Comedy review: Jayde Adams: 31

There's a hen party occupying half of the front rows of the venue in this late night show so Jayde Adams has a lot of crowd control issues on her hands.

Star rating: ***

Venue: Voodoo Rooms (Venue 38)

But she doesn’t look like a woman you’d want to mess with. Crimson haired, fiery, loud and large, Adams takes command of the situation immediately.

“I used to be a bouncer,” she tells them. And she doesn’t seem afraid.

Jayde Adams’ show is all about the evolution of her current state of confidence.

She takes us from her awkward, unsporty, disco dancing youth in working-class Bristol to her current life in East London, surrounded and nurtured by supportive drag queens.

There’s singing, funny chat and quite a lot of interpretive dance – which is surely due for a revival as a comic art form.

Adams bursts through her early misfit years, espousing sex and freedom, channelling Adele and learning to glory in her natural exuberance.

There’s one terribly sad true episode which reduces her to real tears – but she holds it all together, even in this difficult noisy room.

The ending is a wonderful and life-affirming surprise, as Adams reveals an unexpected talent that leaves her audience stunned.

Until 28 August. Today 10.30pm.

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