Sxip Shirey and his Hour of Charm

Sxip Shirey is a sound designer, performer, story-teller, curator, and real-life circus composer. He performs on a number of unique and bizarre instruments, some of his own devising, including the Obnoxiophone, the Industrial Flute, Mutant Harmonicas, and more. He is also the world's foremost champion of the Tampon as a musical instrument.

Sxip Shirey came to New York City when he joined The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus in the year 2000, This started him in a circus/theater direction and he composed music for Anti-Gravity and for the pyro-technic clowns of the Daredevil Opera Company, performing, composing and appearing at The New Victory Theater on Broadway, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Kennedy Center and the Sydney Opera House. His gypsy-tango-klezmer-punk band The Luminescent Orchestrii tours internationally and is part of the wild Balkan scene in New York City, their track "Amaritzi" is featured on the new Putumayo compilation "Balkan Groove".

Sxip has toured the U.S. as support act for the Dresden Dolls and performed at their two days festival at the Round House in London England. In Adelaide Australia, his show was a hit at their biannual Fringe Festival. In New York City he performs and curates a high powered variety night called Sxip's Hour of Charm at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater. Last winter he composed music for Marsupial Girl by Lisa D'Amour for The Children's Theater Company of Minneapolis in a project developed with New Dramatists in NYC. He has also composed for works at the Ohio Theater, HERE, the Southern Theater and Inter-Media Arts in Minneapolis and has toured East Coast Colleges with the puppet theater piece Savage Nursery by Erin Orr developed through a grant from the Henson Foundation. He has also performed at The Knitting Factory, Tonic, Makor and many underground parties in Brooklyn.

Sxip's Hour of Charm will be making an early fall appearance at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge. The show will feature a number of New York variety entertainers, including the fabulous Una Mimnagh doing aerial stunts, Scott Davis as the "Red Bastard", and Bronx Cowboy AJ Silver. among others. Shows will run weekends from Sept. 14-30 Sept. 14-30 (Friday and Sunday at 8pm, Saturday at 7pm & 10pm) at the Zero Arrow Theater. For tickets call (617) 547-8300 or visit http://www.amrep.org

For more information about Sxip's work, please visit his websites listed below.
http://www.sxipshirey.com

http://www.myspace.com/sxipshirey

http://sxip.blogspot.com/