Provide Mental Health Support to Fringe Performers
Donation protected
Who we are?
Objectively Funny is a critically acclaimed, emerging production company. We run events, a central London venue, and a festival dubbed by the Guardian as “the art form’s cutting edge”. This year, we are producing bold, innovative, and bloody funny shows for the Edinburgh Fringe and beyond.
We put mental health first; with 23 Edinburgh Fringe runs under our big collective belt, we know how rough the festival can feel. As well as informed and experienced mentoring, we provide acts with a supportive network of people to help them make the best work they can and feel good about it.
Objectively Funny is run by 4 comedy lovers and makers - Martin Willis, Madeleine Bye, Michael Julings and Ellie Brayne-Whyatt.
Why are we asking for money?
We have developed a Mental Health Peer Support workshop to be delivered by a comedian and professional therapist with ten years in the game. The workshop will be free to attend and held regularly at the Forest Cafe and two venues run by the Gilded Balloon.
We will have produced, printed and freely be distributing a guide for Fringe performers with advice on self-care and where to access further help. We believe that mental well-being is not just a case of taking a stroll in the Meadows or eating an apple a day, and we take it seriously and want to provide better support for artists at the Fringe. This means sharing experience and signposting to professional and experienced organisations and individuals.
We will also be running and staffing a drop-in space at the Forest Cafe for anyone to come, talk, relax and share their experiences or seek advice.
Comedians (and anyone who has ever taken a show to the Edinburgh Fringe) all know the financial and emotional strain it can bring. Working in the performing arts as young people is tough and (shock) not lucrative. When we frame our creativity as a profit-making venture, we take away from the joy that creating it is meant to bring, as well as the artistic impact it has the potential to deliver. Considerable psychological pressure is also added when artists must immediately gain financial profit from their creative work.
Supporting the mental health of performers who are creating work in this economic context is paramount, and can only lead to artists who are happier in themselves and with their creations.
Where’s the money going?
The money raised from your contributions will go towards the following:
- Creating and printing a mental health handbook in collaboration with CALM and the support services already in the city, to be distributed for free around Edinburgh.
- Training performers, producers, flyerers and other members of the comedy community in mental health first aid, to better support one another at the Fringe.
- Renting space in Edinburgh to provide workshops and sessions to promote mental well-being for any interested performers.
- Paying professionals who provide or support these workshops and sessions a fair and decent wage.
Objectively Funny is a critically acclaimed, emerging production company. We run events, a central London venue, and a festival dubbed by the Guardian as “the art form’s cutting edge”. This year, we are producing bold, innovative, and bloody funny shows for the Edinburgh Fringe and beyond.
We put mental health first; with 23 Edinburgh Fringe runs under our big collective belt, we know how rough the festival can feel. As well as informed and experienced mentoring, we provide acts with a supportive network of people to help them make the best work they can and feel good about it.
Objectively Funny is run by 4 comedy lovers and makers - Martin Willis, Madeleine Bye, Michael Julings and Ellie Brayne-Whyatt.
Why are we asking for money?
We have developed a Mental Health Peer Support workshop to be delivered by a comedian and professional therapist with ten years in the game. The workshop will be free to attend and held regularly at the Forest Cafe and two venues run by the Gilded Balloon.
We will have produced, printed and freely be distributing a guide for Fringe performers with advice on self-care and where to access further help. We believe that mental well-being is not just a case of taking a stroll in the Meadows or eating an apple a day, and we take it seriously and want to provide better support for artists at the Fringe. This means sharing experience and signposting to professional and experienced organisations and individuals.
We will also be running and staffing a drop-in space at the Forest Cafe for anyone to come, talk, relax and share their experiences or seek advice.
Comedians (and anyone who has ever taken a show to the Edinburgh Fringe) all know the financial and emotional strain it can bring. Working in the performing arts as young people is tough and (shock) not lucrative. When we frame our creativity as a profit-making venture, we take away from the joy that creating it is meant to bring, as well as the artistic impact it has the potential to deliver. Considerable psychological pressure is also added when artists must immediately gain financial profit from their creative work.
Supporting the mental health of performers who are creating work in this economic context is paramount, and can only lead to artists who are happier in themselves and with their creations.
Where’s the money going?
The money raised from your contributions will go towards the following:
- Creating and printing a mental health handbook in collaboration with CALM and the support services already in the city, to be distributed for free around Edinburgh.
- Training performers, producers, flyerers and other members of the comedy community in mental health first aid, to better support one another at the Fringe.
- Renting space in Edinburgh to provide workshops and sessions to promote mental well-being for any interested performers.
- Paying professionals who provide or support these workshops and sessions a fair and decent wage.
Organizer
Objectively Funny
Organizer