Indiegogo

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Stand Up Tragedy and Getting Better Acquainted

Fund these two independent podcasts to do even more awesome things than they are already!

  • Team:

    20120103133001-amazing20120103-24357-vfsdct-0 20120104085957-stringio20120104-30910-dhemmg-0 see more »

  • Location:London, United Kingdom

  • Category:Transmedia

My Story

My name is Dave Pickering and I'm a Sony Radio Award nominated writer, musician, performer and podcaster from East London. To find out more about me and my work have a look here.


I am currently producing two podcasts around my part time job as an Early Years Library Outreach Worker. 


Stand Up Tragedy: A weekly podcast airing between February and July 2012. The podcasts will be recorded at a new night hosted at The Leicester Square Theatre. Part cabaret, part variety show; people will get up on stage and do some tragedy and we'll record them. Performers such as Helen Arney, Matt Parker, Drunken Chorus, Tania Hershman, MJ Hibbett, Liars League and Casual Violence will make you sad, make you think and make you smile. Sometimes they’ll be putting a new twist on what they do with brand new material tailored towards the theme. Expect music, comedy, true stories and more, all playing up to the tragic form but not taking it too seriously.


Getting Better Acquainted: A weekly podcast where the audience joins me on my journey to get better acquainted with the people I know. There are lots of shows about famous people. This is a show about the rest of us. 


Currently I fund GBA from my own salary. Stand Up Tragedy will hopefully be able to break even(ish) from door sales, although the initial costs have again come from my salary. I don't have a very large salary.


This campaign has 2 aims. One for each podcast.


Aim 1: Raise enough money to be able to pay ALL Stand Up Tragedy performers, as well as to make sure that I cover the graphic design, technical staff, marketing, venue and PRS costs.


Aim 2: To finance a series of GBA road trips following on from the ones taken in 2011.


The Impact

Aim 1:

It is right that the comedians, musicians, writers and performers that give their work to Stand Up Tragedy be paid for performing it but my salary and the door takings will not stretch to cover this.

I believe in free online content and I'm not looking at this stage to pay myself for my work. But I want to be fair to other artists and help support them. I'm lucky enough to be able to arrange my life so that I can pursue creative projects. I want to help others be that lucky.

Aim 2:

My brother and I will revisit the small village of Afonwen, the small town of Caerwys and the surrounding area of North Wales where we lived for 5 years as children. Neither of us has been back there. We'll record conversations and our reactions to going back, and make this into one or more GBA specials. I will also try to have GBA conversations with people I meet there if there is some connection to be made.

This is an episode of GBA where I talk to my brother. It has been one of the most popular episodes and was recommended by the SoundCloud Voices blog. 

The other GBA trip will literally be a road trip: my partner and I will hire a car and drive across the North of England revisiting Lancaster, which is where we went to university, Preston, where I worked for a year, and Leyland where I worked for a year and a half. We will also visit Blackpool and Morecambe where she worked and make a trip to the Lake District, which was the place we escaped to when things got too much. This will result in a series of GBA specials plus conversations with acquaintances across the area.

The GBA specials have been a popular element of the show. The ones that have been aired so far are collected together here.

What I Need 

I am asking for $3500 which is £2,235.10

I currently have 30 acts booked for Stand Up Tragedy. I estimate that there will be 40 acts in total. I'd like to pay everyone £50 for their performance which would come to £2000.

The remaining amount of £235.10 would go towards accommodation costs in North Wales and the Lake District and would help with hire car costs. If we go over the target any extra would also go towards these costs or to the costs of running the Stand Up Tragedy nights.

If the goal isn't achieved but we reach £2000 then I will be able to pay performers. If the money raised is less than that, I will pay the performers a smaller fee: an even split of the amount raised.

I am asking for a modest amount because we live in very tough economic times, but the more money raised the better these projects could be. 


What You Get

As well as all the free podcasts I make, I'm also adding some extra perks for people who contribute to this campaign.


Other Ways You Can Help

Tell everyone you know about this campaign. Share it on facebook, twitter and other social networks.

Team on This Campaign:

  • 20120103133001-amazing20120103-24357-vfsdct-0
    Dave Pickering

    Puts things together for Getting Better Acquainted and runs/compères Stand Up Tragedy

  • 20120104085957-stringio20120104-30910-dhemmg-0
    Elizabeth Bailey

    Co-Stage Manager and Assistant for Stand Up Tragedy