John welcomes writer and comedian Alex Edelman to look at how he wrote his solo show Just For Us, and dig into the meaning of “write what you know.” They discuss finding your voice as a writer, developing your story with an audience, why Alex doesn’t write his shows down, and the sample that first got him staffed.
We also answer listener questions on what to do when your manager doesn’t understand your comedy, and the value of characters speaking to themselves.
In our bonus segment for premium members, John asks Alex, how do you set boundaries on material when you’re dating another comedian?
Links:
* [Alex Edelman](https://www.alexedelmancomedy.com/)
* [Just For Us on HBO](https://www.hbo.com/movies/alex-edelman-just-for-us)
* [Replay by Jordan Mechner](https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/books/replay/)
* [Replay by Ken Grimwood](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/341735)
* [Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!](https://cottonbureau.com/people/scriptnotes-podcast)
* [Check out the Inneresting Newsletter](https://inneresting.substack.com/)
* [Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/gifts) or [treat yourself to a premium subscription!](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/)
* Craig Mazin on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@clmazin) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/clmazin/)
* John August on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@johnaugust), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/johnaugust)
* [John on Mastodon](https://mastodon.art/@johnaugust)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Ali Clifton ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))
* Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by [Matthew Chilelli](https://twitter.com/machelli).
Email us at ask@johnaugust.com
You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/640standardV2.mp3).
**UPDATE 6-3-24:** The transcript for this episode can be found [here](https://johnaugust.com/2024/scriptnotes-episode-640-can-you-believe-it-transcript).