Kick Start Your Summer with My Kickstarter!

Hello Esteemed Friends, Family, and Stuffed Animals I’ve Lined Up Along The Floor To Recite This To,

It is I, your curly-headed friend, here to tell you the latest and greatest!

As you may be aware, I’ll be headed “over the pond” in August to premiere my brand new one-woman stage adaptation of my book “I’ll Be OK” at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival!

Pip-pip-cheerio!

I don’t actually know if they say that there, please forgive me kilt-clad people of Scotland.

Anyway! Like I did with my book launch, I’ll be raising funds to accomplish this spectacular undertaking. Except unlike the launch, you won’t be funding a mac and cheese food truck this time but rather a full stage production created by and starring yours truly.

This will be way fun and also way expensive, but the universe has spoken and I plan on following its instructions.

For those of you that don’t know, the Fringe Festival is the largest theater festival in the world. The world’s greatest comedians, playwrights, cabaret performers, you name it, they’re there. Hannah Gadsby, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Daniel Sloss, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and a ton of other people I admire all got their “start” at Edinburgh. It’s where dreams get made.

And you know me! I’m a dreamer!

This truly is the next step in my career.

And because I’m what you call “extra” I’m also challenging myself to complete my TV pilot at the same time in the random chance that I meet someone at Fringe who is like “have you thought about adapting this for TV?” and I’ll be like “yuppppp” and then it would end up on Netflix or some shit a few years later.

You know, weirder things have happened.

But Netflix or no Netflix, I’m going to challenge myself to be the best performer I can be this year. I’m going to put my comedy chops to the test and do things on that stage I’ve never had the guts to do before.

Shit, I might even have to wear a helmet, it’s going to get crazy up there.

But I’m ready for it.

Or at least I will be…once you donate!

Hey there it is! The plug! Yes, it’s unfortunate! I have to ask for money. I really hate doing that. But honestly wouldn’t you rather me ask for this than show up at your door demanding drugs or something?

Anyway, the point is: I need your help.

Here’s specifically what I’ve budgeted for:

• A flight to Edinburgh, Scotland ($704.88 USD)

• Accommodations July 27-Sept 2 ($200 Euro staying with friend +$238 Euro Hostels = $438 WOW I AM RESOURCEFUL)

• Venue (FREE)

• Inclusion in Program ($328 Euro)

• Fringe Society Registration ($10 Euro)

• Flyer and Poster Design (~$100 USD)

• Flyer and Poster Printing ($300 Euro, OK this one I have no idea because I could print a lot or a little, it really depends!)

• Flyer and Poster Distribution (This will be me, probably in my brain costume to attract attention so totally FREE)

• Production Photos (already have some nice ones but if anyone is offering $150 USD)

• Tech Hire ($50, I basically just need someone to hit a light switch a few times)

• Set (A chair and a microphone, wow so meta)

• Props (Probably shipping my brain costume across the country, how much do you think that will cost or should I just try to bring it with me on the plane and see what they think about stashing my brain in the overhead bins? ~LOL~)

• Rehearsal space (I'll probably just find a quiet corner to practice in on the street?)

• Food (Oh yeah! Haggis and crisps ~$20+/day for 37 days = $740)

• Director (I'd like to hire one, ~$500)

• Insurance (What?)

• Contingency (Had to Google this, but it's advised that you add 10% of your sum budget to the total just in case like you get hit by a bus or something terrible, please see "Insurance,” ~$332)

  Total: $3,652.96 (daaaaaang, gurl!)

Art may sometimes feel like a private activity, but it is really the community that makes or breaks creative projects like this. After all, I’m a comedian. I at least need an audience member… or two (one time there was just one and his name was Steve and he was really lovely and we both felt bad but I did make him laugh a few times so I guess it wasn’t totally a failure).

This Kickstarter has fun levels of “Rewards” that you get for donating as well. They are as follows:

$1: Special Thank You Video

I’ll shoot you a personalized video with a thank you as well as progress updates on the show!

$10: Social Media Shout Out

I’ll blow up your social media with awesome things about you or if you’re “off the grid” I’ll send you a nice postcard!

$15: Exclusive E-Books

I’ll throw you some awesome e-books: “Mimi’s Memoir Tips” and “Mimi’s Comedy Tricks” from the classes I teach in NYC!

$20: Signed copy of “I’ll Be OK”

I’ll send you a personalized copy of my book right to your door!

$50: Exclusive First Look Video + Signed Copy

I’ll shoot you a special rehearsal video of my show along with a personalized copy of the book!

$100: You’re Awesome Brain Box

I’ll send you a lovely box of goodies including Brain Swag, book, and more!

$200: Guest on Mimi and The Brain Podcast

I’ll schedule a Skype call with you for your very own guest spot on Mimi and The Brain!

And who doesn’t love prizes, amiright?

Once I hit my $1,000 goal I plan on kicking off another Kickstarter, possibly with new and improved Rewards for my donors. The closer I can get to my projected ~$3,600 the better. At the end of the summer I’ll have one more attempt to make my goal with a ticketed performance in NYC to debut the show.

And then from there it’s off to Edinburgh we go!

In addition to performing and running around a foreign city handing out flyers like a decapitated chicken in a giant brain costume, I’ll also be helping run a few other shows, picking up nanny shifts when I can, and touring up Scotland and through London for some possible speaking gigs when I’m all done.

*tribal yelling*

My chances of surviving this epic endeavor drastically improve with each dollar you donate!

And don’t worry, if you can’t donate this first round, please re-post it on your social media channels, or send it to a friend you think would be interested.

How cool would it be for you if I suddenly blew up and got that Netflix deal and you could be like “Hey I know that chick! I donated $3 to her Kickstarter! I MADE THAT SHIT POSSIBLE.”

Very cool, my friend. Very cool.

To check out the first round of my Kickstarter, please click here and feel free to share, re-post, and spread this shit like wildfire!

“Ah dinnae ken fer sure, but whit's fur ye'll no go past ye!”

Translation: “I don’t know for sure, but what is meant to happen, will happen!”

ROUGH Art Show!!!

This took my best friend like a lifetime to make...isn't she the best?

"One masterpiece is the work of ten thousand rough drafts." -Emily Freeman

I never met Emily Freeman, but I bet she was one dedicated artist. The woman must have scrapped literally thousands of beginnings, middles, and endings of pieces I'm sure she considered giving up on entirely.

I've never considered myself an "artist."

In high school I began dabbling in stick figure art on the back of my homework and on tests I knew I was going to fail, but that didn't count.

I did theater, choir, and later in college I took up improv and stand-up comedy. For some reason I didn't think that counted either.

Then I wrote a book.

Two actually. And a third on the way (not pregnant, Mom...just ready to POP with ideas)

And oddly, nope. Still not an artist. 

It's not that anyone told me I wasn't, I was just conditioned by society to believe that art was done by professional people in impossibly clean galleries and with things I wasn't allowed to touch.

Many years ago I was in an art gallery in Boulder, bopping around a lot of obscure statues when I swung around and nearly knocked an octopus-shaped vase off of a stand. In that moment I knew I was out of place. 

I was a reckless child in an adult's quiet room.

But doesn't anyone else think this kind of "art" is a little weird? That you're just supposed to stare at this thing on the wall with no context, no investment, and no permission to interact with it?

Art is messy. Art is frustrating. Art is years and years of wanting to throw everything you've ever created or touched into a fire and watch it burn to the ground and become one with the Earth because it's absolute shit. 

Sound familiar?

Back in October I got real drunk. So I did what I normally do and I wrote a bunch of weird shit down.

Among the gems were: 

• Make Periods Funny Again

• I like my Kombucha like I like my cocaine...extremely overpriced and I do it to make me skinny

• Hang book from the ceiling

From the items above, it appears that the last one on the list is a joke. And a drunk one at that. But a few weeks later I stumbled upon the list and told my friend Kristen about it. 

This is a really stupid (and drunk) idea...but what if I hung pages of my book from clipboards from the ceiling of an art gallery and gave people pens and they could mark it up? It would be like an art piece PLUS imagine how much I'll save on editing this stupid thing!

I sent the email thinking that would be the end of it...but no. Oh no. Nononononono. Kristen Jorden is one serious motherfucker. 

She told me it was not only a great idea, but possibly the best I'd ever had. She suggested expanding the show (it was a thing now) to multiple artists. She said we could make it interactive. She fucking emailed me everyday for a month.

And so it was. The birth of a monster. A beautiful, beautiful monster. 

And best of all, the mission was revolutionary. 

"Art is for everyone," she said. 

I'll never forget the first time anyone called me an artist. And it's true. Every human being possesses art within them, just waiting for us to be courageous enough to let it out. 

Not everyone believes this.

On our hunt for the perfect gallery for our art show, Kristen and I met her.

Her was a petite French woman who owned a gallery in the art district that we stumbled into on our search. We started asking her questions, telling her about our show, and inquiring about galleries in the area.

Le Petite French was not interested in our inventive art show. LPF couldn't give one fuck, really. 

"Art is not for the poor," she said as I bent down to the floor to pick up my jaw. "It is something that is not to be given to the public. It is not theirs."

Not even her lovely French accident could save her from my strong hands throwing her out the stained-glass window. 

Okay, so I didn't throw her out a stained-glass window. But I fucking wanted to. 

Kristen and I left offended and with bleeding ears for LPF had talked them off, leaving not even a nook or cranny of room for us to try to explain to her that WE were poor and WE were artists and WE were amazing. 

This show, ROUGH, means even more to me now than ever before. It contains 14 artists; painters, photographers, architects, quilters, writers, and ceramicists. It contains risk-takers, rough drafts, and the microcosms of art in-progress. 

This show is put on by artists and for everyone, for we are all artists. 

Please join us for this amazing opportunity to interact with live art in the works and give feedback to each artist on the direction of their pieces. They are counting on you to ask questions, suggest revisions, and play with their masterpieces that are yet to be fully realized.

And if you have a little snooty French artist friend, bring her too because we're going to knock her socks off all the way back to Paris.

Click here to check out our event page on Facebook! See you there!

Date: Friday, February 24th, 2017

Time: 5-10PM

Price: Free, Donations Accepted

Location: ReCreative Denver

765 Santa Fe Drive
Denver, Colorado  80204
720-638-3128

 

Send Brennyn to Britain!

I have a lot of friends. 

Ask my parents.  They often get confused at which friend I’m referring to in conversation and have requested that I make a spreadsheet so that they can keep track of which Mel is the Mel I worked with at the country club and which Mel is the roommate from Boulder who just got married.

I’m popular what can I say.

But long lists of gal pals and teaching buddies aside there is a special friend that I would like to give a shout out to today and every day.

Her name is Brennyn Hoose.

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Back before we had cell phones, Snapchat, and real adult responsibilities she befriended me; a loud-mouthed theater chick who thought she was some cool business back in high school.  Back when lamenting over boys who didn’t know we existed was all we had to worry about.  We were 14 and had no idea what would become of our lives. 

She’s my rock.

When my heart was epically curb-stomped last year she was the first one I called at 4am, snot dripping out of my nose and writhing in pain in the corner of some dark parking lot.

When the shit hit the fan with my health last Fall she was the first one there again.  It took her all of two seconds to drop everything she was doing, drive across town in rush hour traffic, and arrive in my hospital room with a gigantic bag of chocolate and flowers.

Here we are in 2015. 

I am up to my elbows in new teaching stress and Brennyn is by my side every step of the way as she always is.  After my first day of school she dropped by my house to give me a box of chocolate and listen to me ramble on about my inability to work the copy machine and effectively manage my classroom.

She’s my rock.  And you know yuh' girl is all about that chocolate.

So when Brennyn told me that her dream in life was to go to England for a mission trip with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) to change lives, I knew I had to do something about it.  Big time.

So I invited Brennyn over for wine and chatted her up about her journey in front of a cheap front-facing camera on my parent’s couch.  We talked about how she discovered the program, what led her to her faith, and where she will be stationed to work. 

What you don’t see in the video (which is terribly edited by yours truly) is her non-stop hustle. For the past 6 months Brennyn has been working herself to the nubs for this dream.

Standing in line all day to fill out paperwork for her Visa.  Saving up every penny she has.  Talking to complete strangers about the importance of her journey and trying to convince them that she is worthy of this.  Getting denied from one program and applying to another.  Working two full-time jobs and still having time to call me on the phone and hear me dump my own emotional trauma on her.

I actually don’t know another human being who works as hard as she does.

The woman doesn’t quit.

So therefore I won’t quit until she achieves her dream. 

This is where you come in, my devoted readers.  I am asking you to give.  Give back to the woman that has made me who I am today.  Give back to a soul that is so selfless and real that she makes you want to be better than you ever thought you could.

Give her a dollar, a penny, a prayer.  Make her dreams come true.  Because if I know anyone who will make a difference in this world, it’s Brennyn.  So help get her there.

Below I have attached her personal blog and funding page.  I encourage you to read up on her mission and what she plans to do in England and other parts of the world.  I encourage you to donate to her cause and her never-ending dedication to her faith and her number one fan (me).

Join my campaign to send Brennyn to Britain!

Click here to read her blog and here to donate!