Hey you. Yes, you. Thanks for coming to this.

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. The first place I ever performed regularly was in the basement of the bar next door. A place called Remington’s — a horrible rat-motel hole that is surely better off in its new life as a student-infested dining hall.

Real quick, a little about Just For Us. I started writing it in 2018. It’s based on stuff that happened in 1995, 1996, 2012-2013, 2016, 2021 and, most notably, on a Tuesday night in the winter of 2017. It was conceived as all three of my solo shows have been: over a beer, across from my director Adam Brace.

It incubated at Melbourne Comedy Festival in Australia, the Edinburgh Fringe in Scotland, the Soho Theatre in London and at Los Angeles comedy/storytelling shows. Those will sound like just proper nouns but they represent warm audiences, wonderful staffs, well-made cappuccinos and folks who took shots on a show that was not yet a Broadway offering.

This is a solo show — but it doesn’t belong to me only. Mike Birbiglia, the unquestioned master of the comedy-theatre blend and the original presenter of the show in New York, gave me several loving pushes in the right direction. I owe gratitude to dozens of friends, peers and comedy heroes for their encouragement and thoughts. The conversations I’ve had with audience members after shows — about identity, community, transgression, civility, empathy and more — have had a very real impact on its content.

Most of all, I am deeply indebted to Brace — a rugby-loving genius equal parts gentle and gruff. And without whom I have no idea what I’ll do next. Adam passed away unexpectedly at 43 about six weeks before our Broadway run started. He was my closest collaborator for more than a decade and, most importantly, a friend who understood me better than just about anyone and still somehow liked me.

Adam liked to say that the show was an 85-minute wrestling match with a single question: What is our place in the world?

The events of these past few weeks have made that question feel more urgent. There are long stretches where it takes up my entire field of vision. But I’ve found comfort in the practice of doing the show, and I like that practice. It’s a pursuit of understanding through the two things I love the most: comedy and parking under Boston Common. It — for me — mirrors the Jewish practices that ask us to grapple with things that can be both joyous and painful in service of finding a greater truth.

Adam and I laughed so much making this show. I hope it provides a few moments of comfort in these nightmarish times. I hope it can be both a challenge and an escape. And I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

Thank you again for being here.

 

THANK YOUS

Adam Brace

 

Mike Birbiglia

 

Mike Lavoie, Carlee Briglia, Joe Birbiglia

 

Greg Nobile, Rachel Sussman, Jenny Gersten, Emily Bergquist and everyone at Seaview and ShowtownTheatricals, especially Nathan.

 

Cheryl Edelman, Elazer Edelman, AJ Edelman, Austin Edelman, Julian Edelman — my grandpa, not the football player.

 

Julian Edelman — the football player

 

Hannah Einbinder

 

Tristan Eaton

 

Alex Timbers

 

David Korins

 

Jenji Kohan

 

Colleen Reilly

 

Larry Lucchino

 

Dr. Charles Steinberg

 

Benj Pasek

 

The Saturday Night Seder team

 

Allysa Mahler

 

Danielle Esparza

 

Mike Berkowitz

 

Michael Finkle

 

Roger Green

 

Andreas Valhouli

 

Denis Leary

 

Dave Rath

 

Tara Beppel

 

Danny Jolles

 

Shane Kosakowski

 

Chloe Ifshin

 

Josie Long

 

David Burstein

 

Steve, Kelly, Mark, Lee and the rest of the Soho Theatre office staff

 

Haley Zoller

 

Dan Smith, Sophie Foster and everyone at Oswin

 

Amy Clear, Ellika Heribertson, Emilie Brittain, Ed Smith and everyone at Phil McIntyre Ent.

 

Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Iso Waller-Bridge

 

Maria Goyanes and my Woolly Mammoth crew

 

Beth Lapides and Uncabaret

 

Chris Lander and Kate Watson

 

Jack Whitehall

 

Stephen Fry

 

Alfie Brown and Josh Weller

 

Guy Garvey

 

Chris Harris — a great boss, responsible for one very useful four-word phrase in the show

 

Ross MacDonald, Matty Healy, George Daniel, Adam Hahn

 

Sarah Hurwitz

 

Michael Solomonov

 

Mel Brown and her team at Impressive

 

Molly Barnett, Chelsea Nachman, and Amanda Marie Miller

 

Vivacity, Marathon, SpotCo, and Sine Digital

 

Katherine Ryan, Violet Ryan and Bobby Kootstra

 

Susan Provan and Rebecca Austin and everyone at MICF

 

MC Mangum, Bryan Bauer, Taylor Poer, Rachael Albert, Ilana Simon, Mel McSweeney, Adele Traub and my company managers, stage managers and crews all over the world. I love you guys. 

 

Finally, those Boston comedians: Gary Gulman, Tony V, Dan Boulger, Joe List, Lamont Price, Dan Crohn, Sam Jay, The Walsh Brothers, Don Gavin, Kelly MacFarland, Steve Sweeney, Jim Lauletta, Lenny Clarke, Alvin David, Tom Dustin, Rick Jenkins, Renata Tutko, Chris Coxon, Myq Kaplan, Kevin Knox, Ted Pettingel, both Whitman brothers, Will Noonan, Jim Colliton, Zach Sherwin, Sean Sullivan, Shane Mauss, Joe Wong, Dan Hirshon, EJ Murphy, Taylor Connolly, Josh Gondelman, Chris Fleming, Ken Reid, Tony Moschetto, Baron Vaughn, Eugene Mirman, Steve Macone, Alingon Mitra, and Bethany Van Delft.

ALEX EDELMAN (he/him) 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 DC, 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," 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.

ADAM BRACE (Director, he/him) 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 and Leo Reich’s Literally Who Cares?! Off-Broadway, Haley McGee’s Age is a Feeling (Fringe First 2022, Soho Theatre); 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.

Chief Executive Officer — Stephen Lewin
Executive Vice President, Content & Creative — Kristin Caskey
VP, Theatrical Programming — Erica Schwartz
Producer — Bee Carrozzini
VP, MCE Programming — Jason Rio

Theatrical Programmer — Jacob Porter
Programming and Production Assistant — Ben Fleischer
Executive Assistant, Theatrical Content — Brenna Whaley

General Manager — Joey Riddle
Deputy General Manager — Morgan Cates
Director of Marketing & Communications — Meredith Mastroianni
Marketing and Communications Assistant — Nathanial Magoon
Ticketing Director — Molly McCormack Lebel
Assistant Box Office Manager — Casey Prokop
Customer Experience Director — Jill Costa
Facilities Manager — Paul O'Malley

Facilities Assistant — Michael Riemer

Production Manager — Mercedes Roman-Manson
Assistant Production Manager — Jonathan Lang
Head Props — Patrick Glynn
Head Carpenter — Hunter Wollman
Head Electrician — Kirt Kaminski
Head Sound — Frank Puopolo
Head Flyman — Patrick Colantuoni
Assistant Carpenter — Phillip Higgins
Head Wardrobe — Erica Burke
Chief Usher — Carol Arlauskas
Assistant Chief Usher — Andrew Gerzon
Assistant House Managers — Amanda Mehlman, Andrew Gerzon
Food and Beverage Supervisor — Brandon Pappas-Davis
Box Office Staff — Caitlin Fitz Gerald, Carolyn Young, Layne Alexandra, Rebekah Oden