🔴Alex Edelman: ‘The best dumb jokes have a real intelligence at the center of them’👀

[Music] Alex Edelman the best dumb jokes have a real  intelligence at the center of them the best dumb   jokes have a real intelligence at the center of  them declares comedian Alex Edelman for our recent   web chat he continues there's a beauty of them  edelman's HBO Comedy debut just for us was filmed   during the show's acclaimed Broadway run while the  special has plenty of dumb jokes it also trades in   the currency of important commentary as the whole  set revolves around a comedian coverly attending   a meeting of white nationalists he explains the  material came with proding from a lot of people   saying you have to be doing comedy about this I  didn't think of it as standup I just thought it   was a weird story I would tell my friends on  finding the comedy from his experiences with   hatred the comedian thinks comedy is about the  build and release of tension and the surprise of   an environment like has a natural tendency towards  comedy he also Muses that I do find that people   with racist views are often not humorous about  themselves and there's something very authentic   about addressing your weakness Reckoning with  it makes you a stronger person Edelman reflects   that the shows about the elasticity of empathy  he adds it's about understanding where we end   and others begin what is okay to to compromise  on in your personal values things you view as   essential to your Humanity at the same time  we live in a very ranker environment how do   we move ourselves outside of that in terms of  walking into a room like that for the meeting   it raises a bunch of really interesting questions  for me on the power of Comedy Edelman explains   standup can be a very Human Experience even on  television it's a real person-to-person thing   There's real potential for communication and  capacity for new ideas after every show I stand   outside and talk to anyone who wants to talk  to me people tell me they walk away a little   different I've had about a dozen interactions  with people who tell me they have thought of   themselves in some way as not fans of Jews  my work has never had this type of resonance   before absolutely comedy can change people one  of the reasons this thing is so near and dear   to me is I've watched that happen Edelman has  recently been named one of Time magazine's 100   most influential people for 2024 just for us  is dedicated to Adam brace Who is credited as   directing the material for stage Edelman reflect  he passed away right before we started Broadway   I don't know that I'd be a comedian without Adam  I'd be working in an office somewhere in Sports   Marketing he was able to take the clumsy neurode  Divergent parts of me and provoke them towards   something that was communicable but still unique  to me which is what a great direct urge or dram   urge should do I could speak for hours and never  quite capture it which is frustrating [Music]