Alex Edelman’s ‘Just For Us’ to begin run at NYC’s Cherry Lane Theatre

Over the course of his blossoming career, Alex Edelman has made a habit of curating a catalog of material that is both wildly funny and thought-provoking. With his third solo show Just For Us, which begins a 20-show run at New York City’s Cherry Lane Theatre this week, he returns with that same comedic fire, but this time, he’s digging even deeper than before.

The one-man show, which runs a week of preview performances from Wednesday, December 1 to Tuesday, December 7 before its official opening night on December 8, brings us into a brand new corner of Edelman’s mind as the Brookline native discusses different avenues in his life that, according to the show’s synopsis, will have us feeling all the feels.

Produced by fellow Massachusetts native and the unofficial godfather of wildly successful one-man shows, Mike Birbiglia, Edelman’s latest creative endeavor touches on a myriad of topics in and around his own life, including his Olympian brother AJ, an unconventional holiday season, and a gorilla that can do sign language, all the while further employing his dangerously sharp comedic wit to chronicle his experiences while covertly attending a White Nationalist gathering in New York City.

“It has been such a thrill to perform this show around the world, and I’m so excited for the opportunity to bring it to the Cherry Lane, a venue I revere,” Edelman says of the opportunity. “And to be collaborating on it with Mike Birbiglia, a creative force I’ve admired for so long, in the city where I incubated as a comic? It’s a genuine dream come true.”

Since its premiere at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2018, where it garnered a Barry Award nomination for best show, Edelman has brought the show on award-winning runs at London’s Soho Theater and the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it earned the Herald Angel Award in addition to praise that led it to becoming the Fringe’s best reviewed comedy show in more than a decade. While Edelman is unsurprisingly excited to bring it home to the states in this capacity, Birbiglia has some praise of his own that highlights his excitement for the show’s NYC run.

“I think in comedy, if you can be hilarious that’s great,” Birbiglia said in a statement. “If you can also be hilarious and tell a story, that’s even better. If you can be hilarious, tell a story and speak to a societal issue in a thoughtful way, then it becomes a must-see theatrical experience. That’s precisely how I feel about Alex Edelman‘s new show Just For Us. It’s such a good story, and so funny, and so well told, I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.”

Tickets for all shows are on sale now at justforusshow.com.