The Broadway Theatre Review: Alex Edelman: Just For Us

By Ross

I had no idea what I was walking into. Much like Alex Edelman’s wild encounter with a roomful of racists that is at the center of this wonderfully funny and thoroughly engaging one-man narrative show, Just For Us, that is currently captivating its Broadway audience at the Hudson Theatre. He’s quite the captivating character, connecting with wide-open energetic ease as he wears his Jewishness with casual-connected pride. It’s not exactly the place you would imagine finding this young, sorta nerdy, sorta cute man playing wisely and hilariously to the crowd. But it works its magic almost instantly on us all. The show, and the comedian, are as smart as they are funny, and his rushing energy is as big as this Broadway stage with jokes that start off, knowingly, so dumb and small, you can’t help but fall for him as he warns us upfront of his love for “a silly joke” or two. Yet somehow, without us even really seeing the tactics ahead, he takes us slyly down a commentary road that is as brilliant and direct as it is wise, random, and expressively funny.

After Edelman saw a tweet about a gathering in Queens, one that probably any wise young Jewish man would have/should have stayed far away from, the comedian, post being daringly prompted by a British comedian to dig into what’s happening in the world today, wisely dons his most open-mannered approach and rush enters into the fray with as open a heart as he can find. It’s a straightforward circuitous route, this fantastically funny show, one that Alex Edelman; comedian, actor, and writer of his award-winning, first solo show, Millennial, takes us on without stopping for a moment to stand still or seemingly catch his breath.

His movement pattern is all over the place, making his Broadway debut in this award-winning solo show a mesmerizing treat. He swings and bobs around the core throughout the 75-minute running time with hilariously nervous energetic ease, forever pacing and circling around the stage like he does its subject matter. Dressed casually buttoned up to the throat, he gives into his curious nature as we give into his casually but sharply focused humor that never feels forced or inauthentic. And we are well gifted with cookies and milk for our attention.

Fueled by an energy to engage with a grin and a nervous brushing of his hands through his messy sweet natured hair, this 34-year-old comedian starts it all off by telling us about a different plan for the show. Still, one by one, with lots of sidestepping, he gets us in and by a puzzle-lady moment that expands on an idea that never stops giving and giving until the sharply defined end. It’s cleverly constructed, thanks to the sharp focused, loose-gripped elegance of director Adam Brace (Liz Kingsman’s One Woman Show)[who unfortunately passed away from a stroke this past April], with a helpful assist by creative consultant Alex Timbers (Broadway’s Moulin Rouge!). Edelman makes his way down the hall and into this living room in Queens where a group has gathered to engage in white supremacy chatter. It’s a hot and heated moment, but Edelman delivers it with a singular sense of charming humor that in one way humanizes even as he unpacks his underlying approach to engagement.

Cohesive and detailed, the unpacking of the man’s simply-held principles and personality is forever fascinating and endearing, especially as he navigates a flirtation within the group. Empathy, it turns out, is at the core of his Jewish roots, and he tells us about how his parents were so committed to this that they once fully hosted a Christmas celebration for a family friend who had recently lost her family, right down to the “good kinda fat” kind of Santa who eats his cookies even if the tree is in the garage. And it is this and his ‘privilege’, as pointed out most cleverly by a friend, that gets him through the door and into this anti-semitic, white supremacy get-together in a Queens living room, brought forth after tracking the anti-semitic trolls who antagonized him on Twitter back in 2017. “Can you believe it?”

That experience is the cornerstone of Just For Us, previously performed by Edelman to acclaim off-Broadway as well as in London, Melbourne, and Washington, D.C., winning numerous awards along the way. And that same wondrous energy is what fills this well-paced show with such sharp, solidly crafted social commentary/stand-up. It’s both utterly hilarious and quick-witted while he baths in his cute congeniality and clever quips of self-deprecation and complete awareness of self and style.

With a few black stools making up a makeshift white supremacy semi-circle, or as he states, an “anti semicircle“, as designed strongly by set designer David Korins (Broadway’s Beetlejuice), with sharp lighting by Mike Baldassari (Broadway’s First Date), strong sound design by Palmer Hefferan (LCT’s Skin of Our Teeth) and a helpful hand by fellow one-man show performer turned mentor/producer Mike Birbiglia (Broadway’s The Old Man & the Pool), Edelman holds us fully in his outreached hand without every losing himself to the troubled world that surrounds him. He moves and shifts with untold energy, signifying curiosity and confidence laced with hyperactivity and “over-medicated” magnificence.

“They’re just Nazis because they haven’t met Alex yet,” he muses, recalling a formulation that both registers as authentic and utterly naive. But that’s what makes Alex Edelman: Just For Us shine so bright. The balance is hilariously beautiful, treating the disturbing hierarchical world of whiteness, anti-Semitism, and white supremacy with sharply written and performed humor and clarity with little-to-no irony. You never do know what will happen when you put down that racist pastry and dig into the social commentary before us. “Who knows?” But what I do know is that this is a not-to-be-missed theatrical event, one that will remain happily and fascinatingly inside my head for a long time coming. So settle into a chair in that semicircle of hate, and settle in beside Alex Edelman and his one-man show Just For Us. You’ll have the best time having met him.