Sxip Shirey on "Sxip's Hour of Charm"

Sxip Shirey brings the crazy-ass fun

You could run out of hyphens trying to describe entertainer Sxip Shirey, a composer-impressario-storyteller-etc. The New York-based musician defies categorization, but there's one word that fits him like a glove: enthusiastic.

"I'll go up to people, look them dead in the eye and tell them, 'This show is one of the best fucking things you'll ever see in your life,'" he says of his baby, Sxip's Hour of Charm, a rotating showcase of unusual acts that he'll bring to the A.R.T.'s Zero Arrow Theater beginning this weekend.

Still jetlagged from an 11-week tour of Europe, Sxip was not too tired to wax rhapsodic about the talent that will grace the stage - and rigging - at the show.

"Since I'm a composer and I work with a lot of different kinds of artists, I know all these people who don't necessarily know each other. I wanted them to meet each other, and I wanted to put on shows where everything is really good. No fluff, no fat, every act kind of astounding in its own way. We have Una Mimnagh, who's one of the country's top aerialists, and Reggie Watts, who's kind of indescribable but always brings down the house."

Indescribable is a word that seems to come up a lot with the show, which in its Boston run alone will feature local musicians (including Emily Grogan and Beat Circus), post Cirque de Soleil clowning (The Red Bastard), a cowboy who does rope tricks (A.J. Silver) and Sxip's original compositions performed on his unique homemade instruments. It's the kind of creative but unpretentious fun that wouldn't normally have a chance in hell of appearing on an A.R.T. stage. But one of the performers has already played the Zero Arrow Theater: Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls, who will perform from The Dresden Dolls's repertoire as well as selections from her yet-to-be-released solo album.

"This actually came about because they asked Amanda to curate a vaudeville kind of show, and she passed it on to me," reveals Shirey. He is (you guessed it) enthusiastic to be working again with Palmer, who he's toured with in the past.

"Great art scenes can be born from one or two obsessive people," he says, "like Amanda having Dresden Dolls parties in her flat." He recalls meeting Palmer at a gig at The Middle East and thinking, "'Wow, the Boston scene is incredible! Everyone dresses up to come to a show, and they all dance!' And of course, that was just The Dresden Dolls fans."

So Sxip is in the business of making fans, to keep the alternative performance scene thriving. "Even in New York," he sighs, "there are so few venues for the kind of theater that I love: object theater, non verbal theater, vaudeville. That's what we're attempting to do here, to put on this really high quality, fun, crazy ass show. Hopefully we can build a circuit for artists doing really unique things."

His enthusiasm fades a bit as he thinks back to his recent experiences in Europe. "I'm not sure what the fuck is up in America. I used to play my guitar on the subway in Boston. In this country if you busk, you're a beggar. In Europe, you're an artist. It's a different mindset, where artists are considered an important part of society.

"You have to value personal expression in your community. That's really why I do this. I want to hang out with these people. It's a way to create community.

"And I'm not going to get an office job."

Sxip's House of Charm plays Sept. 14-30, at Zero Arrow Street in Harvard Square, Cambridge, with a different line-up each week. Check the roster at www.amrep.org or call 617.547.8300. Tickets $25.