Motherhood is a Joke Documentary Movie

Help our successful Maternal Comedy program become accessible globally! We're making a documentary film & creating an interactive story-sharing channel.

A fundraising campaign for Mama's Comfort Camp - a project of CTA

Join us in turning motherhood struggles into comedic gold. 

Motherhood is a Joke is the first program of the "Mother UP! Initiative", a series of artistic expression projects dedicated to amplifying the voices of mothers.

We're starting with comedy because laughter is the best medicine. Motherhood is a Joke is a collaboration between Mama’s Comfort Camp, an international support network for mothers, and The Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca NY. For 4 months, we hosted 15 local moms of all ages and stages to gather and share their experiences of motherhood through storytelling, humor, and performance. The workshops used a unique format called the Creative Safety Nest, creating a warm and comforting circle of sisterhood. Together the participants turned their motherhood struggles into comedic gold and developed performance skills and confidence.

Or first showcase performance debuts on Tuesday night, March 31, 2020, at 7 pm on the Kitchen Theatre stage. The show sold out immediately. Additional performance dates coming soon, stay tuned!

The program has been transformative, and we'd like to make it accessible everywhere. We're starting with a film documenting our process and the performance. Our next step is to create a story sharing channel for mothers from around the world and across the street to collect and share our stories.

After all, a performance stage is a wonderful thing, but funny and transformative stories can be recorded anywhere and shared with everyone via the sophisticated cameras so many of us carry in our back pockets. Your contributions will help pay for filming and editing, as well as for the development of a story sharing video channel and website. 

Our movie and the beautiful trailer at the top of this page are filmed and edited by Shira Evergreen of http://www.upliftedithaca.com/. In addition to making all the participants look so good in the footage, she is one of our funniest mama comics.   



Honor a loved one with your donation 

We invite you to Honor a Mother with your donation. Please provide a dedication sentence that you would like it to appear in the "Add a Message" section when you make your gift. (For example: "in loving memory of my mother, Kate Smith" or "in honor of Elena Brown, my best friend") 

Donations and dedications of any amount will be listed on this crowdfunding page.

Program and Movie Credit Options

Print Program Friend: Dedication gifts of $50 or more will be listed in our Comedy Showcase printed programs.

Movie Credit Backer: Dedications of $150 or more will include the name of the honored person listed on the rolling credits at the end, under one of the following lists: "In Honor of" or "In Loving Memory of". A mention on the printed showcase program included. 

Printed Program Business Ad:  Dedications of $250 get a quarter-page business ad in our Comedy Showcase printed program and a dedication in the movie rolling credits.

Movie Super Backer: Dedications of $300 or more will be listed as stand-alone full-sentence dedications before the rolling lists mentioned above. A mention on the printed showcase program included. 

Movie Champ: Dedications of $500 or more will be listed as stand-alone full-sentence dedications with an image of the beloved or the family. A mention on the printed showcase program included. 

Movie Star: Dedications of $1500 and more will be listed as a full-sentence dedication with an image, in the movie opening credits. (Limited to 2).

Businesses interested in supporting our movie or story sharing channel can contact Yael Saar for creating a meaningful partnership: [email protected]

Thank you for your support!


About the Mother Up! Initiative:  The Mama's Comfort Camp international support network hosts confidential online forums that are fertile ground for transformative conversations and creative exploration. After 8 years of vibrant conversations, our community is ripe with inspirational stories and artistic endeavors all eager to be born. This initiative is a series of multidisciplinary artistic collaborations with artists and cultural organizations. After Motherhood is a Joke comes our Listen to the Mothers Concert celebrating mother singer-songwriters and poets on May 8, the Friday right before Mother's Day. A fine-arts exhibit and a TEDx Nurture event are in the works for next year. Our documentary movie will have additional chapters following each artistic endeavor.



About Mama’s Comfort Camp: MCC is a mutual support network that improves maternal health. We meet mothers where they already are--on their phones and screens. We serve mothers from around the world and across the street in the painful scarcity of mental health services. MCC provides constant access to emotional support regardless of time, place, or financial ability. For those who don’t have access to formal mental health services, MCC may be the closest thing they have to emotional support — always available, and absolutely free. This has proven to be a highly effective (as well as cost-effective) mechanism for: alleviating depression and anxiety; for crisis prevention; and for reducing isolation, disarming guilt, shame and blame, all while facilitating deep and lasting friendships.

We serve all who identify as mothers, from mothers-to-be to grandmothers, at every age and stage of their motherhood journey. Biological mothers, as well as adoptive and stepmothers, come together to be seen, heard and held. MCC is not about mothering better, it's about mothering happier. We provide protection from unsolicited advice because it can often be hurtful. Research shows that when a mother is struggling, even well-meaning advice is experienced as judgment that can trigger more guilt and shame. Maternal suicide is highly correlated with the presence of acute guilt and shame. Disarming these emotions in a safe space SAVES LIVES. What's more, the mutual support at MCC empowers mothers to make art, go back to school, start businesses, restart their careers, and even run for office.

All who identify as mothers are invited to ask to join our group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mamas.comfort.camp/



Made possible in part with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, administered by the Community Arts Partnership, and from the Community Foundation of Tompkins County's Women Fund. 

                 

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