Jayde Adams is back and this time it’s serious. Jayde, Fringe veteran and much accomplished comedian-come-opera-singer, has decided to throw off the shackles of her musical past, stop hiding behind her (incredible) voice and bring us a show that is relevant but not preachy, so funny and, as always with Jayde, incredibly moving. I came along with a couple girlfriends and we all walked out feeling unusually good about ourselves and on a mission to buy a Serious Black Jumper™.
Jayde has come to the Fringe to deliver us all from the menace of hot, naked girls on Instagram
After a frank conversation with her agent last year Jayde was told ‘people just don’t take you seriously enough to be a stand up comic.’ Queue much soul-searching and Beyonce-watching trying to find some angle that will make everyone realise she is SERIOUS. Jayde has ditched the outlandish costumes (my only disappointment with the show) and gained a cane and a Gwendoline Christie-esque new haircut and come to the Fringe to deliver us all from the menace of hot, naked girls on Instagram with her all new material feminist manifesto. I don’t want to risk ruining too many more of Jayde’s punchlines and truisms but suffice to say this was a breath of fresh air.
It feels like every second show at the Fringe this year has a feminist tagline. It is terribly de jour. You might be nervous to go and sit through an hour of feminist comedy, I understand. Call me a bad feminist but every now and then I like to forget about the patriarchy for 50-60 minutes. But this doesn’t feel like a sermon. Jayde has such a genuine voice – for all those of us who haven’t studied feminist theory this is so relatable. How real women in the real world handle real problems without letting Internet trolls, gravity-defying boobies and $27 lipsticks get us down.
And all this wonderful insight is on top of a riotous hour of comedy. Jayde Adams has been described as ‘Britain's funniest woman comic’ and that can’t be far off. She has this deliciously unaffected style and delivers her show slickly without ever feeling scripted or overly polished. It’s a casual chat with a good friend. So bring your mum, your sister, your best mate and your grandma. It’s a real ladies night.
