Alex Edelman’s new show will come to Brighton via a long route that includes two of the largest comedy festivals in the world. It will be well-practised by the time it gets to the coast.

“First I did it in London for a couple of weeks at the Soho Theatre, then I did it at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, then a bunch of others, and then Edinburgh, where my career got started,” says Alex.

He is referring to winning the Best Newcomer Award at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe, which made him the first American to take the honour this century. The show that won it for him, Millennial, saw Edelman, then 25, discussing terrible stock photos and what it means to be part of Generation Y, with jokes like: “I spent $193,000 on my university. My parents may quibble with the personal pronoun.”

Alex started out in comedy in Boston performing “as a pretty particular taste at their alternative comedy shows”.

This was followed by a year spent in Israel, where he says he “really was incubated as a comedian, and started to get better”.

Along with his clear fondness for the Edinburgh Festival, he credits fellow alternative comic Josie Long with giving him his start in the UK.

Now 28, Alex’s latest show, Just For Us, sees him speaking candidly about “what’s like to be a Jew in the world right now”.

“It’s my funniest show,” Alex says confidently. “There’s lots of ‘stand-up’ in it, but there’s a story that paces through it.

“The show wasn’t topical when I wrote it, but it feels like it gets more topical every day. I don’t know if anti-Semitism has been on the rise but it’s certainly more forefront.

“It’s complicated being an observant Jew in 2019.

“There’s a famous quote that says if Jews didn’t exist then people would have to invent them, cause they’re a convenient scapegoat for things going wrong.

“And things are not going right all over the world, and as people’s troubles come more to the surface things are directed at people.”

The show is centred around an anecdote about what happens when a young Jewish guy goes to a white nationalist rally in New York without expecting any trouble.

Those who have seen his Live At The BBC show on Netflix may be happy to hear that the show also contains some more anecdotes about Alex’s brother, AJ, who he jokes used to be his twin before he began obsessively working out and became a Winter Olympian skeleton racer.

So Alex’s new show deals with experiences from his life. And as a young, increasingly successful comedian, those experiences include meeting Prince William and opening for Ricky Gervais on the US West Coast.

“I met the prince at the Baftas, he was extremely genteel,” he explains. “I have no thoughts on the monarchy really, to me they’re just sort of celebrities, no more or less deserving of anything. But I liked him a lot and he was very kind and personable and I’d say almost funny.”

And about Gervais?

“I’d say the same things about Gervais as I’d say about William, He’s very kind, powerful and funny.

“It was strange. Everyone told me how scary he was going to be, but he was wonderful.”

Meetings with princes are usually an indicator of success in the UK. But does he change his set depending on where he is performing it?

“This is a long-running argument between comics,” he says after a moment’s thought.

“Most comics change, but I don’t change almost anything. My show is about a lived experience, so I trust that audiences will find that lived experience to be authentic and funny, no matter where they’re from.

“If it’s familiar they’ll laugh because it’s familiar and if it’s foreign they’ll laugh because it’s unusual.

“I think it’s very important to have respect for your audiences. My favourite jokes are when the audience has to do a bit of work to get there.

“The best joke in the English language, technically, is ‘other than that Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?’ because the audience does exactly half the work.

“I rarely change anything, but I think my set is pretty universal. There aren’t many jokes about niche American things in there.

“I will say that my jokes about Greggs the bakers don’t go down nearly as well in New York as they do here.”

Alex’s UK tour begins in Salford on January 31, but he says he is particularly excited to return to Brighton.

“I love it there. I’d say that it’s the city that I’ve enjoyed my time in the most here outside of the ones I’ve lived in.”

Alex remembers opening for Simon Amstell at Brighton Dome, which he describes as a “brilliant venue”.

Specifically, Alex will be returning to Komedia, which is a landmark venue for the comic.

“My first headlining gig ever outside of London was at Komedia. I did Millennial there in 2015 as part of the Brighton Festival and it sold out, which was bewildering because no one knew who the heck I was. I was thrilled.

“I’m really excited to come back. It’s a huge bright spot on my calendar.”

Alex Edelman will be at Brighton Komedia on March 11, 2020