Funny Though

Aim: Raising money for 'Funny Though,' a queer, feminist, funny Edinburgh Fringe Debut. There's glitter.

Clare Noy & Lauren Lambert Moore in collaboration with The Project People present an Edinburgh Fringe Debut: 

Funny Though - Written and Performed by Clare Noy 

Edinburgh Festival 2025: The Pleasance Courtyard, Bunker One, 30th July  - 25th August (not 13th/20th), 15:30 (1hr)

Ticket Link: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/funny-though 

ABOUT THE PLAY: 

‘Am I a muse, or am I just Amusing?’

Funny Though is a genre bending disruptive play. The protagonist is a burnt out Comedienne; being funny makes her money but the need to come up with material has started to take a toll on her private life. Her tragic tales may entertain her audience but she has to go home and live them. Everything in her lifestyle has come to a head.     She’s tired, broke and numb. And now she has a gig.

Funny Though has been developed with the support of The Museum of Comedy ‘Stars of tomorrow,’ Soho Theatre’s labs and Omnibus Theatre’s engine room program. 

Funny Though will be premiering at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and will be Clare Noy’s Fringe Debut. 

ABOUT ME: 

I’m a queer West End Actor, Writer and Comedian. 

I trained as an Actor at Rose Bruford College and I was awarded the change-maker award from Bernadine Evaristo upon graduating in 2020 (eek remember covid lol) for promoting integrity and instigating change as an artist during my time studying. 

As a creative I am invested in creating politically charged, feminist, queer, funny work. 

‘Noy’s script is funny – but grows in intensity as the show evolves.’

⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from London theatre 1.  

(Praise for previous work)

As an actor I’ve toured the UK with Mischief Theatre’s Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong. I’ve also written and performed sketches for NewsRevue, ‘the world's longest running sketch show.’

‘The standard is always high but on this particular night there is something extra special about this cast.’ 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️from London Pub Theatres

(Praise for NewsRevue, 2021) 

As a comedian I have been supported and taught by Logan murray (Peep show) and Esther Manito (Live at the Apollo, Off Menu.) 

WHY DID I MAKE THIS SHOW?

Why not? Someone has to. 

Joking - there are plenty of financial reasons as to why not and literally nobody asked me to.I feel this show needs to be made, and I have been obsessed with writing it, workshopping it and cultivating it over the course of the last three years. As someone who is funny for money I have become really interested in crowd mentality and what happens if the jester doesn’t do what they’re meant to do. What if they’re having a bad day and they don’t feel very funny? What is the modern day version of throwing rotten tomatoes? Is it cancel culture?

I think as a society we have all become obsessed with distraction and quick and easy entertainment, the world is currently a very frightening place and with that the demand on funny content is higher than ever. I made this show because I don’t know if the way we live is sustainable and I wonder what we are all distracting ourselves from. 

I also wrote it because I’m angry, I’m angry at the state of the world and how disconnected we all feel to one another. I want to talk about it. 

‘Male rage takes centre stage – but where are the stories about female anger?’

- Georgia Luckhurst

I also made this show because I am funny and attention seeking.  

WHY THE EDINBURGH FRINGE? 

The Fringe system feels like it’s at breaking point, it is the most unaffordable it has ever been and now Oasis are coming for a week to make it worse. Don’t look back in anger? I think I might mate.

Jokes aside, It’s going to cause a lot of stress and ironically, that makes right now the perfect time to be taking this show to Edinburgh. 

Art imitates life etc etc, omg how meta.  

The Fringe is also a massive melting pot of like-minded creatives and Industry professionals. I am taking a show to the Fringe to take the next step in my career. I’m looking to network and meet people who want to make work like mine. I want to meet the people I can work with on the next project, and the one after that, and the one after that. 

WHY I'M DOING MY FIRST CROWDFUNDER:

I have called in a lot of favours from a lot of talented friends for this show, most of the team are working for free and we are currently expecting to make a loss. We have received Keep It Fringe Funding which will cover £2,500 but we haven't been successful in securing any other funding, which has been a surprise. 

After so much support and care has been put into making this show, it would be gutting for the run to suffer due to a lack of funds. 

‘Funny Though’ is so close to getting the platform it deserves to have, we just need some support with the shortfall in order to make sure this show flys. 

WHERE WOULD YOUR MONEY GO? 

TOTAL FRINGE COSTS: £11,862

WE ARE LOOKING TO RAISE: £9,362

Marketing & PR - £2,250: Your money can help us reach a wide audience through marketing and give this show a chance to shine. Being a low profile actor making a debut, shows like this one can be swallowed up and overshadowed by big established production companies and shows with a lot of funding behind them. It takes a lot of on the ground marketing effort to reach people and that costs money. 

This includes; Poster Design, Flyers, flyerers, PR - Being part of Chloe Nelkin's emerging roster, Marketing support, digital marketing, social media adds and posters. 

Accomodation - £2,550: This is how much it will cost for myself and the Director/stage manager to have somewhere to sleep during the run. Eye-watering, more than my London rent. Again, pushed up by the Gallagher brothers, nice one Noel. 

Administrative  Fee’s - £1,695: This includes our registration fee and the fee’s we pay to the Pleasance to be in their venue. 

Transport - £177: Trains to and from Scotland for myself and the director/stage manager (we got it cheap because we got in there early, shout out to the trainline.) 

Props and Set - £340: No spoilers here, but there is a surprise which this pays for. Trust me. You want that to be paid for. 

Wages - £2850: Call me old fashioned, but I would like to be able to pay my Director/Stage Manager/ Co-Producer for her time at the Fringe. I would like to pay her £500 a week because she has been working for free with me on this show for the last 3 years and she is an incredibly talented creative that deserves to be paid. My Producers also very much deserve to be paid. If there is any other money left in the pot then I would quite like to be paid too at a rate of £500 a week, although that may be a step too far, as mentioned previously, no one asked me to do this. 

This includes: Producer fee £850, Director/Stage Manager/Co-Producer fee £2000, Writer/Performer/Co-Producer fee £2000.

WHO WE ARE

CLARE NOY: Writer, Performer & Co-Producer

LAUREN LAMBERT MOORE: Director, Stage Manager & Co-Producer

THE PROJECT PEOPLE: Co-Producers - MILLIE WOOD-DOWNIE & MOLLY MCGEACHIN

CHLOE NELKIN CONSULTING: PR -  Olivia O’Neill

JAKE WEAVER: Photographer & Graphic Designer 

JONNY TEASDALE: Stylist 

ALICE GORMAN: Poster Designer 

FUTURE AMBITIONS: 

This feels like the right point in my career to take a show to the Fringe. This could offer me the opportunity of networking with new potential collaborators at the Festival who want to make work about similar issues. I’ve also got a big old list of venues and contacts that I am looking to work with post Fringe to take Funny Though on a UK Tour. A successful, well marketed Fringe run would really help all of this happen. 

On a personal level I'm looking to explore the idea of getting a writing agent. Long term I’m aiming to write comedy for screen and radio alongside collaborating with artists who's aims are to write and platform untold stories. Long long term I'd like to live in an old barn and host residencies for broke artists and jokers, dream big I reckon.   

I would also like to pass my driving test one day, not relevant, but definitely a future ambition. 

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 27th July 2025 at 6:00pm