It’d be great to see Alex Edelman oversee a session of Congress. Somehow, he might be able to help its members find common ground.
In “Alex Edelman: Just for Us,” the comedian infiltrates a meeting of White Nationalists in Queens, New York, and emerges with great insight.
They think he’s just like them, eager to place the blame for the nation’s woes on others. He, a Jew, thinks it’s an interesting experiment. Instead, it’s a close encounter of the scary kind that offers plenty of background and more than a little Jewish context.
No one, oddly enough, asks if he’s Jewish when he enters the meeting. Ultimately, they discover as much but not until we get a sense of his background. His brother, A.J., for example, is the first Orthodox Jewish winter Olympian, representing Israel. His parents are Modern-Orthodox Jews. He spent a year in a yeshiva in Jerusalem after high school.
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At the meeting, he encounters a variety of nondescript people – a woman doing a puzzle, a man eyeing the attendees, a young woman who could easily be a date, were the circumstances different.
As he details the evening, Edelman leans into his own story. His mother, for example, was so worried about a friend she invited her to their home to celebrate Christmas. Never mind her husband’s take. She decorated a tree (in the garage, but still) and enlightened her sons. Thinking it was the best celebration ever, the boys quickly embraced the veer and cleared the contents of an Advent calendar in a matter of minutes. Dad wasn’t persuaded.
Edelman adds other stories from his past as a way to set the table for the banquet of antisemitism. Clearly alone, he doesn’t second any motions at the meeting but admits he, too, has benefited from white privilege. Name-checking Jared Kushner, Lady Gaga and a host of others, he’s able to bring everyone into the tent of understanding. It’s a remarkable flex.
Darting from one end of the stage to the other, he’s able to convey the anxiety that’s filling his head, particularly when he hears the guests spout their invective. Nice to a fault, Edelman was probably the peacemaker at his school, eager to give both sides their time to rant.
Here, though, he’s a minority of one, listening as others try to poke holes in his lifetime of beliefs. He’s empowered at various moments and able to interpret for the audience. While “Just for Us” doesn’t have the gymnastics of, say, a Mike Birbiglia comedy special, it does have a powerful message that lasts long after the laughter dies.
A comedian to watch, Edelman could expand upon this moment and create a series that would last for years.
Now, though, “Just for Us” is one that can fuel countless conversations and great admiration. It's a keeper.
“Just for Us” airs on HBO and streams on Max.