Schumer delivers, humour intact

Expecting Amy Streaming, Crave/HBO

Amy Schumer rose to fame telling jokes that made hilarious, self-deprecating light of lacklustre sex, bad boyfriends and other fo ibles of young adulthood that she ingeniously flipped into more serious observations on sexism, modern feminism and a culture obsessed with body image.

She’s one of those comedians for whom a stretch of personal satisfaction, including marriage to an incredibly nice man, might be seen as a threat to the brand. Is Schumer still as sharply funny in the midst of her own happy ending? “Maybe I’ll document it or something,” Schumer says, tearfully talking to the video camera on her phone, in 2018, as a way of spontaneously marking her own reaction to the news that she and her husband, Chris Fischer, are expecting a baby.

Thus begins a revealing and engagingly cathartic three-hour documentary series, Expecting Amy (now streaming on Crave), which follows several concurrent gestation processes — the birth of a child, the birth of an hour-long comedy special and a breakthrough in her marriage. Filmed largely on phone cameras by Schumer and Fischer, Expecting Amy lets as much as possible hang out there for all to see.

Schumer’s pregnancy becomes something of a waking nightmare, after what she thought of as the “cute” phase of morning sickness extends itself into full-on hyperemesis gravidarum, which means sustained vomiting and dehydration for the next nineplus months, many of which Schumer spends on a 60-city comedy tour.

Her sense of humour remains very much intact through it all. At an early ultrasound appointment, when she and Fischer learn that their baby has grown to the size of a pea, Schumer cautions against body-shaming the fetus once it becomes the size of a lima bean.

We watch as Schumer publicly reveals her pregnancy and begins to incorporate impending motherhood into her act. Trying not to throw up on stage, she jokes about those movies where a pregnant lady darts off to the women’s room once, and is next seen in baggy overalls while she joyfully paints the nursery walls.

There may be too much of this kind of thing to sustain Expecting Amy through a full three hours. Seen one documentary about a standup comedy tour, seen them all. Far more interesting is the deep dive on Schumer and Fischer’s relationship

By the time Expecting Amy’s real star at last arrives — Gene Fischer, all eight pounds and whatever ounces of him — viewers will find themselves fully invested in the delivery, a visceral experience that won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has already appreciated Schumer’s frankness about her body. Indeed, the series works best as an authentic look at what it’s like to be engaged in the complicated, messy business of making a new human.