Alex Edelman Celebrates ‘Filmmakers, Actors, Writers, and One Person I Smoked Marijuana with Once’ at IndieWire Honors

When IndieWire Honors host Alex Edelman took the stage at Citizen News in Hollywood to kick off the show, his monologue perfectly encapsulated the fun, laid back approach that powers the biannual ceremony honoring creative independence. (Watch the video of Edelman on IndieWire’s red carpet above.)

“Is this the fanciest award show? No! But it will be one of the shortest,” he said. “If you found street parking, you won’t need to refill the meter!”

Edelman went on to introduce the esteemed group of TV artists being honored, which included
Carol Burnett, Quinta Brunson, Issa López, Lulu Wang, Riley Keough, Dakota Fanning, Francesca Sloane, John Mulaney, Fisher Stevens, and the duos of Matt Bomer and Ron Nyswaner, and Bryan Lee O’Malley and BenDavid Grabinski. And while he heaped plenty of praise on the group’s artistic achievements, he also had a laugh about one of his own past encounters with an unnamed honoree.

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“At this party, we’re going to be celebrating 13 incredible people who have been committed to entertainment and storytelling,” he said. “And among these honorees are filmmakers, actors, writers, and one person I smoked marijuana with once in the parking lot behind the Hollywood Improv comedy club.”

As he began to address the honorees individually, Edelman explained that, like many people in the room, he was starstruck by the presence of Carol Burnett.

“I fucking love Carol Burnett,” he said, before singling out some of her “Palme Royale” moments that reminded him of her comedic brilliance. “There’s a jump where Carol’s character Norma is in a coma, and I saw it and said ‘Carol Burnett is funnier in a coma than I am normally.'”

But for all of Edelman’s jokes about the honorees, there was one comedy icon on the lineup that the “Just for Us” star opted to avoid.

“I’m not going to make any jokes about John Mulaney,” he said. “Because no joke I made about John Mulaney would be funnier than whatever jokes John Mulaney makes about John Mulaney.”

Watch the video of Edelman on IndieWire’s red carpet above.