ABOUT FLOTSAM!
FLOTSAM! is a troupe of musicians, circus performers and puppeteers traveling on
a ramshackle raft, giving free performances in waterfront towns along the way.
Since 2019 we have performed for tens of thousands of people across thirteen
states and have travelled over two thousand river miles. Our tours have taken
us from the Willamette River in Oregon to the Mississippi, and in 2024 we
completed our biggest tour to date, traveling the entire Ohio River from
Pittsburgh to Paducah.
For 2025, we will be helping celebrate the Bicentennial of the Erie Canal by traveling
from Buffalo To New York City. In future years, we hope to bring our floating circus to
the rivers and canals of Europe, and eventually all over the world.
MEET OUR 2025 TROUPE:
AMBALANCER is the performing name of Amber Gibson, a
choreographer, gymnast, and
balance artist from Taipei, Taiwan. She has studied circus since
the age of 12 and is a recent graduate from the National Taiwan College
of Performing Arts. Her performance skills have taken her all around the
world, with engagements everywhere from Europe to Australia. Gibson is also a passionate educator, organizing circus
arts summer camps for young aspiring artists back home in Taipei and abroad.
Ambalancer Homepage
DANILA BIM is a multidisciplinary artist from São Paulo, Brazil, known for her pioneering
work in hair suspension and aerial hoop. With a background in dance and over 20 years of
performance experience, she has brought her powerful presence to stages across the globe. Danila has been
featured in productions by Cirque du Soleil, Teatro Zinzanni, Ringling Bros, and Palazzo,
captivating audiences with her unique blend of strength, grace, and storytelling. Beyond the
stage, Danila is a self-taught visual artist, designer, amateur trombone player, and a clown in the
making. She is driven by curiosity, human connection, and love for creativity.
www.danilabim.com
SARI
BREZNAU is a music director, stage-craftsperson, and
multi-instrumentalist known for her work with Future Fridays, Beats
Antique, Cafe Nordo, Moonshine Revival Tent, Cherdonna, and the
Singing in the Rain Family Choir. She was a long-time member of
Seattle's beloved performance collective, Circus Contraption and
trumpeter/percussionist in the Balkan brass ensemble, Orkestar
Zirkonium. She is currently music director of the UP UP UP Crane Truck
Circus, and composer of the interactive musical "Venus and the Vixens." A founding member of Flotsam River Circus, Sari will be rejoining the band to finish our tour after Labor Day.
Sari Breznau on Instagram
NICOLE "NIKKI" LAUMB
followed a winding vocational journey to truly run away with the circus. What started on a goat farm in California after a term with AmeriCorps blossomed into a full-time life of performing, writing, directing, and perfecting the art of making her parents mildly concerned. Raised in Washington state and earning a degree in Journalism, Nikki specializes in character acting, Spanish web, and sideshow stunts. She has toured with The Venardos Circus, Circus Osorio, spent eight seasons with Flynn Creek Circus, and performed with the Bellingham Circus Guild as both a performer and co-artistic director. In 2022, she co-founded Shoestring Circus, a traveling show based out of Bellingham, WA, where she also pilots the marketing efforts. Being part of Flotsam has only fueled her obsession with possibility—because once you fall for the circus, there’s really no going back.
Nikki on Instagram
MIRIAM HACKSAW is a queer mixed Malayali-American fiddler, banjoist and rhythm bones player based in New Orleans. She tours nationally as a solo artist, as well as in the traditional music collective Blowgun, and was the founder of old time punk band Foraging and the Rattling Bones. Miriam is known for reinterpreting tunes from Kerala, India, passed down from her Malayali family through American fiddle and banjo, and has appeared on the old time podcast Get Up In The Cool with Cameron DeWhitt. Miriam and her sibling Rye released a demo of pan-american fiddle tunes recorded during
the episode. Her debut EP “The Lupine” was released in fall of 2024. You can
follow Miriam on all social media platforms by searching @miriamhacksaw
Miriam Hacksaw on Bandcamp
RYE OOMMEN is a multi-instrumentalist and educator based out of New Orleans. They currently play pandeiro for the project Blowgun, drum kit for the Brazilian-MPB inspired quintet Lapis and 7-stringed guitar for the antifascist samba collective Samba do Povo. Oommen studied jazz performance for drums and guitar at Loyola University New Orleans ultimately receiving their BA in Latin American Studies. They also studied Portuguese in São Paulo, Brazil, and after completing their language program continued to live in São Paulo studying Brazilian music. Oommen is one of the co-founders of NOCMS (New Orleans Cooperative Music School) a worker owned cooperative music school in New Orleans. Oommen also tours and performs with their sibling, Miriam Hacksaw and joins them on Flotsam River Circus for this first time this summer. Rye Oomen on Instagram
MATTY SEMKOWICH is a fiddler, puppeteer, bike
mechanic, activist, carpenter, cook, and general remover of obstacles.
After years of freight hopping and punk boat floating, he settled in Asheville, North Carolina, where he helps run the Recyclery Community Bikeshop and teaches
cycling workshops for local youth. With
Flotsam, Matty helps pilot the boat,
gets up to mischief with our youngest
crew member, Otis, during the
performances, and watches over all of the crew the rest of the time.
The Recyclery on Instagram
KALAN
SHERRARD Kalan Shh AKA enormousface is a slime mold who lives in a (w)hole in the void. xE has toured 60+ countries performing Ontological Anarchist Puppet Shows, organizing GarbageFest, and doing public intervention "Not-Happenings". A founding member of Flotsam since 2018, Kalan is a Jim Henson Foundation grantee, a member of the Creatures from the Hole film and poetry Collective, and a student of Comparative Literature. New York Magazine
decribes xErr as "NYC's Most Avant-Garde Nihilist Subway Performer". xE is currently working on a puppet production of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and is moving towards opening an Eco-Art Institute in Cascadia.
www.enormousface.com
CAMILLE SWIFT (aka Femme Fénix) is a Chicago-based circus artist, specializing in static trapeze, dance trapeze, and aerial sling, with extensive training in traditional arts (ballet, piano, oil painting) and a few less conventional ones (breakdancing, Japanese swordsmanship.) Her passion is creating acts that are highly skilled yet imaginative, expressive and visually striking. She speaks fluent French and has traveled to Paris and Montreal to train and develop her acts. Camille is also a visual artist, focusing in figurative oil painting, book arts, and collage. When not performing or creating, she works as a professional aerial coach, training her students in dynamic movement, efficient technique, building strength, flexibility and aerial awareness. She is joining Flotsam from Aug 1-10.Camille Swift Homepage
JUSTIN
THERRIEN has 17 years of experience in the entertainment industry with a focus on traveling tent circuses. He began his performing career as a juggler in Bellingham, WA, gradually expanding his repertoire to include sword swallowing, character work, comedy writing, magic, and object manipulation. He is a co-founder and tent boss of Shoestring Circus, a Bellingham-based traveling show. He has toured with Zoppé Circus, American Crown Circus & Circo Osorio, Circo Exelaris, The Venardos Circus, and Flynn Creek Circus. Justin played the principal role in 42 Feet with the touring theater company Cirque Mechanics and appeared on Broadway in Slava’s Snowshow. Justin was part of the original Flotsam cast in 2019, and we’re thrilled to have him back. www.justintherrien.com
JASON
WEBLEY is a musician based outside of Seattle. Beginning as
a street performer in the late 90s, Webley spent years traveling the world
building an international
cult following with his songs and stories. Armed with an accordion, a
guitar, a porkpie hat and a plastic vodka bottle full of pennies, he
has performed in over forty countries and released a pile of records. These days he is the captain and chief organizer of Flotsam River Circus. His qualifications include growing up fantasizing
about floating down rivers on rafts, and being the only two-time winner of the
"Boat Most Likely to Kill Pilot" award at the Camp Tipsy Rotten Boat
Building Contest.
www.jasonwebley.com