Amber “PaladinAmber” Wadham, a 23-year-old variety streamer hailing from Australia, has been making waves for something unexpected: roasting viewers who cross the line. Through the use of multiple cameras and genius overlays, Wadham pretends to go into breaking news segments and infomercials just to tell her viewers to chill out a bit.
If you ever wade into Twitch, then you’ve probably seen exactly what Wadham has to suffer from time to time. Inconsiderate assholes will ask women on Twitch if they can have sex, if they can show more cleavage, or if they can do something risque for the camera. Other times, the requests aren’t as suggestive but still manage to be annoying. Entitled viewers will demand that streamers play a different game or stop talking, or they’ll critique the talent of the personality.
Everyone has to deal with these things, but Wadham has gone viral on the internet because she defuses these situations in a unique way. Her most-shared clip has a viewer asking Wadham if he can pay for her to show her toes, to which she responds, “Get fucked.” Between gagging, she adds, “Get your foot fetish out of my chat,” all while pretending to give an actual price tag. It’s amazing.
Toxic viewer; "hOw mUch toO lET mE sEE yOUr fEEt".
— PaladinAmber. ️ (@PaladinAmber) July 17, 2019
Me; pic.twitter.com/KDWegzkIxq
Wadham tells Polygon that she’s created three unique layouts for her stream: one for the news, one for the weather, and one for infomercials. All were developed before Wadham started exploding on the internet.
“Occasionally we would use them as fillers to break up the game play, then one day I decided to wholesomely roast someone on the news who wasn’t wanted in chat and everyone loved it, so we made it a theme,” she says.
The rest is history from there — her clips are now blowing up on places like Twitter.
when you have to set boundaries on the internet; pic.twitter.com/kcXQVW6SK9
— PaladinAmber. ️ (@PaladinAmber) July 22, 2019
As Wadham tells it, parasocial relationships on the internet can influence the way people treat personalities. In a conversation with me, she mentioned that some communities can have “broken boundaries,” and that can lead some viewers to believe “everyone is entitled to personal information.” Some streamers will welcome this type of interaction and will freely share everything about their lives, and that’s fine, but the problem arises when viewers assume that closeness will be the baseline of their relationships across the board on Twitch.
breaking news; streamers don't wanna do the horizontal tango with you... pic.twitter.com/6diCuXwqEO
— PaladinAmber. ️ (@PaladinAmber) July 23, 2019
“What I’m trying to achieve is bringing back some boundaries and letting people have a voice of ‘you don’t have to share this,’ or ‘you shouldn’t share this with people, because it’s none of their business,’” she says. It’s a noble cause that is helped by Wadham’s comedy. Without missing a beat, she looks straight at the camera and launches into her absurd but delightful spiels against toxic viewers.
"Can I play with you x10,000"
— PaladinAmber. ️ (@PaladinAmber) July 19, 2019
Me; pic.twitter.com/sJyrFuO0eg
“Every single day there’s a legitimate reason to call someone out with comedy,” Wadham says. “It softens the harshness of the message.”
when you've got games to play; pic.twitter.com/e5ESgCV3ub
— PaladinAmber. ️ (@PaladinAmber) July 18, 2019
“The internet is saturated with people who don’t understand boundaries, or hurt people who hurt people, so I take in to consideration to let them know ‘hey this isn’t okay,’ and then send them on their way.” The message is sound, and the delivery is priceless — which might explain how Wadham now has multiple reels with thousands upon thousands of retweets, and an endless number of comments.
You’ve got to watch all of her antics — the shtick remains the same throughout, but it doesn’t matter. Wadham is hilarious.
BREAKING NEWS; "stoP IT." pic.twitter.com/ZtTwmnSJYZ
— PaladinAmber. ️ (@PaladinAmber) July 17, 2019
Toxic Viewer; "sTrEamErS hAVe nO tAleNT"
— PaladinAmber. ️ (@PaladinAmber) July 16, 2019
Me; "wHATS THIS THEn" pic.twitter.com/UK5IhIy64t
Toxic viewer; "pLaY tHe gAmE AlReAdy!"
— PaladinAmber. ️ (@PaladinAmber) July 15, 2019
Me; pic.twitter.com/HdEhAq7hcK
toxic viewer; "sHoW bOoBs pLz"
— PaladinAmber. ️ (@PaladinAmber) July 8, 2019
Me; pic.twitter.com/wWZd36qlxm
toxic viewer; "tHiS gAmE sUcKs PlAy A dIfFeRenT GaMe."
— PaladinAmber. ️ (@PaladinAmber) July 11, 2019
me; pic.twitter.com/MCD2VSuCH3
twitch chat "tWiTcH cHaT IsN't tHaT bAd sUreLY?!?"
— PaladinAmber. ️ (@PaladinAmber) July 24, 2019
also twitch chat; pic.twitter.com/MlIddz2RAH
If you want to see PaladinAmber in action, make sure to check out her Twitch stream — she likes to play Fallout 76, Apex Legends, Smite, Rainbow Six Siege, and Dead by Daylight.