Mr. Cardboard Prepares for Edinburgh
It is crunch time in the Land of Cardboard as we get ready for The Edinburgh Fringe Festival
So much has been happening for Mr. Cardboard as we near the end of our crowdfunding campaign and prepare for the Edinburgh Fringe. It's all coming together but we still need some help to cross the finish line.
If this is the first you’re hearing about Mr. Cardboard then welcome! We’re an award-winning twisted clown play going to the Edinburgh Fringe by Miles Calderon and Levi Meltzer, produced by Jill Calderon and directed by Will Spence. Feel free to peruse our Instagram or Substack to see what we've been up to. If this is not meant for you, feel free to unsubscribe. A clean inbox is a happy inbox. With that out of the way…
The biggest arts festival in the world, Edinburgh Fringe, starts in 10 days.
Our Seed&Spark crowdfunding campaign closes in 7 days.
Mr. Cardboard presents…, the live fundraiser show in Atlanta is in 5 days.
All this and more is coming up, so we’ll take them one at a time.
Firstly, we are 60% of the way towards our crowdfunding goal and only $2,360 away from hitting 80%. Closing that gap is crucial because if we don’t hit 80%, we aren’t “Greenlit” and don’t get to keep any of what we’ve raised, but there is only a week left. Any contribution would be a huge help in making our beautiful dream come to fruition. Plus, we have a recording of the show and fun stickers if you need any extra convincing to support young artists. Kamala Harris raised $5M in the past 48 hours, so I’m confident we can reach our goal in a week!
If you’re feeling generous, here is the link.
And here are some graphs for the scientists among you.
Speaking of stickers, here are some fresh new designs from the wonderfully talented Emma Freymann that will be included in the sticker pack on our campaign page.
As shown above, Huxly hits his signature Nutella and blank stair combo, while further above, Mr. Cardboard is giving his iconic ‘clap for me’ pose. You can see more of Emma’s art on her Instagram @thesluglady.
Secondly, Mr. Cardboard presents… is this Sunday the 28th!
If you’re not in Atlanta you can skip to the next section out of spite and jealousy. If you are in the Peach City, then we’ll see you at 7:30 this Sunday at Dynamic El Dorado for a fundraising night of spectacle! The show’s lineup will include Atlanta’s favorite all-woman improv troupe Bitches, a fellow Gaulier-trained clown Chase Brantley, standup from the Atlanta celebrity Mark Kendall, character comedy from Hayley Ellman, and secret musical guests alongside raffles and potentially even themed drinks! This will be the fourth variety show produced by the sibling duo Miles and Jill Calderon. In the past, Miles hosted as the infamously outrageous Magnus Klondike, but this time, MC will stand for Mr. Cardboard, who will be stewarding the proceedings. I can guarantee it will change your life.
Use the code “Huxley” for $5 off or “Edinburgh” for a free ticket if you need it.
As far as The Festival goes, we are hard at work contacting press and scrounging for guest spots on the litany of lineup shows our vast underground network of alternative comedians has to offer. All very secret indeed. What we can share is our official poster for the fringe!
To the undisciplined eye, it might look similar to the poster we used on tour, with the magical Hudson Hughes photograph and the elegant Skye McKinney design; however, as in any good spot-the-difference game, there are some differences. There’s the show info that proudly displays our Hoots Big Yurt 13:30 time slot, obviously, but we’ve also added the lovely laurel for the Atlanta Fringe Audience Choice Award. And look! Some quotes from British Comedy Guide and our very own Disney Prince Luke Rollason (Star of Disney+’s ‘Extraordinary and an extremely good clown). We’ll put out our full list of show recommendations soon, but if you happen to be in Scotland this August, Luke’s show is one not to miss.
Now for the sundry.
Coming out later this week is an amazing write-up of one of our Atlanta shows in the online arts mag Hot Litterati written by Masha Kurbatova. It’s a phenomenological retelling of her experience of the show and subsequent interview with Miles about all things Cardboard, Gaulier, and Clown. Plus, she says some nice things about the show:
“Mr. Cardboard whisked Huxley to the whimsical land of cardboard, which operates on dream logic. The performance was wonderfully surreal and terribly funny… There were poignant and beautiful bits too. I left thoroughly delighted… Seeing Mr. Cardboard felt like leaving my inner child unattended in Wonderland with a pack of cigarettes.”
We’ll share the link on our Instagram as soon as it comes out.
Speaking of that infernal app, we now have 10 wild and whimsical reels Directed by Ella Faye Donely and edited by Jill Calderon starring Huxly and Cardboard getting up to mischief, flying through the sky, and even eating a carrot! Our most recent release sees Mr. C having a sobering existential crisis. A lot of this footage was shot over in London in front of a high-tech LED screen that allowed us to appear in a cardboard world. Usually, for this sort of movie magic, you would have to be in front of a green or blue screen. However, with Mr. Cardboard’s green overalls and Huxley’s blue everything, we had to opt for a third option that didn’t leave us with a floating nutella mouth, so the LED screen it was.
That’s all for now. We’ll have more exciting news soon, but if you stuck around and read this far, then thank you for taking the time to care about our project. It would mean the world if you were willing to donate some money to support us in making our art. Keep thinking cardboard thoughts.
With love
Miles, Levi, and Jill