Jain's Fringe Fund

TLDR

Hello. My name is Jain Edwards and I am raising money to go to the Fringe this year.

I am taking my show She-Devil for a full run at the 2025 Fringe. I am a working class and autistic comedian based in Manchester.

This GoFundMe is to help with initial costs.

Who are you? Give me a massive life story, right now.

My name is Jain and I am a working class and autistic comedian based in Manchester. I am originally from Rhyl in North Wales. Growing up my dad was a drayman (then a taxi driver) and my mum worked on a fish counter (then the till of a builder merchants).

I was a comedy nerd as a child (with a hyperfixation on Blackadder, don’t judge me) so started acting around age 8 with the idea of pursuing comedy.

My dad told me that people get into sitcoms through stand up, so I stayed up late most nights watching Comedy Store Live, trying to imitate club comedians in the mirror.

At 19 I went to uni and tracked down my first stand up gig.

First joke: “I have brought some pretty dark material tonight. points to dark coloured dress the lady in the shop said it was blue but it looks navy blue to me.”

My 20s were sadly a sh*t show. I had to move home and watch proceeded was a series of obstacles to comedy, including working on a caravan park for £3 an hour in my 20s, to living in accomadation so bad I lived in a tent inside the flat and would wake up with ice on my face. Much of this time is exacerbated by undiagnosed AuDHD. I basically struggled to pull myself out of survival mode for about 6 years.

While people in this industry love stories of underdogs who would have gigged throughout this time, jumping train barriers when she couldn’t afford it, walking for miles just to do 10 minutes, fighting with venues to please, let me put on the show!! This is not the reality of living like this. You just feel weak, cloudy and kind of scared all the time. I definitely didn’t feel funny.

Any gigging I did during this time was not what I imagined gigging would be. I was a young woman doing alternative comedy in the North in the late 2010s, usually with my drag character Top Bodybuilder Brian. This is before alternative comedy in the North is what we know it as today so I am convinced after this experience that you could shoot me in the chest and I wouldn’t die. I had no idea about any outside industry and spent many a night gigging for £10 in working men's clubs in the Midlands to a load of 80 year olds eating the free curry they got with their ticket.

When life became more stable I began to build the alternative comedy I wanted to see. I married Glue Fan, and became more of a regular fixture on the circuit. I took Brian to the Free Fringe in 2019 because my sister lived in Edinburgh and I had just been made redundant and got a payout. I did nearly get attacked on stage by a man (lol) but my whole time there was a lesson in how the Fringe works.

During the Pandemic I was part of the building and performance of the first series of Escape the North, along with the Guardian acclaimed Stakeholders, my stream where my chat builds corrupt businesses. The Jain Edwards Show came next. As a punk teen I was fascinated with the Washington DC hardcore scene and coined the term NorthWave as a name for the collective that was building in Manchester at that time.

I have made “no budget” short films alongside my peers, one of which was shown at a BBC industry event in 2023 which led to my working with a dream come true producer. I also co-starred in Tom Little's award-winning Don't Overthink It.

Like many of us, I spend all of my time working on DIY projects, 95% of the time for no money (yes I include gigs in that). Due to train prices and comedians pay never going up (actually gotten a lot worse imho) I can sometimes do a round the country trip to gig for essentially £20 profit if lucky. Sorry but that's the reality and we all know it.

All my free time goes into comedy. This is basically a 24 hour operation of applying for things, traveling, gigging, meeting, writing, admin, pitching, making.

I have told you all this to give you a sense of my story and journey in comedy.I am now in a place where I have found my voice and know I have something to contribute.

Don’t you work?

I do! I work four days a week with really great people in an amazing place which I am lucky to have!! My partner also works, part time mornings minimum wage.

Why don't you get funding?

I have been turned down for funding. Applying for funding is not something I am accustomed to. I would rather have my fingernails pulled than fill out a form, but have done my best.

Funding is comically competitive and there are people who are also talented and also from more privileged backgrounds who are often fluent in funding application language applying for everything alongside you. I have always done everything out of my own pocket rather than go through the funding system, which is my fault and I also, as many people from working class backgrounds do, typically have an aversion to asking for help or money.

You might be able to tell from the over-explanation.

The show and what I want to do with your money.

Ok so, thanks for reading all that by the way. That is basically my life story.

The show is called She-Devil. I have been working on this show for about a year now, loosely last year and tightly this year.

At its heart the show is about misogyny in the comedy industry and features internet culture, conspiracy theories, autism, demonising women and much more. My style of comedy has been described as subversive, unique, alternative, surreal but is overall; funny lol.

We all know the costs of the Fringe are astronomical and that stand up, despite being a working class artform of a microphone and some lights, has become pay-to-play. Being based in the North, the Fringe is a great way to get exposure and profile yourself as a comedian to a London Centric industry. I do 10 hour round coach trips to London on the reg (also because I love the scene and people there) but in terms of really making a name, this is a tough way to go about it.

I am at a point in my career where I need to take a leap and money is the only thing standing in the way of that.

I am taking She-Devil up with the great team at Underbelly. This GoFundMe will help with some of the accommodation and venue costs. Other costs that will run into the thousands, e.g PR, marketing, I will find a way to pay for somehow and may end up doing myself. I really can’t go into all the costs here or I end up spooking myself hehe.

I am doing my own photography with what I can and also my own poster and costume making to save on these costs. There will be more costs but let’s not think about them too early.

Thank you so much

Anything given to this is hugely appreciated. Please do not give if you are not able.

My comedy can be found on Instagram @jain__edwards

Any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch!