Alex Edelman: Just for Us - Menier Chocolate Factory

It's very very funny! Well worth a trip.

Some spoilers follow. . .

To the extent that distinctions even matter, it strikes me as stand-up, more than theatre, per se, as although this is taking place in a theatre, and although it tells a fascinating, theatrical and hysterically funny story (a Jewish man attends a White Supremacist meeting), Edelman stays in high-pitched, ingratiating laugh mode for almost the entire set.

He made me laugh loud and long, but I never felt I pierced the lid of who HE is, though I feel he very much pierces the lid of who THEY are.

He admits this in the only disconcerting moment of the show, where he explicitly tells us we know nothing about him really, as he's only told us stuff to make us like him.

This means that punchlines are preferenced over a sharing of humanity, and that's why I'd classify this as stand-up. It's a thin line, as I'd concede that lots of theatre exists only to make us laugh (see Mischief Theatre) lol.

Edelman is an amazing comic (pitch, attitude, setup, punchlines, all exceptional), and he tells an amazing story, but he himself remains elusive.

4 stars from me.

I usually find monologues a complete turn-off, but something about this persuaded me to book. It turned out to be an astonishing 90 minutes and the narrative had me completely captivated. Alex just never stops moving for the entire time, so it never feels static. I've been busy recommending it to all my friends since I saw it last night.

Normally I buy programmes for every production I see and this was no exception. I was wryly amused to see that my £2.50 bought me a z-fold leaflet with a single paragraph about the show and another single paragraph about Alex. There was more information about the general manager of the Menier than either!

I definitely thought of this as standup from when it was announced and would still say that after seeing it although there definitely is a theatrical element to it. I saw one of the first performances a week or so ago and it was already great then. Funny throughout as to be expected but what really impressed me was the structure of it. If you read a description of the show online, that’s the framing device it’s placed in and that story is told in bits across the whole show. Throughout that he segues really well into other topics and anecdotes that are completely disconnected from the main through line but still feel very natural in the context of the show. Just really great structure/pacing which kept me engaged with it throughout.