Help 'Garbage Jam' get to Philly Fringe!

FRIENDS! FAMILY! LOVERS! ENEMIES! STRANGERS! CLOWNS!

Lend us your money.

Without giving too much away...

Garbage Jam is a neurotic clown fantasia about mental health. In this Beckettian devised junkyard - Joseph, a depressed person struggles to leave their invisible kitchen, an AI assistant dreams of being a singer and a garbage gremlin drums on buckets and licks trash. Despite their seemingly alien differences, the three find their realities metaphysically-linked through relics of Joseph’s past. Garbage Jam welcomes audiences to view themselves through a kaleidoscope covered in coffee grounds and ask what is the potential of that which we choose to discard?

The majority of set items, props and costume pieces are found, borrowed and recycled.

WHY

Under the absurdist chaos - this play is about the fragmentation of myself. Perhaps it is a glance through that kaleidoscope at my neurodiversity. How a psyche can compartmentalize as a defense mechanism; how our pasts haunt and season little dusty relics that end up on shelves witnessing our evolution or in old boxes and garbage cans - misunderstood; how memories move and shape with time and within all of the confusion of self-awareness and identity ... I wonder if all these fragments can piece together to form a cohesive sense of self or if it just a matter of attempting to organize a junkyard into a home.

My hope is that some audience members will feel seen and offer the idea that even if you will never be able to fully understand ... you can still have fun within the not-knowing. My other hope is that people will let us take them on a 40-minute journey they have never experienced before, and laugh along the way.

ABOUT ME

My name is Michael "Dola" Amendola (he/him)!

I'm the Performer/Creator/Producer of Garbage Jam! I am a Philadelphia & NYC-based performer, writer, and aspiring teacher with a clown ethos and a love for big choices. As a writer/deviser, I'm interested in creating work that celebrates the absurdity of the human experience and reaching for what feels unreachable. As a teacher, I'm interested in encouraging people to embrace 'failure' (whatever that means) as a gift and embrace 'play' as a path to joy, catharsis and community.

I performed Off-Broadway in the NYC production of Drunk Shakespeare for two-and-a-half years and 600 performances. I've performed at local and regional theaters in NYC, Austin, Philadelphia and Virginia and toured the US with the American Shakespeare Center.

I have a BFA in Acting from Texas State University. I've been fortunate enough to study clown, bouffon and character work with wonderful teachers & leaders such as Giovanni Fusetti, Aitor Basauri, Sophie Amieva, Eric Davis, Julia Proctor and Jon Davison. I'm currently pursuing an MFA in Devised Performance at The Pig Iron School.

ABOUT THE TEAM

Garbage Jam is produced in collaboration with three amazing artists and friends: Graham Cook, Tyler Catanella and Aiden Ankli. Click HERE to read all about them!!

Special thanks to the Pig Iron School faculty and students for their support.

WHAT I NEED

Simply put: I'm a grad student. I don't come from wealth. There aren't funds laying around for producing a show. The Regional Theatre model suffers, the world needs new work, real estate is held by gatekeepers, so we DIY and have limited time.

Archival Photographer/Fees $233

Total: $1759

*GoFundMe takes a 2.9% + $0.30 fee per transaction. If you would like to help us meet our budget, please consider covering this expense as part of your contribution! :)

*Our friends are on strike. Now's a GREAT time to support live performers instead of corporate executives of streaming services. ;)

Note that after you have offered a donation, an invisible benevolent garbage gremlin will offer you good tidings in your dreams, eat the holes of your socks, and put a little diddy in your head! So every little bit helps. I'm talking - that gremlin will glady accept your $3.95 if you cannot offer $395. :)

With gratitude,

Dola & The Garbage Jam Team (Aiden, Tyler & Graham)

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Garbage Jam

as part of the 2023 Philly Fringe / Cannonball Festival

Fidget Living Room

1714 N. Mascher St Philadelphia, PA

SAT Sept 9 - 4:15pm

WED Sept 13 - 9:30pm

SAT Sept 16 - 10pm

Tickets are $25 with Pay What You Can tickets available

cannonballfestival.org & phillyfringe.org

This event is appropriate for ages 18+

Adult Language

Themes of mental illness and depression.

Some implied sexual content