Sxip Shirey Documentary: CIRCUS in LIMBO

I am raising money for a short documentary about my life in the critically acclaimed, international circus show, LIMBO!

That is me in the red fez, touring with the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus. in 1998, the second photo is me in full circus rockstar mode taken as promo for LIMBO RETURNS at the Adelaide Fringe happening February 2024. I've been creating circus music for 25 years! In that time my intent has been to constantly push the boundaries as to what circus music can be. Each show, and every place I performed I have met incredible people, ate amazing foods, had incredible experiences, but most of all I have had the joy of working in an art form that is truly for everyone. In NYC my audience are my peers, fellow artists, curators and change makers. Internationally, because of the circus, my audience is made up of locals from the city we are performing in. I have had tables of hairdressers and skin-care specialists chat with me after the show in Brisbane "you have such nice skin!" I've had deep philosophical conversations about spiritual fatherhood with a South Asian dad on the steps to the tent in London "I see what your character is doing onstage, it is helping them by challenging them to get to the next stage of existence." I love getting to connect with the people who come to see the shows.

The cast of the artists I've worked with are incredible from the Soviet born hand balancer Danik Abishev to the French, Chinese pole artist, beat boxer, musician Mikel Bres to the fire eater, sword swallower Coney Island sideshow, New Yorker Heather Holliday. The circus is unique in that it is a group of international people traveling together who briefly become part of the community they land the tent in. I love that I land in a new country and I have a role. Circus is immediate, it is clear, it is a form of theater that shouts, “Isn’t it amazing that we get to experience this together?!”, and as I like to say “Everyone’s intimate experience is epic to them.”

-Grand Arthur cleaning his sousa behind the tent in London.

My avant-garde musician life in NYC has been very well documented thanks to my relationship with film-maker Jacob McCoy. Unfortunately, this huge part of my life, the international circus rock-star is NOT well documented. I am now a father. I do not know how much longer I can be a touring artist. I want to capture the magic of my life in the circus, the backstage, the amazing Garden of Unearthly delights, where the show is performed, the Spiegeltent, the beautiful mirrored venue, and the lovely human artists and crew I work with. This money will make that happen. It will cover Jacob’s travel costs and contribute to the making of a short documentary of this part of my life, which always feels like magic.

-Sxip Shirey, composer performer, LIMBO RETURNS