In April 2020, Zachary Miller and his business partner, Csaba Szilagyi, received the news that they had been furloughed. Miller and Szilagyi own the company WeFlip and, under normal circumstances, perform acrobatic shows at theme parks such as SeaWorld and Valleyfair. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their clients began to cancel. Around June 2020, Miller and Szilagyi were looking for something else to do when a friend of theirs mentioned that she knew of people who were going door-to-door and putting on performances. Upon hearing this idea, Miller and Szilagyi began to discuss purchasing a trailer, loading it with all of their performance gear, and pulling up to houses to put on their show. Securing a trailer in October, Szilagyi built out the inside and laid it with carpet, reinforced the top to make a stage, put in shelving, and made sure all of the audio equipment worked. From there, Curbside Circus was born.
Curbside Circus opened officially in April of this year and has already performed over 70 shows. Curbside Circus has two different types of shows: the One-Man Acrobatic Show and the Two-Man Acrobatic Show. Both versions involve driving up and beginning with a dance warm-up for the audience. Then, performers produce an acrobatic picture moment, in which the performers do their acrobatics but also video tape, take photos, and involve the audience. Audience members go home with a picture of their participation in the Curbside Circus show.
The One-Man Acrobatic Show and the Two-Man Acrobatic Show differ after the initial warm-up. In the One-Man Acrobatic Show, the audience sees things like spinning wheels and cubes on the ground. Then, the performer goes on top of the trailer to do balancing acts, such as balancing on a cylinder. Then, they stack chairs, one on top of the other, on top of the trailer. The stack totals to about 18-20 feet in the air. The Two-Man Acrobatic Show is similar, but the audience gets to see the signature act: the teeterboard. The teeterboard is an eight-foot-long piece of wood resembling an adult seesaw. Performers stand on either side and propel each other into the air and do flips back to the board.
Since their debut, the response to Curbside Circus has been very positive. Most people are surprised that a show like this can come to their door, and it’s all thanks to Lake Nona residents.
“We did all of our testing in Lake Nona,” Miller stated. “We set up 20 free shows in Lake Nona for residents, and they were the ones that helped shape the product, from the website to the show. We took all of their feedback, and we put it back into the show.”
Right now, Curbside Circus is performing in the Greater Orlando area, including Davenport, Wedgefield, Winter Garden, Lake Nona, Kissimmee, Winter Springs and Ocoee. Although their website brands them as “Orlando’s best kids party entertainment,” Curbside Circus is available for any type of an event. They perform at summer camps, birthday parties, preschools and more. Setting up for a Curbside Circus show is simple. They pull the trailer up to the house, open the windows, stabilize the trailer, pull out the props, set up the music, and get ready to perform. It only takes a few minutes!
If you are interested in booking a show, please visit https://www.curbside-circus.com/. You can also follow Curbside Circus on Facebook or on Instagram @curbsidecircus
