WHO!?
Oi Oi, and thanks for taking a look at this crowdfunder for my show!
I’m Edy Hurst, a comedian, writer, theatre maker, musician, podcaster, and general creative botherer in Manchester and this is a crowdfunder for my show Edy Hurst’s Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Himself for the Edinburgh Fringe and a national tour!
Your support will allow me to take the show on a full run of the Edinburgh Fringe and a tour of UK theatre in Sept- November this year in a way that allows me support myself and my family, faily pay the team working with me, and better reach audiences and communities that the show is made for.
WHAT?!
Edy Hurst's Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Himself is a show about the Lancashire Witch Trials, the Vengaboys and "Nothing Else"
("A Fine Example of Neurodiversity in Action" The Scotsman
After being commissioned by Lowry in Salford and supported by Arts Council England in development, this is the first time I’ve collaborated with a team to create the work, including a Director, award-winning comedian Joz Norris. Our Neurodivergent-led team have made a show that is grounded in comedy, whilst getting to play with theatrical techniques.
It's got a giant cauldron, a tarot reading and the Vengaboys keep showing up, it's the whole package.
It’s a show I’m hugely proud of that tries to show what it’s like to realise those feelings of being different all your life were actually right, and the trajectory of something that initially feels like an exciting superpower actually explaining more about why you seem unable to learn from those everyday life lessons.
After it's premiere at Lowry in October last year, it's been on a small run of select venues, and the feedback from audiences has been amazing. It's been a real privelege to perform this very silly show that resonates with other people that have similar experiences of neurodivergence, including:
“I don’t think I ever expected to go to a show that had as much of me in it.”
"All those things that you hate in yourself, but you then see in someone else, it help me to find acceptance"
“Really funny and silly, with a gorgeous emotional thread running through.”
“Favourite thing was the little easter eggs for neurodivergent folk and that connection between being magic and witchy and neurodivergent.”
It has also received positive critical acclaim, with:
**** "This show isn’t just about laughs; it’s a heartfelt narrative that offers an uplifting escape." A Young(ish) Perspective
"A Complete Hoot" The QR
"A highly unusual and very extertaining approach to neurodivergence" British Theatre Guide
WHY!?
The Edinburgh fringe is the largest arts festival in the world, with audiences travelling across the globe to see shows, from punters to the entertainment industry. With those huge opportunities, are even greater costs for performers; venue hire, accomodation, designing and printer flyers, marketing and more, it's a huge financial risk that performers take every year, and the costs are only getting higher.
Alongside this, as I've moved more into the small-scale theatre tour world, this too is very expensive, and with the theatre industry in a particular precarious financial situation now, venues and artists are being pushed to do even more with less resources.
Whilst I've been incredibly fortunate to have received support from Arts Council England and Lowry to develop the show, I have been self-producing the recent tour. And it's been particularly difficult to reach audiences who are understandbly are feeling the squeeze of the cost of living, but has meant that showing potential audiences to take a risk on an unknown performer telling a story about the lived experience of neurodivergence has been harder than previous years.
Even if I were to receive Arts Council funding for the tour at the end of the year, this won't be able to cover costs of the Fringe, and is a funding route that is becoming more and more competitive, with recent stats showing that only 1 in 9 applications currently receive funding.
There's no guarantee that even after putting an application in there will be a successful outcome, and the turn around time for this means that if the submission isn't successful then I will have to dramatically reduce the tour or cancel it completely.
I didn't want to put a crowdfunder out, but as the whole industry finds itself stretched that means there's even less funding available across the board, particularly for smaller shows.
HOW!?
With your support from this crowdfunder, I'll be able to support myself, my family and fairly pay the team I'm working with the bring the show to the Fringe and on tour, freeing me up to focus on more marketing and reaching neurodivergent audiences and communities.
I have self-produced Fringe runs and tours for a number of years, and as someone with diagnos-ably bad multi-tasking skills, the opportunity to work with a team to support me would give me space to work on making the show the very best it can be.
Previously I've done everything from flyer design, sending PR & Industry emails out everymorning, setting up the projector and props and handing out flyers to one year trying to ask the drum and bass night below me to just hold off on warming up their woofers for 20 mins so I could end my show without the whole room wobbling.
That's why I'm excited to be working with Ingenious Fools for the Edinburgh fringe year, who will be helping me with all the bits of show that stop me from focussing on making it the best verion it can be, and speak to people who feel alone, different and that their problems are often downplayed or ignored.
As a father of two young children, it's a huge risk and a giant emotional toll to undertake a full run of the Fringe, combined with the general pressures of touring & supporting them at the same time. In previous years I've only a short run of dates for these reasons. But I believe in this show and its message, and I know that in some small way it's helping with the growing conversations around ADHD and neurodivergence, so if there is an chance of getting that to reach more people, the Edinburgh fringe is a great place to start, helping raise the show's profile to them go into the tour that starts a month or so afterwards.