Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Jayde Adams: Serious Black Jumper’ on Amazon Prime, Putting Feminism Into Perspective

In Serious Black Jumper, Jayde Adams becomes the fifth British comedian to get an Amazon Original comedy special since last summer, when the online behemoth signed a deal with Avalon for six stand-up hours (the sixth, from American expat and Catastophe star Rob Delaney, is coming soon). You may not have paid much attention to last year’s Brits on Amazon, but Adams certainly wants you to notice her. And her choice of wardrobe is only the start of it…

JAYDE ADAMS: SERIOUS BLACK JUMPER: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: If you’re an avid fan of Amazon Prime Video programming, then perhaps you recognize Adams from her appearance as Julia Petley in last year’s Good Omens. And if you’re a fan of British television, then you most likely have seen Adams before.

Since earning a nomination in 2016 for best newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Adams has shown up repeatedly on the telly, whether as a panelist on one of the UK’s many popular comedy panel quiz shows, or as a host on the UK edition of Comedy Central. In 2017, she hosted Say Whaaat?, and the following year she presented Comedy Central’s Live At The Comedy Store. But Adams, now 35, started her career by performing in drag bars, including an uncanny impersonation of Adele; which, now that Adele ended 2019 by revealing a much skinnier version of herself, might even help back up some of the points Adams makes in her new hour.

What Comedy Specials Will It Remind You Of?: Plenty of comedians joked about stand-up comedy becoming slightly funnier TED Talks over the past couple of years, but this hour from Adams certainly fits that bill. In terms of using Instagram photos, along with her self-awareness and observational skills toward women’s rights, body issues, and women in general, you could watch Celeste Barber’s 2019 Showtime special to prep for this.

Memorable Jokes: To explain her titular “serious black jumper,” Adams unsurprisingly cites the late Steve Jobs as her inspiration for donning a black turtleneck to deliver this hour. But not before showing us photos of several other influencers in the garb, including The Rock, Hannah Gadsby, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Jane Goodall.

To explain why Adams wants to focus on feminism, she tells us about attending a Beyoncé concert that also featured Jay-Z, and how the word “FEMINIST” appeared in large letters onscreen behind Bey just as Jay-Z was grabbing her ass. It’s just more mixed messaging, Adams jokes, noting with irony that Bey’s “Who runs the world?” call to feminist arms also doesn’t match the reality (spoiler alert: Adams says it’s China. “They just say girls to get us all riled up.”)

A little over halfway through the hour, Adams offers up a segment called “Yoof Splaining for the Over 50s,” which amounts mainly to a recap of the Kardashians to catch the olds up on the wealthiest and most famous influencers around. Which Adams turns into a satirically rich statement on both the nature of online influence and religion, comparing World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee to Jesus, and Kyle Jenner to the Catholic Church.

And at the end, when Adams relays her meeting with a 90-year-old widow, and asks her to share her wise old thoughts about today’s youth, she finds herself in the middle of this gem of an exchange. Doris: “When we were young, there was one enemy…I worry that the kids today are trying to find their identity by creating enemies everywhere, manufacturing trauma and actually they won’t be able to cope when they’re my age…I worry they won’t be to able to actually cope when real life happens.” Adams: What would solve this? “A good war.” How about that thought to start off 2020, eh? Timing!

Our Take: Why so serious, anyhow?

Adams reveals that her previous production, and much of her young life, was full of glitz and glamour, or as least disco balls and bright colors. She used to tour small towns as a child with her sister, freestyle disco dancing. She thought if she pulled out all the stops as an adult, show business would take notice. Instead, “I made minus 3,500 pounds” and the phone stopped ringing with gig offers, Adams said. She wondered what she might do to be taken more seriously as a stand-up; enter one black turtleneck.

Adams jokes it off, of course: “I don’t know if you’ve ever been to stand-up in this day and age. But basically, stand-up isn’t stand-up unless unless you’re trying to inflict change upon your audience.”

But she also strives to find a middle road between what she called the “Spice Girls” wave of feminism and this current, intersectional, #MeToo movement. In doing so, she realized that if a beautiful skinny actress such as The Good Place‘s Jameela Jamil could position herself as a spokeswoman for body positivity, then why couldn’t Adams take it on, or any other issue she wanted to, for that matter.

Because it’s all a confidence game, Adams confides to us.

Whether you’re posting purposely misleading photos to Instagram, or thinking that social media gives you complete access to your idols, or trying to fit into a world that humiliates overweight people, or telling jokes to an audience full of strangers. It’s all a test of one’s self-confidence. Adams says: “Confidence for me is when you go through something painful and come out the other side a stronger person.” She already knows that inherently from her years as a performer, how pushing herself out of her comfort zone produces magical results. But she sometimes needs reminding about all of that offstage, when she’s not literally or figuratively on.

It’s only by stripping her show off all the costumes, songs and the proverbial bells and whistles that she thought provided her with confidence, that she realized that power could come just by remaining true to herself.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Adams suggests that instead of rallying behind feminism, we choose to focus and promote compassion. We could use a lot more compassion in 2020.

Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat for his own digital newspaper, The Comic’s Comic; before that, for actual newspapers. Based in NYC but will travel anywhere for the scoop: Ice cream or news. He also tweets @thecomicscomic and podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.

Watch Jayde Adams: Serious Black Jumper on Amazon Prime