Jayde Adams is frowning at a group of obnoxiously loud men. Their laughter is drowning out our conversation – but she’s not buying their guffaws. “I know what a fake laugh is and that is a fake laugh,” she says, brow furrowed. “That is a, ‘I’m really trying to make the people that I’m sat with comfortable laugh.’” After many years on the stage – as a cabaret performer, Adele drag act and now a stand-up comedian – she’s become something of a “sommelier of laughter”. And she doesn’t have time for fake laughers. On cue, the loudest man cackles again. Adams rolls her eyes. “I can tell. You know how? Because it’s exactly the same every single time. That is quite a male laugh. He’s sat with men and he’s showing off.”
Adams has been thinking about men a lot lately: her latest show Men, I Can Save You, sees the Bristol-born comedian transform into an all-white wearing, Russell Brand-esque self-help guru. It’s her fifth Edinburgh Fringe show as a stand-up, after a decade of performing at the festival. The world beyond the Royal Mile seems to finally be catching up too. Her 2020 Amazon Prime comedy special The Ballad of Kylie Jenner’s Old Face (rebranded as Serious Black Jumper “so I wouldn’t get sued by Kris Jenner”) pushed Adams out of the “Fringe famous” bracket. Clips circulated on TikTok, where they’ve been viewed 156 million times, making her a star on the platform. Along came presenting gigs (Crazy Delicious, Snackmasters) and acting roles (Alma’s Not Normal, the forthcoming Take That movie) with her own sitcom Ruby Speaking out next year. And of course, there’s a spot on Strictly Come Dancing, announced last week. “I manifest stuff like you wouldn’t believe,” she tells me, pre-Strictly announcement. Turns out, she wasn’t kidding.
