FEBRUARY 1 • 2024 | 47

outside of Boston.
“
Alex and I bonded through 
that collaboration, and he 
asked me to come and check 
out Just for Us in its initial off-
Broadway run in winter 2022. I 
couldn’t stop raving after I saw 
it, and we kept in touch about 
it through all of his subsequent 
productions,” Sussman said. 
“
After he played Williams-
town Theatre Festival in 
summer 2022, producer Jenny 
Gersten and I decided to 
pursue the possibility of getting 
a limited run of Just for Us on 
Broadway with Seaview as our 
third producing partner. It all 
organically fell into place from 
there — it was bashert.”

GENESIS OF JUST FOR US
At the end of 2017, Edelman 
says he “went down this 
worm hole of antisemitism 
on Twitter.” So, Edelman went 
to a get-together of white 
nationalists in Queens. After 
about an hour-and-a-half, they 
discovered that Edelman was a 
Jew. And that was the genesis 
for Edelman’s third solo show, 
Just For Us.
“It’s a comedy show 

filled with jokes about 
Jewish identity, my family, 
assimilation and Jews’ place 
in the world,” says Edelman, 
who started doing comedy in 
high school. “The topicality 
of the show was a result of me 
removing my Jewish identity 
in that extreme setting and 
the gray space that Jews find 
themselves in. The essential 
question is what space do 
we occupy in the world — 
especially now?”
Sussman says his show is 
now more relevant than ever.
“It’s an impossibly dark 
and complicated time for 
Jews — so many of us are 
hurting and struggling with 
cognitive dissonance. I believe 
Jewish audiences are desperate 
for a communal, cathartic 
experience and comedy is the 
perfect antidote,” she says. “Just 
For Us is a living, breathing 
thing — there’s no fourth wall. 
“
Alex is directly addressing 
the audience, and he shares 
how a piece about antisemitism 
resonates differently right 
now.”
In 2008, when Edelman was 
18, he went to yeshivah for a 

year in Israel and met David 
Kilimnick, who was the driving 
force behind Jerusalem’s Off 
the Wall Comedy Theater.
“I was probably the first 
comic to perform and host 
there. I helped open the place 
and install the sinks,” Edelman 
said. “It was a nice little 
comedy scene. That’s where I 
started coming into comedy a 
little bit. I learned a lot from 
the other comedians. 
“It was an English-language 
comedy club — mostly Israelis 
trying to do comedy in English 
and a few American comics 
who made aliyah. It was a 
really weird mix of people 
— plus a bunch of Arab and 
Palestinian comics as well. It 
was really a delight.”
After graduating college 
from New York University, 

Edelman got really serious 
about being a professional 
comedian.
“
Alex is a singular, charis-
matic talent with an uncanny 
ability to connect with people. 
He makes friends everywhere 
he goes,” Sussman said. “I 
have seen Just for Us more 
times than I can count, and 
I’m consistently impressed by 
Alex’s storytelling craft and 
presence. He’s constructed a 
compelling narrative arc with 
a Big Event as the central plot, 
but at the heart of the piece, 
Alex is thoughtfully examining 
his Jewish identity, upbringing 
and values, particularly 
empathy. So expect to laugh 
a lot but also come away 
considering your place in the 
world and how you move 
through it.” 

DETAILS
Alex Edelman will perform his solo show Just For Us at 
Detroit’s Fisher Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10. 
The show runs 85 minutes with no intermission. Tickets 
start at $50 (includes parking and facility fee) and can be 
purchased online at www.BroadwayInDetroit.com and in 
person at the Fisher Theatre box office starting at noon. 
For more information, go to www.BroadwayinDetroit.com.
www.JustForUsShow.com
@AlexEdelman
@JustForUsShow
 To watch Saturday Night Seder, produced by Alex 
Edelman, Rachel Sussman and others, go to:
www.saturdaynightseder.com.

EMILIO MADRID

Rachel 
Sussman 
and Alex 
Edelman 

Alex Edeman 
performing in 
Just For Us on 
Broadway

MATTHEW MURPHY

