What Does It Take to Make a Shakedown Circus?

A lot of people. A lot of art. And just the right amount of bad behavior.

Shakedown Circus has been creating original performance art in Columbus, Ohio, since 2014. Produced by JoyBinge, Inc., a Columbus-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Shakedown brings together everyday people and professional artists to create something that lives somewhere between dance, burlesque, comedy and spectacle.

But the people are really the point.

At the center of every Shakedown are our Stars—the people willing to step onto the stage and do something brave, ridiculous, beautiful, sexy, funny or completely unexpected. They come to Shakedown with different backgrounds, talents and levels of performance experience, then work with our directors, choreographers and artistic collaborators—and a shared dream to create something together—to turn a collection of ideas and acts into one wildly original production, where the circus is muse.

For Shakedown Circus 8, that community has grown to more than 45 performers and artists working together to build the show.

And what happens onstage is only part of the story.

One of Shakedown's earliest ideas was that having a really good time and doing some good in the world didn't have to be separate activities. Over the years, Shakedown Circus productions have generated more than $15,000 in donations to Central Ohio nonprofit organizations, with our community helping determine where that support goes.

We call that Doing Good By Being Bad.

This year, we're also grateful to have the support of the Greater Columbus Arts Council, which has awarded Project Support funding to Shakedown Circus for the second consecutive year. Public investment in local art helps make ambitious, artist-led work possible—and helps us continue creating it right here in Columbus.

Twelve years after the first Shakedown, we're still experimenting with the same question:

What happens when you give people permission to take up space, make something extraordinary together, and enjoy every body?

Come find out.

ENJOY EVERY BODY.
Do Good By Being Bad.