Um, WHAT IS THIS?
Hi. I'm Ellie MacPherson, a comedian obsessed with the Presidents of the United States. In 2018 I created a solo show called "Happy Birthday, Mr. President!" to share my strange obsession with the Presidents through story and song. That's right. Song. Because when your emotions get too strong you must SING. But not just any songs, I connect historical facts and stories with a range of contemporary music that you know! There is less Taylor Swift than you would think.
My faithful band, the Secret Service, is composed of Luis Jaccome, Dominic LaMorte and William Shuler (shout out to Mike Repper and Nick Ujhazy!), and they have been playing venues in New York with me for the past 4 years. Now we have an incredible director, UCB and Comedy Central's Matt Gehring, and we're ALL heading to Edinburgh, Scotland to perform in the world renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival! You can check out more info here! It's in the same venue and time slot as international hit Fleabag which means absolutely nothing except that its cool and I would also like a production deal with Amazon. But before we get on Amazon....
WHAT DO WE NEED?
We need to fund our trip across the pond. You know what's expensive? Producing a show. You know what's even more expensive? Producing it internationally. You know what's even more even more expensive? A yacht, probably. But also bringing the full team over to Edinburgh. The band is so important to the performance of the show; and though they all offered to be folded up and travel in the luggage compartment and sleep on the Edinburgh streets, I told them no. They should be able to fly and sleep like I will be, in economy class and then student housing 40 minutes from the theatre.
There are so many other costs that go into this show, from insurance to marketing to music licensing. In the words of Sondheim, "Art isn't easy" and also "Have a little priest". Even if we sold out every night, we still wouldn't be able to cover the costs of producing this show. BUT the Fringe is not about making money, it's about getting the work out there for the world (LITERALLY THE WHOLE WORLD!) to see. And it's just the starting point for this show, hopefully we can use this run as a jumping off point for a tour. But you gotta start somewhere, and Scotland is the beginning.
WHAT DO I GET OUT OF THIS?
I mean, that's a little crass, but we get it. Just know that no matter what you give, you get our undying love and affection and yes that's probably not enough. So:
$50- handwritten thank you note with personalized presidential trivia
$100 - social media shout out with personalized presidential trivia
$500- I will record you a personalized message a la Cameo as Marilyn Monroe, George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Nixon, etc.
$1000- the band and I will record a video of the song of your choice and send it to you.
LIKE OK I think we just solved the problem of what you were going to get your history loving Uncle for his birthday. Make Uncle Steve's year with a birthday message from Honest Abe!
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I CANT GIVE YOU MONEY BUT I DIG THIS IDEA!
Then please share this campaign with anyone and everyone! And follow me on Instagram for more ways to stay involved: @ellmac5
"Whatever you are, be a good one." - Abe Lincoln
"The buck stops here."- Harry S. Truman
"Help I've fallen and I can't get up."- Gerald Ford