Jayde Adams: The Divine Ms Jayde: Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, 2018
Always Be Comedy: The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2018
Jayde Adams: The Ballad of Kylie Jenner’s Old Face: Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, 2019
Edinburgh Comedy Allstars: Underbelly, George Square, Edinburgh, 2019
#SaveLiveComedy: (3 shows): The Clapham Grand, London: Online: 2020
AJ Bell’s Fringe on Friday: In Support of The Edinburgh Fringe: Online: 2020
Comedy Kiss Launch Night: Radicals and Victuallers, Islington, London, 2020
Always Be Comedy Christmas Show: The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2022
Bristolian comedian Jayde Adams was a force of nature when I encountered watching her show The Divine Ms Jayde at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2018. The musical stand-up show combined her striking vocals and Olivier award-winning accompaniment from Richard Thomas co-creator of Jerry Springer: The Opera. She was wheeled on stage under a flowery arbour. She splayed herself across a grand piano and she sang like a trouper. The comedy was good too including an inspired routine about her Bristol accent and rejoicing plus-size bodies. After the show, I met her in the Pleasance Courtyard, and she was extremely charming and funny.
I saw Adams again in October 2018 when she played Always Be Comedy. her confidence on stage and total command of the room was a joy to watch and her outrageous and fearless stories delighted the crowd.
In August 2019, for her new Edinburgh Festival Fringe show, the glitz and glamour had gone in favour of a black turtle-neck jumper and jeans – the uniform of anyone who wants to be taken seriously she ironically told the large crowd as she walked onto the stage. The topic of her show The Ballad of Kylie Jenner’s Old Face was feminism and she delivered a new perspective on the subject that was influential and hilarious. Focusing on celebrity and the marketing of what should be a massively optimistic undertaking, her points were well thought out, well made and extremely funny.
Adams also proved to be a very quick-witted compere confidently getting to know her audience effortlessly entertaining them whilst introducing acts for the Edinburgh Comedy Allstars showcase that I saw at the Fringe in August 2019.
In August 2020, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe should have been taking place for three and half weeks. Because of the Coronavirus epidemic, the Fringe was cancelled for the first time in its seventy-three-year history and the creative arts industry, including comedians, suffered badly as a result. Undeterred, the EdFringe website had several projects to provide support for Fringe acts and to keep the spirit of the Fringe alive. One such project throughout August was Fringe on Friday – an online show featuring Fringe acts and sponsored by innovative investment platforms and stockbroker, AJ Bell. The online show I watched had Adams as MC who introduced musical Act The Easy Rollers, dance act Flamenco Percussion Fusion, Fringe act Edward Lyon and comedians Laurie Black, Rachel Fairburn, Daniel Sloss, Craig Hill, Sadia Azmet, Travis Jay, Donald Alexander, Reuben Kaye, Fern Brady and Abandoman. The online show succeeded in capturing the atmosphere of the Edinburgh Fringe and the optimism of its return in 2021. Please go to www.edfringe.com for further information about donating to the fund.
Also, in August 2020, Adams was a superb co-host along with Al Murray and Rich Wilson for three massive showcases that were streamed online from The Clapham Grand to help save live comedy whose future is in the balance due to the worldwide epidemic of 2020. For show 1, the acts who appeared on video link were musical comedian Lorraine Bowen, London Hughes, Jessica Fostekew, Tim Vine and Louisa Omielan. Acts live on stage were Naomi Watanabe, Garrett Millerick, Eleanor Tiernan, Charlie Partridge, Thanya Moore, Nigel NG, Josh Jones, Rich Wilson, Sindhu Vee and Fern Brady. For show 2, the acts who appeared on video link were Aisling Bea, Nish Kumar, Sarah Callaghan and Joe Lycett. Acts live on stage were Kerry Godliman, Dane Baptiste, Kwame Asante, Helen Bauer, Carl Donnelly, Rosie Jones, Don Biswas, Mawaan Rizwan, Ed Gamble, Shappi Korshandi, Sue Gives A F*ck and Nathan Caton. For Show 3 (part of which I missed), acts appearing on video link were Sophie Willan, Jonny Pelham, Mick Ferry, Tony Law, Shesus and Her Sisters, Lost Voice Guy. Amy Cooper and James Acaster. The live acts I saw were Richard Herring, Ross McGrane, Helen Thorn, Myra Dubois, Kane Brown, Huge Davies, Catherine Bohart and Ed Byrne. Adams was extremely upbeat and funny throughout the shows. In October 2020, she also appeared as a special guest for the launch of the Comedy Kiss night, Adams was effortlessly funny with the audience.
Featuring as a guest for Always Be Comedy’s Christmas Show in December 2022, Adams was uproariously funny talking about her experience of being a contestant on that year’s Strictly Come Dancing on TV. She did extremely well on the show and the comedy audience loved her confidence and hilarious stories on stage.
Adams is an extremely talented performer and comedian whose star quality is amazing and deserves every success.
