As a general rule, I would advise someone whose birth name is David Yosef Shimon ben Elazar Reuven HaLevi and who studied at a yeshiva to probably avoid attending a meeting of white nationalists. It just doesn’t seem like the best idea.
That is, unless his current name is Alex Edelman, he’s a comedian, and he’s looking for new material. Then I would say go for it, especially if the result is a solo show as consistently uproarious as Just for Us, which has just landed on Broadway after several previous engagements in smaller NYC theaters and in such cities as London, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Boston, and Washington, D.C.
Edelman’s unlikely adventure was inspired by his receiving numerous anti-Semitic tweets. Intrigued, he signed up anonymously for the sort of Twitter list that eventually included an invitation for a meeting of white supremacists to be held in Queens. Which, he properly points out, is rather ironic considering that the borough is the most diverse neighborhood in America.
His recounting of the experience forms the springboard for the 75-minute show which touches on themes relating to identity, particularly of the Jewish variety. And Edelman, raised by Orthodox Jewish parents and whose brother competed for Israel in the Olympics, is as Jewish as it gets. He makes Jackie Mason seem like someone who would have put mayonnaise on his pastrami. He’s well aware of his specific appeal, describing his fan base as people on the Upper West Side.
Just for Us proves extremely well crafted, as one hopes it would be after being performed on and off for nearly five years. He begins the evening with an anecdote about how Koko the Gorilla related sadness upon hearing of the death of Robin Williams after having met the comedian only once. If you’re wondering how that connects with the rest of the piece, Edelman provides the answer toward the end of the show, followed by the sort of mic-drop capper that brings it to a triumphant conclusion.
The comedian cannily interweaves his story about his attending the meeting — where he flirted with a young female attendee (“You never know,” he observes, later managing to turn the bland phrase into the most hysterical of punchlines) and met an elderly woman working on a massive, 12,000-piece jigsaw puzzle (that detail also figures in later on) — with humorous observations about his Jewish upbringing in Boston, Massachusetts. “I come from a racist part of Boston…called Boston,” he informs us.
This leads to hilarious riffs about, among other things, his athlete brother, who competes in the winter sliding sport skeleton (“It’s just gravity,” Edelman scoffs) and a childhood event in which his parents generously held a Christmas celebration for a Christian family friend grieving over a recent loss. He points out that there’s no comparison between Christmas and Hanukkah, saying the latter is “the diet coke to Christian’s black tar heroin.”
How much of Edelman’s account of attending the white supremacists meeting incognito is truthful or made up for comedic purposes can’t be known, of course. But it feels true enough, with the spindly Edelman, who resembles a cross between Pete Davidson and a young Jerry Lewis, looking physically vulnerable enough to make the proceedings almost suspenseful. Along the way, he manages to throw in many astute observations about the nature of hatred and prejudice along with punchlines which arrive with a rapid-fire pace. Relentlessly prowling the stage as if hyped up on Red Bull, his delivery may prove a bit too manic for some, but you wouldn’t know it from the steady stream of belly laughs erupting from the audience.
Expertly staged by the late Adam Brace — whose many other credits include Liz Kingsman’s One Woman Show, which just opened to raves at Off-Broadway’s Greenwich House Theater – Just for Us proves to be far more than just an evening of extremely funny jokes. It’s a comic musing about bigotry that feels more relevant than ever at a time when something as innocuous as tiki torches has taken on a very sinister meaning.
Just for Us opened June 26, 2023, at the Hudson Theatre and runs through August 19. Tickets and information: justforusshow.com
