He Was, I Thought, Just Another Bright Young Friend of Michael’s with an Impossible Dream. I Was Wrong! 

Alex Edelman was a good friend of Number Three Son Michael when they were both in college. I knew him then as a keenly smart, socially awkward, and almost pathetically likable young man who, I suspected, would one day become an influential doctor or scientist like his dad. Instead, he dreamed of being a stand-up comic. And while he pursued his dream, he was always hustling to make money by writing and selling TV scripts, jokes, and even advertising copy. (I knew from Michael that he had begun writing when he was very young. He was barely into his teens when he wrote a kids’ column for the Boston Red Sox.)

Stand-up comedy is about the scariest thing I can imagine doing. I have no problem making speeches about business or wealth building in front of 500 people. But trying to make them laugh? Just the idea makes me shudder.

I remember attending one of Alex’s performances earlyish in his career at a small venue in London. I was there with K, and maybe Michael, along with my business partner, who I had invited since he was in town at the time. There were only about a dozen other people in the audience, and I was nervous – afraid that people wouldn’t laugh at his jokes… and afraid that he would spot us (he didn’t know we were coming) and draw attention to us.

As it turned out, Alex’s performance that day was not great. But he was good. Strong enough to score on several bits and strong enough to make me proud of him.

So there he was, having ignored the Nobel Prize I had imagined for him and living poor, like new performers do, but making progress.

However, making progress as a comedian and becoming a genuine success in any of the performing arts are two very different things. I’ve known many talented young people in all sorts of areas – from drama, to dancing, to mixed martial arts. And when I’ve watched them perform, the experience for me has always been nerve-wracking. I fear some sort of stumble. Even when the performance is faultless, I carry with me the anxiety of knowing that their chance of success is slim, equivalent to the chance of becoming a professional athlete or movie star.

Anyway, time went on. And during those years, Alex would occasionally visit us when we were with Michael and our paths crossed, either at our home in Delray Beach or in New York or LA.

Then, in 2014, Michael wrote to tell us that Alex had won the “Best Newcomer” award at the annual Fringe Fest in in Edinburgh, Scotland. I’d never heard of it, but apparently it has been a launching pad for several now-famous comedians.

And then, in 2018, Michael told us that Alex was doing a one-man show Off-Broadway that was getting great reviews. The show – “Just for Us” – went to Broadway last year, and was recently made into an HBO Comedy Special. I didn’t get to see it on stage, but I saw the special on video, and it was really, really, funny. The jokes were smart and true, and the delivery was honed to perfection.

And then, two weeks ago, Number One Son’s wife, who makes a living doing hair and makeup for stars before they appear on TV talk shows, sent us her weekly calendar with the usual “big names” on it. And there, on Thursday afternoon, was Alex Edelman.

He had made it!

And now…

Last week, Michael sent me news that Alex had just been named by Time Magazine as one of “The 100 Most Influential People of 2024”!

Click here.