite news|url=https://www.edfringe.com/take-part/awards/comedy|title=Comedy awards {{!}} Edinburgh Festival Fringe|work=Edinburgh Festival Fringe|access-date=October 27, 2018|language=en}} 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.{{Cite web|last=Cramer|first=Philissa|title=Jewish comedian helps rabbis nail delivery on High Holidays services|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-comedian-helps-rabbis-nail-delivery-on-high-holidays-services/|access-date=September 22, 2020|website=www.timesofisrael.com|language=en-US}}

Personal life

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."{{Cite web |last=Frick |first=Evelyn |date=November 19, 2021 |title=Comedian Alex Edelman Is a Troublesome Jew |url=https://www.heyalma.com/comedian-alex-edelman-is-a-troublesome-jew/ |access-date=April 7, 2024 |website=Hey Alma}}{{Cite web |last=Marc |first=Malkin|date=June 6, 2024 |title='Just for Us' Comedian Alex Edelman Talks HBO Special, White Nationalists and Why His Sexuality Journey Could Be Focus of Future Show|url=https://variety.com/2024/tv/podcasts/just-for-us-alex-edelman-hbo-white-nationalists-sexuality-1236027866/|access-date=July 5, 2024 |website=Variety}}

Edelman had an on-again, off-again relationship with Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan.{{Cite news |last=Saunders |first=Tristram Fane |date=2020-01-28 |title=Comedian Alex Edelman on anti-Semitism, millennials and being treated badly by the Baftas |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comedy/comedians/comedian-alex-edelman-antisemitismmillennials-treated-badly/ |access-date=2024-09-04 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}