Max Silberg | Staff Photographer

When Emmy and Tony Award-winning comedian Alex Edelman jogged out in front of a packed crowd at Graham Chapel, the first thing he did was not greet the audience or set up a punchline, but try to play the grand silver-piped organ that decorates the stage. 

Hilariously attempting to pluck keys on the soundless organ this past Sunday perfectly encapsulates Edelman’s unique comedic style: adaptive, tangential, and absolutely fascinating. During the event, which was a co-production among WashU Hillel, Jewish Student Association, Student Union, and the Social Programming Board, the Jewish comedian joked about his relationship with his parents, his thoughts on Jesus, and his first job as a hospital clown throughout his one-hour set. 

“Live entertainment is always important. I do think that visceral experiences feel harder and harder to come by: stand-up comedy, theater, and dance,” he said.

After growing up listening to comedy albums on CD, Edelman studied at New York University around the same time as future stars like Rachel Brosnahan, Donald Glover, and Danny Jolles. He never joined any stand-up groups during his time in school, but he constantly attended comedy clubs and tried to learn all he could about writing jokes. 

“NYU had a big comedy community, and I was sort of part of it,” Edelman said. “To me, the real value in doing art is that you can automatically become part of a group. Even if you don’t see [other artists] every day, you’re sort of in conversation with them.”

His first chance to put those skills to the test came not from stepping onto a stage, but from getting a job as a hospital clown while studying abroad in Jerusalem.

Edelman paired entertaining vignettes from his time in an Israeli hospital with more relatable jokes about struggling with parental pressure. While in school, he constantly felt as though his dad wanted more from him academically, and working as a hospital clown did not help his case.

Still, Edelman said that he is grateful for the career he has had and feels lucky to have found something uniquely him. He picked up Emmy and Tony awards for his last comedy special, “Just for Us,” which played on Broadway and is now streaming on HBO Max. 

“I honestly believe this is the best job. This weirdly suits my preferences,” he said. 

Throughout the show, Edelman jumped from subject to subject, never lingering for long. He discussed his qualms with modern ice cream, his frustration with too many service animals, and why the song “Jesus, Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood is flawed. 

Edelman repeatedly demonstrated his highly adaptive comedic style by effortlessly tying in references to Graham Chapel’s balcony, organ, and individual audience members’ reactions throughout his set, all of which were met with uproarious laughter. 

His style of comedy also tends to reflect his own Jewish identity. Edelman grappled with his thoughts on the afterlife, his theological views, and sprinkled in Yiddish throughout, ultimately debating, as he said, “the condition of being Jewish.”

Senior Noam Karger, one of the two students who organized the event alongside senior Amalia Stulbach, emphasized the importance of student leadership and Jewish representation. 

“Alex is Jewish, but we specifically wanted this to play two roles: 1) celebrate a Jewish comedian for Jewish students and 2) bring the entire campus together for something we can all agree on: laughter,” he said. “With a lot of support from SU, SPB, and Hillel, we were able to make it happen. [We’re] hoping this inspires other people to put on events they’re passionate about.”

Edelman also discussed the importance of hard work in today’s world. He broke into the comedy scene by performing up to three shows a day across all sorts of venues, including on the cafeteria tables of community colleges. He stated that he only got to this point in his career thanks to his dedication to performance and to writing.

“[Comedy]’s definitely being threatened. I think [AI]’s a really big problem. People use it to generate content. Take struggle out of stuff. Struggle is really important when it comes to sitting down and trying to actually find the right wording,” Edelman said. “So [if] you take that part out, I think that’s real bad.”

But he still has hope for the industry of stand-up comedy, and he imparted some advice for college students as well. 

“Just find time to hang out with each other. Now that sounds really silly, but the more diverse your friend group is, intellectually, politically, creatively, in every other way, I feel like the more equipped you are for whatever you’re going to do afterwards,” he said. 

“And the best part of college for me was just having a really incredible group of friends who were all dreaming and thinking about the same stuff. And in some ways, I’m still a little stuck there, maybe, but it’s really cool,” Edelman said.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article erroneously referred to the Jewish Student Association as Jewish Student Union. This article was updated at 2:17 p.m. on April 3 to reflect this change.