#oneaday Day 1115: Welcome in Jam

Last night in RoseTintedSpectrum's Discord we were chatting about various classic British TV shows from a couple of decades ago — Spaced, Black Books, Big Train, all that sort of thing. One which came up that I hadn't seen before was Jam, an experimental work by Chris Morris of The Day Today/Brass Eye fame.

I remember seeing DVDs for Jam around the place back when I still bought DVDs, but for one reason or another I never jumped on board with it. From what I recall, the DVD packaging really didn't make what it was clear at all — and I'd never caught it on television, so had no real point of reference. I also vaguely recall at least one friend of mine saying that it was "weird", and that they weren't sure whether or not they liked it as much as Morris' other stuff.

Last night, I watched an episode of Jam for the first time. And I can confirm that it is indeed weird, and that a significant number of people may not get along with it, for a whole variety of reasons. But I really liked it.

For the unfamiliar, Jam is ostensibly something of a sketch comedy show, but the whole thing is drenched in such a genuinely disturbing, horrific sense of dread that calling it that doesn't really feel like it's doing it justice. It's a series of unrelated vignettes — some of which feature recurring characters — that present a series of situation best described as somewhat uncanny. People's reactions to situations are all "wrong", and a lot of the humour comes from some truly wonderful (and horrible) reveals as to what the truth of each scene really is.

For example, one classic scene often brought up by people is one in which a pair of disinterested parents realise that their son has gone missing. They talk about the situation as if they are discussing what to have for dinner that evening, or what they should plant in the garden if the weather is nice — and when their son's body is eventually found, they don't even bother to go and identify it, on the grounds that the description the police give them over the phone is "good enough for them".

This is the sort of thing that doesn't sound funny if you just describe it like this… but the presentation of the whole scene and the sheer absurdity of it all — coupled with the intense darkness — is what makes it really work. This is truly black, black as night comedy, showing that there's an inherent sense of humour and ridiculousness in even the most horrific things that happen — and consequently I can completely understand why people wouldn't be on board with it. I'm not even going to try sharing it with my wife Andie, for example, because I know she just won't be able to deal with it; it's like a hundred steps beyond the line of "cringe comedy" (The Office and suchlike) that she already can't handle.

Me though, I love it. It's creative, it's daring, it's hilarious, it's thought-provoking and it's beautifully, artistically presented. I can't wait to see more — and not be able to talk about it with anyone because the subject matter is just too out there. But if you think you might be on board with its particular brand of comedy-horror, some kind soul has uploaded all the episodes and the DVD extras into a playlist on YouTube right here.

Just don't say I didn't warn you!