We’re Salma Hindy and Danielle Deluty , two standup comedians in Brooklyn, New York. Together we’ve created our show Parallel , charting the uncanny similarities between our experiences and identities growing up Muslim and Jewish. Weaving our stories together and performing alongside each other has been one of the richest healing experiences of our lives.

This summer we have the chance to premiere our show at Edinburgh's Fringe Festival. In Edinburgh we’ll have a full run of 25 performances in the month of August.

Going to this festival will be a LIFE CHANGING opportunity for us and can be what launches the start of our careers, and hopefully bring the show back to NYC should it receive rave reviews (fingers crossed).

We’re spending A LOT out of pocket to be able to pull this off and we want to ask for support. We’re so proud to have assembled a strong team to bring this show to life. It’s a self-funded project, and to bring the show to Edinburgh we need $20,000 (please see cost breakdown below). Crazy amount of money. Somehow not as much as law school, but still enough to obliterate the concept of home ownership. This show is a piece of art, a piece of ourselves that we believe in with our whole hearts. Taking the show to Fringe is a pivotal opportunity of the show. We wouldn’t ask for community support if we weren’t committed to continuing to nurture this show’s life even after Fringe.

We're women from distinct, opposing patriarchal faith traditions: Danielle from Judaism and Salma from Islam. Our religious traditions are undeniably made for men. We’re starved for comedic subversion from the perspectives of women, and anyone sidelined yet controlled by religion. The stakes are higher, and the laughs are bigger when the jokes come from the voices religions have never bothered to consider. As two previously traumatized girlies (with god, daddy AND mommy issues thank you very much), we are hungry to tell our stories on the biggest stage in the world, and desperately want to grow as artists in this industry with paltry Jewish & Muslim women representation. (Even the marvelous Mrs. Maisel is not played by a Jewish performer.)

We’re bringing Parallel to the Fringe because we’re eager to laugh at the darker realities of religion. Through jokes we loosen religions’ choking grip on us. The ability to make crowds of people see things from our side, and join us in laughter at absurd extremes is exactly the kind of liberation we seek. This show is where we speak our radical truths, and laugh at the systems that tried to silence our shrill voices and stifle our silly little girl brains. We’re smart as shit, and funny as hell, and if you or your wealthy aunt have the means, we hope you’ll consider contributing to Parallel!

Cost Breakdown

Festival Registration: $374.70

Festival Services Fee: $213.25

Venue Rental: 2919.45

Flights: $2250.90

Accommodation: $3934.91

PR: $3046.38

Promotional Marketing: $2780.58

Creative Consulting: $1300

MISC/Preparation Rehearsals: $378

Festival Living Expenses: $2000

GoFundMe Expenses: $575.90

TOTAL: $19,774.12

More About The Performers:

Salma Hindy is a first-generation Egyptian-Canadian Comedian, Writer, Actor and Performer who has recently moved to New York City. Salma has opened for Ken Jeong, Ramy Youssef, Beth Stelling, and most recently is opening for Chelsea Handler on her newest tour, Little Big Bitch. Salma is currently voicing a Series Regular character on Golden Globe Winner Ramy Youssef's new A24/Amazon adult animated series, #1 Happy Family . Salma will be performing a two-person show called Parallel at Edinburgh Fringe this year, detailing how she escaped her self-righteous extremist upbringing and came to find her Jewish best friend, Danielle. Salma has written for CBC's This Hour Has 22 Minutes. She is currently developing her own half-hour scripted comedy series with Crave (Bell media) about her life. Salma's debut comedy album, Born on 9/11 has received rave reviews on Hype Magazine, The Star, Comedy Cake, Patron and Pearl and The Manitoban. She has also given a TEDx talk about her emotional journey in breaking away from her religious family and pursuing comedy, titled "Why People Pleasing is Hurting You ." You can watch Salma on New Faces at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, CBC's Laugh Out Loud, CBC Gem's "New Wave of StandUp" , Comedy Night with Rick Mercer, CTV’s Stand Up with Jon Dore and Seasons 1 & 2 of Roast Battle Canada (which she was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for). Salma has her own episode on True Dating Stories where she chronicles going on a blind date chaperoned by her Imam father.

Danielle Deluty is a standup comic in new york city. Danielle has performed on NYC comedy stages like Union Hall, Rockwood Music Hall, Arlene's Grocery, and West Side Comedy Club. She's also performed in cities across the US like Greensboro, NC (North Carolina comedy festival), Northampton, MA (Marigold Theater), and Houston, TX (The Secret Group). Danielle hosts an intimate interview podcast called Female Intern, where she has personal conversations with a range of working comedic performers. Danielle was raised in a modern orthodox jewish community in new jersey, but has since abandoned religious dogma in favor of self expression in the world of comedy and performance art.

Shows in NYC before Fringe