Small and muscular, Abishev seems suited to his seemingly impossible act, which involves standing atop a 5m "sway pole" which undulates until he is almost horizontal.
Meanwhile, at an office on Wellesley St, festival bosses Carla van Zon and David Inns are sleep deprived and running on a cocktail of coffee and adrenaline.
The pair have worked on pulling together more than 1000 artists since the last festival finished in 2013.
"It's bigger than Ben Hur," said Ms van Zon, the artistic director. "We're in full flight; the last few weeks have been extraordinarily hectic."
Her cold mug of coffee is proof of the truth of this statement: she was sipping from it at 4.30pm, having last touched it about eight hours before.
"This time we're going a bit mad. David's here 16 hours a day and has been for a number of weeks ... That's why I haven't finished my coffee from this morning."
Arts festival chief executive David Inns says he's had "enough" sleep - "just".
The festival features about 100 shows at 800 venues throughout Greater Auckland - from Leigh to Titirangi to Manukau and more.
Opening play Hikoi, set in 1970s and 80s New Zealand, has already sold out for tonight's premiere (though tickets are still available for other nights), as have all five performances of The Mooncake and the Kumara, and Lady Sings the Blues, which showcases the talents of top women vocalists from New Zealand.
"It's delightful that the first two shows to sell out are New Zealand shows," said Ms van Zon, who spent part of Saturday in the Waitakere Ranges collecting ponga for the Hikoi performances.
Mr Inns said this year's festival aimed to fill an age gap in the audience between zero and 18. A range of shows that will appeal to the masses, many of which are free, have been woven together to create the 19 day event.
And the festival's education programme means they're taking shows like the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre's Othello: The Remix to schools.
"We actually over-sold our Manukau show so we're bussing kids from South Auckland to the North Shore to see it there," Mr Inns said.
The pair have trouble picking a favourite act, so Aucklanders will have to choose for themselves.
The festival opens tonight and runs until March 22.
Free events today
• While you're at H?koi, check out Turangawaewae, an exhibition of photographs from Gil Hanly, John Miller, Jos Wheeler and Natalie Robertson. Until Sunday, Rangatira Foyer, Q Theatre
• Head to the iHeartRadio Sound Lounge and rock out to Brayden Jeffrey. Aotea Square 5-5.45pm.
• Relax to the sounds of Rosita Vai playing in the iHeartRadio Sound Lounge, Aotea Square. 8.15pm- 9.30pm
Festival: What's On
Tonight -
Limbo. Music, circus, dance and more at the Paradiso Spiegeltent.
7pm. General admission $75.
Water and Light. Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra performs music by composer-in-residence Kenneth Young at the Auckland Town Hall.
8pm. General admission $45.
Neneh Cherry. Legendary Swedish-born hip singer-songwriter at the Paradiso Spiegeltent.
9.30pm. General admission $75.
Tomorrow -
Skin of Fire. Light, fire pyrotechnics and dance performance by France's Groupe F, at the Auckland Domain.
6.45pm. General admission $33.
Hikoi. New Zealand drama set in 1970s and 80s New Zealand at the Q Theatre.
7.30pm. Tickets from $45.
De Pedro. Spanish Flamenco guitar by Jairo Zavala and his band at the Paradiso Spiegeltent.
9.30pm. General admission $58.
