Emmy-Winner Alex Edelman on ‘Just for Us’

The Last Laugh

The Daily Beast

Comedy Interviews, Comedy, Interviews, Tv & Film, Society & Culture, Tv, Movies, Film

4.6 • 661 Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2024

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“Oh god, you’re crying in front of Carol Burnett, fantastic,” Alex Edelman said at the top of his acceptance speech for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special at the 76th Emmy Awards. It was just the latest unexpected milestone in the life of his widely celebrated solo show ‘Just for Us,’ which premiered on HBO and also won a special Tony Award earlier this year. In this episode, the 35-year-old Jewish comic shares the unique challenges of bringing his story about attending a white supremacist meeting in Queens to the stage and screen, including the sudden death of his director just before opening on Broadway and how performing a show about antisemitism changed after October 7th. Edelman also discusses the surreal experience of getting notes from comedy heroes like Steve Martin, Jerry Seinfeld and Billy Crystal, tells a story about the time he baffled Mel Brooks by calling him “woke” to his face, and teases his next stand-up hour, which will take on the Israel-Gaza war.

This episode was originally published on April 10, 2024.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The Last Laugh. I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast. So the Emmy Awards were this past Sunday.
0:12.5	And as I have mentioned before on this podcast, there was one category that I was especially
0:17.6	interested in. The nominees for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special included four comedians who have been
0:25.1	on this podcast over the past year, Mike Barbiglia, Jacqueline Novak, John Early, and the
0:31.5	man who took home that award Sunday night, Alex Edelman.
0:35.8	It was a real thrill to see Alex react to hearing his name get called out by
0:40.1	Maya Rudolph, give hugs to each of his fellow nominees on the way to the stage, and then accept
0:45.8	the award for his fantastic debut special Just For Us. So this week, I thought we could listen back
0:52.2	to the interview I did with Alex right around
0:54.5	the premiere of that show on Max this past April.
0:58.2	We talked about the real experience of infiltrating a white supremacist meeting that became
1:03.0	the basis of Just For Us, and what it was like to get notes not just from his friend Mike
1:07.6	Barbiglia, but also comedy icons like Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, and
1:12.8	Jerry Seinfeld.
1:14.5	Alex also opened up about losing his director and longtime collaborator Adam Brace, just
1:20.4	before the show premiered on Broadway.
1:23.0	Adam, of course, got a heartfelt shout-out from Alex at the Emmy's Sunday night.
1:27.7	So let's hear a clip from that beautifully moving and funny acceptance speech,
1:32.0	and then we'll get into my conversation with Alex Edelman.
1:36.6	Okay. Thank you so much for this.
1:40.2	This is, oh God, you're crying, Frank Caroleon.
1:43.1	Fantastic. All right.
	...

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