York Comedysoc are asking for donations to help their two exciting new shows get to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2022: The Dead Ducks and The Shambles!
Who are we?
York ComedySoc is one of the most active comedy societies in the UK, bringing audiences the best comedic talent the University of York has to offer since 2005. We put on at least one show a week, including sketch, improv, stand-up, panel shows, and anything else remotely comedy-related. We also provide four workshops every week for all budding stand-ups, sketch actors, improv-ers and writers. The society has moved from strength to strength, recently winning Best Music and Performance Society 2021, as we've built an ever-growing comedy community in York.
What are we doing?
The highlight of each ComedySoc year comes in August, where we get to showcase our side-splitting talents at the Edinburgh Fringe. Due to Covid-19, our society has been unable to venture up to Edinburgh since 2019, but this year we're back and bigger than ever! Both of our premiere troupes are making a return, The Dead Ducks and The Shambles, and we've renewed our contracts with Just The Tonic and The Space to ensure the best platform possible for our performers. We're also expanding the Shambles to allow all those who missed out on the chance to perform at the Fringe due to the pandemic the opportunity to experience the festival, as well as opening up room for our veteran stand-ups. This summer looks to be our biggest Edinburgh Fringe yet, but doesn't come cheap, and we need your help to make our Edinburgh dream a reality!
The Dead Ducks are the University of York's premiere sketch comedy troupe, returning to the Fringe after its five-star debut show in 2019 (Wee Review, The Student), described as "Almost non-stop laughter from beginning to end" (Wee Review, 2019). With an all-new cast and all-new sketches, the Ducks' latest show promises an hour of hilarity and an array of zany characters and shenanigans. Performing at Just the Tonic's Just up the Road venue, The Dead Ducks are poised to make their mark on the Edinburgh Fringe once more, and by donating you can help cement a sketch group people will be talking about for years to come!
The Shambles are the University of York's resident improvised comedy troupe, returning to the Fringe for another year packed with scenes, songs and games entirely based on audience suggestions! Described as "An unbeatable evening of comedy" (Nouse, 2019) and "A memorable, laugh-an-every-three-seconds experience" (BingeFringe Mag, 2019), the format changes every year, and the show changes every night! In 2022 the Shambles are returning to a much more central venue on the Royal Mile itself to bring their unique brand of silliness to even more of you lovely fringe-goers!
why do we need your help?
Taking a show up to the Edinburgh Fringe, unfortunately, rarely happens on the cheap. After being unable to host in-person shows for almost a year and a half, our society entered this year without its usual source of income. Combined with wanting to accommodate for all our members who missed out on this opportunity over the last three years, and the steep increase in rent prices, this year's trip is looking more expensive than usual. Here's a rough breakdown of where our costs lie:
- Accommodation £11,000
- Venue hire £5,920
- Edinburgh Fringe registration fee £600
- Flyers and marketing materials £100
- Props and costumes £300
Costs such as venue hire and registration fees are covered by the cash we make from our weekly shows in York throughout the year, ticket revenue from the Fringe shows themselves, and our special Edinburgh fundraising event, 24 Hours of Comedy! Further costs such as props and costumes - which help make our terrific shows what they are - rely solely on your donations. The main area requiring your help, however, is accommodation costs. With rent prices constantly rising and the desire to involve more of our members than ever before, we need your donations to help allow all our members to afford to come to Edinburgh this summer, regardless of background.
What's in it for you?
As if our undying gratitude wasn't enough, we've also lined up some lovely rewards to say thank you, however much you want to donate! Fancy a signed Dead Ducks script? Or a personalised song improvised and performed by the Shambles? Then head on over to our Rewards tab for more!
FInd us here:
If you want to find out more about what we're up to, check out our social media channels!
York ComedySoc: (Twitter) @ComedySoc and (Facebook) @comedysoc The Shambles: (Twitter) @ShamblesImprov and (Facebook) @TheShamblesImprov The Dead Ducks: (Twitter) @TheDeadDucks and (Facebook) @TheDeadDucks
Help us succeed!
None of this will be possible without your help! Anything you can spare would mean the world to us, but even if you can't donate right now, you can still help us out by spreading word of our exploits far and wide. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell a stranger in the street, and give us a follow on our social media above. The more people that know about us, the better chance we have of making this the Fringe we know it has the potential to be!
