Alex Edelman

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Alex Edelman
Birth nameDavid Yosef Shimon Ben Illouz Haleivi Alexander Edelman[1]
Born (1989-03-20) March 20, 1989 (age 32)
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Alma materNew York University
Relative(s)Elazer Edelman (father)
Adam Edelman (brother)
Websitewww.alexedelmancomedy.com

Alex Edelman (born 1989) is an American stand-up comedian based in New York City. He is an internationally touring comic and found early success in the United Kingdom where he was named Best Newcomer at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[2] He has toured three shows since 2014: Millennial (2014–2015), Everything Handed to You (2015–2016), and Just for Us (2018–2020).

Biography[]

Edelman was born in Boston to Cheryl, a real estate lawyer,[3] and Elazer R. Edelman, a biomedical engineer, cardiologist, and professor. He has two brothers, Austin, and Israeli Olympian Adam Edelman.[4] He was raised in Brookline, Massachusetts.[5] He began performing stand-up at age 15.[6] A baseball fan, he also worked for the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers associations as a teenager.[5][7]

Edelman grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family and, following high school, spent a year in a yeshiva in Jerusalem. During his time, he helped to establish the city's first comedy club city’s Off the Wall Comedy. In 2008,[7] he moved to New York City to study English at New York University.[5] He graduated in 2012.[8] During college, he continued to perform stand-up and later joined Upright Citizens Brigade.[8] He first performed in the UK was in 2012 while studying abroad.[9][5] He made his Australian debut in 2015.[10]

His show "Millennial" won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe,[2] the first American to do so since Arj Barker won in 1997.[2] 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.[11] His 2018 show, Just For Us, was nominated for the Best Show award at the Edinburgh Fringe.[12] 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 pandemic.[13]

Personal life[]

Edelman had an on-again, off-again relationship with Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan.[14]

Works[]

Shows[]

  • Millennial (2014–2015)
  • Everything Handed to You (2015–2016)
  • Just for Us (2018– )

Radio[]

Specials and album[]

  • Alex Edelman: Live at the BBC (2016) – Netflix UK; hour-long special
  • Until Now (2020); album

Awards and nominations[]

Year Ceremony Award Work Result
2014 Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer Millennial Won
2015 Leicester Comedy Festiva Best Show Everything Handed to You Nominated
2018 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award Best Show Just for Us Nominated
Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Show Nominated
Herald Angel Award Won

References[]

  1. ^ "Alex Edelman: Just for Us: 5 star review by Miles Hurley". broadwaybaby.com. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  2. ^ a b c "Best Newcomer - Edinburgh Comedy Awards". Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  3. ^ "About AJ". Israel Bobsled Team. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  4. ^ "Skeleton racer AJ Edelman living the dream at Olympics - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com.
  5. ^ a b c d Zaino, Nick A. (July 12, 2018). "Comic Alex Edelman took the long way back to Boston - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  6. ^ "A funny thing happened on the way to the Yeshiva". Boston Globe. 1 June 2008.
  7. ^ a b "Meet Me In New York: Alex Edelman | The Comic's Comic". Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  8. ^ a b Oswaks, Molly (2015-05-27). "Alex Edelman Makes Religion a Laughing Matter". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  9. ^ Edelman, Alex (8 August 2015). "Alex Edelman: How I learned to love the British sense of humour". The Guardian.
  10. ^ Edelman, Alex (21 April 2015). "I absolutely don't want to meet a koala". The Guardian.
  11. ^ "Nish of the Day! News 2015". Chortle UK. 7 September 2015.
  12. ^ "Comedy awards | Edinburgh Festival Fringe". Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  13. ^ Cramer, Philissa. "Jewish comedian helps rabbis nail delivery on High Holidays services". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  14. ^ Saunders, Tristram Fane (2020-01-28). "Comedian Alex Edelman on antisemitism, millennials and being treated badly by the Baftas". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-07-06.

External links[]

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