Award-Winning Comedian, Alex Edelman

ENSEMBLE ARTS PHILLY PRESENTS AWARD-WINNING COMEDIAN, ALEX EDELMAN, AND HIS ACCLAIMED SOLO BROADWAY SHOW JUST FOR US, MARCH 3, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (February 6, 2024) – Ensemble Arts Philly, the new presenting brand of the Kimmel Cultural Campus and The Philadelphia Orchestra, welcomes comedian, actor, and writer, Alex Edelman, and his North American tour entitled Just For Us at the Miller Theater on March 3, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. Following a hit run at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre; international engagements in London, Edinburgh, and Melbourne; and a six-time extended Off-Broadway run, Just For Us comes to Philadelphia.

Directed by Adam Brace and expertly crafted by one of comedy’s most distinctive voices, this singular theatrical experience is an exploration of identity and our collective capacity for empathy. In the wake of a string of anti-Semitic rhetoric pointed in his direction online, standup comic Edelman decides to go straight to the source; specifically, Queens, where he covertly attends a meeting of White Nationalists and comes face-to-face with the people behind the keyboards. What happens next forms the backbone of the shockingly relevant, utterly hilarious, and only moderately perspirant stories that comprise Just for Us.

“Prepare for an evening where wit meets wisdom in a masterful blend of comedy and storytelling that The New York Times named one of its 10 Best Theater Productions of 2023,” said Frances Egler, Vice President of Theatrical Programming and Presentations. “Alex Edelman’s one-man-show has taken the comedy world by storm, and we are excited to have him join our eclectic spring comedy lineup alongside Fortune Feimster, Seth Meyers, Franco Escamilla, and more.”

Edelman is a comedian, actor, and writer. He is known for his TV writing, his love of black-and-white cookies, and his solo shows – all created in collaboration with director Adam Brace and all award-winning, sell-out hits in London’s West End and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Alex made his Broadway debut with Just For Us in 2023, after sold-out runs Off-Broadway (Obie Award, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations), in Washington, D.C., Boston (his hometown), Melbourne, Edinburgh (Herald Angel Award), London, and more. His first solo show, Millennial, won the 2014 Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer, the first American show to do so since 1997. He has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Conan. He is also the creator of Peer Group – a show about young people – on BBC Radio 4. At the start of the pandemic, he served as the head writer and executive producer of Saturday Night Seder, a star-studded 70-minute special posted on YouTube that has so far raised $3.5 million for the CDC Foundation (COVID-19) Emergency Response Fund. He has two differently-sized feet and is very grateful you’re here.

Brace was Associate Director at Soho Theatre, London, where he worked across Comedy, Theatre, and Performance Art, and in roles spanning dramaturg, director, and writer. In comedy, he developed a varied range of work including eight Edinburgh Comedy Award nominated shows, two Herald Angel Award winners, two nominees for the Melbourne Barry Award, and two Southbank Sky Arts Awards. Directing credits include all of Alex Edelman's shows, most recently Just For Us (2023 Obie Award winner, 2022 Drama Desk & Outer Critics Circle Nominee); Liz Kingman’s One Woman Show; Leo Reich’s Literally Who Cares?! Off-Broadway; Haley McGee’s Age is a Feeling (Fringe First 2022, Soho Theatre); and all of Sh!t Theatre's multi-award-winning international shows. Other credits include Ahir Shah's HBO Max special Dots and Creative Supervisor on two series of Soho Theatre Live on Amazon Prime. Previously, he was a playwright and was produced by Almeida Theatre, The National Theatre, and The Donmar Warehouse; his plays are published by Faber and Faber.