Flip Circus is coming to Edison

The Flip Circus will be coming to the Menlo Park Mall next month and it will feature a troupe of performers who recently fled Ukraine.

According to Patch.com, Bingo Troupe is a collection of performers from Ukraine; their story in and of itself is compelling. The troupe isn’t complete: it’s missing most of its male performers as young men of fighting age were not allowed to leave Ukraine.

For some of the members who are performing, just getting to the US was an ordeal. One such performer, Anastasia Blyshchyk, had to walk to Poland after her flight was canceled when the war started in Feb.; she told the Chicago Tribune how she made it,

“Train, after walking on the border, after bus, after train and after taxi,” she said. “This was also winter. You needed to stay outside for a long time and you’re like, OK, I’m gonna be a snowman today!”

According to VOA.com, members of the troupe constantly worry about their families back in Ukraine. "I don't know in which situation they will be next day, next week, next month. I cry about this," says 22-year-old Olga Rezekina, who also fled Ukraine after the invasion began and whose parents and brother live in Odesa.

The troupe is also performing with Circus Vasquez, run by the same family.

Also featured in the show: the humor of Italy’s Bello Brothers, Globe of Death Motorcycles, Alexa Swing Pole Act, Shirley Larible’s aerial strap act, and the Chicago All Stars Acrobats.

You can buy tickets and get more information (but not a lot more) at their website.

Tickets start at $25 (children) and $40 (adults) with senior/military/handicap discounts available.

The circus has traditional acts like trapeze artists.

Tumblers and acrobats are a big part of the circus.

Supposedly, they fit five motorcycles in that globe.

There are no animal acts in the Flip Circus.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.

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