The welcome mat is always out. During Hurricane Sandy, 11 people were sleeping there. (Take that literally — one of the bedrooms has bunk beds.) Mr. Edelman’s brother, AJ Edelman, who represented Israel in skeleton at the 2018 Olympics, stays for a spell from time to time, and several comedic colleagues from the abroad have made themselves at home during a tour or vacation in the United States.
In return, they are asked to leave a note and a tchotchke. This humble request explains the dried lavender, the candle, the rather ineptly carved wooden box on the living room windowsill, and the spinning crystal that hangs in front of the window and throws little rainbows across the apartment when the morning light is right.
Mr. Edelman chooses not to share the financial details of purchasing an apartment, except to say that he and his two brothers own the property with their parents, and that he spends most of the monthly communal money. pays charges.
The furnishing of the apartment has been a family affair. Mr. Edelman bought the clear molded plastic chairs—Philippe Starck’s interpretation of baroque lounge chairs—that jingle the dining table, with one left in front of his desk. He is visibly delighted that the Breuer Wassily chair, a favorite reading spot in his childhood home, has made its way to New York, and he is more than a little proud of the Claes Oldenburg print he bought from his idol’s estate. Robin Williams.
“It was the first piece of art I ever bought,” said Mr. Edelman. “I love this little print. It’s really beautiful.”
He can’t get nearly as much enthusiasm for the toast-colored tweed sectional and matching accent chair — both supplied by his parents. “It’s not exactly world-class furniture. It’s kind of shvach,’ he said, using the Yiddish word for weak or disappointing. “We are in need of a makeover.”
The apartment itself has been grown by mr. Edelman, who began spending significant amounts of time in Britain shortly after moving house – he won the “best newcomer” comedy award at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, an award that put a gust of wind in his sails. “Back then, home was like a blue suitcase,” he said.
