What a year it’s been for the Edelman family: First, A.J. made Jews worldwide proud by making it to the third round of the Men’s Skeleton event at the Winter Olympics, representing Israel in what has got to be the most insane sport ever dreamed up. And now, his twin, Alex, is rocking another equally daunting undertaking, performing stand-up comedy on late-night TV.
Taking the stage of Conan O’Brien’s show late last month, Alex delivered a perfect five-minute monologue about everything from working at KFC to his more athletic twin (“now we look like a before-and-after photo,” he quipped). But Edelman’s best bits had to do with growing up Orthodox, and being the kind of comedian who dabbled in cocaine but had never tried bacon.
“I have cousins, Menachem and Yitzhak,” Edelman joked, “who can’t even spell their names in English, because there’s no English letter for phlegm.”
You can watch his set here:
Liel Leibovitz is editor-at-large for Tablet Magazine and a host of its weekly culture podcast Unorthodox and daily Talmud podcast Take One. He is the editor of Zionism: The Tablet Guide.
