Janelle James’ ‘How Romantic’ is a comedy special with a not-so-romantic message

In her comedy special “How Romantic,” Abbott Elementary star Janelle James gives a little bit about her love life and a lot more to sit with.

If you pressed play on Janelle James’ “How Romantic” expecting to get the tea and juicy details on her love life, I hate to break it to you—you have been finessed.

The “Abbott Elementary” star’s first hour-long comedy special is described as exploring body counts, bank accounts, and why women should wrestle men. And don’t get me wrong, that’s all in there. But tucked inside the jokes about the state of dating is the real conversation James is trying to have.

“It’s a big old switcheroo,” James revealed to theGrio. “I’m not actually talking about dating. I’m talking about domestic violence.”

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In her 15 years of doing stand-up, James says this special marks the first time she’s introduced dating into her material. Her previous aversion to bringing her romantic life into her comedy was motivated in part by her desire for privacy and in part by a desire to disrupt the status quo.

“Because all comedians, I feel like we’re all talking about the same thing. We’re all human beings. We’re all living life. We get married. We date. We have kids,” she said. “How can I say this in a new way for me? I think that’s the challenge.”

Weaving social issues into her comedy is something James says is important to her, but also acknowledges it isn’t something every comedian, let alone person, is equipped to do. Though the special marks a return to stand-up for the “Abbott Elementary” star, she understands that for many audiences who know her as Ava Coleman, this is their introduction to Janelle James.

“I’m performing as myself and not this character that I play on television. Ava Coleman wouldn’t necessarily open with politics,” she shared. “[But] I always talk about social issues because it’s always in my brain and top of mind. I would feel like a fraud to just all of a sudden start talking about dating.”

That authenticity shines through not only in the material but also in little details like her decision to start the show sitting down, and even the show’s title, which was a happy accident. James originally planned on calling the special “I’ve Said Worse,” which she said ultimately felt too antagonist. However, it was a slip at the end of the show that produced the title “How Romantic.”

“I was supposed to say ‘how hilarious,’ and that came out of me instead,” she said. “So I always take that as a sign, so I changed the title at the last minute.”

And it did feel like a perfect accident. Throughout the special, James engages audiences with jokes filled with double entenderes and sarcasm. So, it’s only fitting that the show’s title also hold a double meaning. While she affirmed to me that she does love romance, she explains that the title is “kind of a lament” on the sometimes false fairytale romance that pop culture often sells.

“Romantic and romance is something that is sold to us, and that helps and also leads us to overlooking all of all the things that I was talking about [in the special],” she explained. “So the title is a little bit sarcastic. It’s also a title that you can kind of project anything onto. You can take whatever you want out of it until you see it; it’s kind of vague on purpose.”

However, James is not vague about her goal for this special: to spotlight domestic and familial violence. Having family and friends who have been killed by intimate partners, the comedian and actress understands the severity of these topics and hopes her comedic approach to highlighting them opens the door for conversation.

James is known for being private and it’s a boundary she intends to keep. But while she won’t use her personal business for a comedic punchline, she will use the punchline to tap on a deeper issue or topic.

“If I gotta use dating or do a little sleight of hand to get into it, then all the more pleasure for me,” she said.

And pulling off that type of comedic sleight of hand takes skill, and James knows firsthand just how much women have to prove themselves in order to get the stage time to build it. Her special comes weeks after another round of social media discourse about the lack of women in stand-up comedy. James explains that comedy is a “boys club by design.” It’s a space, she says, where men get to stay adolescents forever, and where sexual harassment, intimidation, and the “mom” box push women out long before talent becomes the question.

“Any female comedian you see, just know they’ve been through the gauntlet,” she said. “They don’t want us in the space, and so they make it difficult where, with sexual harassment and accommodations and intimidation and drama… it’s not an easy road.”

And to the men and women who dismiss women with the “not funny” label, she has one question: are you listening to even determine if that is the case? Do you come in with your predetermined biases? Joking that, oftentimes, the men who claim women aren’t funny don’t even take the time to let women speak, she notes how even in her career she’s had to purposely deepen her voice to get men to tune into what she’s saying and actually “hear the words,” as Raven Symoné would say.

“One way to remedy this is to go check out female comedians,” she said, adding that both male and female audiences should give women in comedy the space to grow. “Allow women to suck the same way men suck. Every male comic isn’t hilarious.”

The idea of listening really lives at the heart of this special. While the jokes and delivery get you laughing, if you sit and really listen to what James is sharing, you’ll uncover a new side of the actress and comedian beyond her role on “Abbott Elementary” and leave thinking about some of the day-to-day issues that plague society. And for James, “that’s what the power of comedy is [all about].”

Full story sourced from TheGrio. Read the original article for the publisher's complete coverage.