Even in his youth he understood that the stage was his calling. Having failed to get into a theater school in Moscow, he returned to Riga, where his family lived after his father's rehabilitation, and became a student in the philology department of Riga University. However, a year later he left for Moscow and entered the Pop and Circus School, in Roman Viktyuk's class. He then worked at Moskontsert. In 1985 he graduated from GITIS with a degree in "Stage Directing." Shifrin did not remain a newcomer for long. In 1986, on the TV program "In Our Home," he read "Magdalina" (about a tour guide) — that broadcast decided everything — he "woke up famous." Individual numbers were replaced by such shows as "I Would Like to Say," "Three Questions," "Round Moon" (with Klara Novikova), "A Photograph as a Keepsake," "I Play Shostakovich," and others.

Since 1996, Shifrin has performed as a dramatic actor in productions staged by Roman Viktyuk: "I Don't Know You Anymore, Darling!" (with Makovetsky, Maksakova, Rutberg), "Love with an Idiot" (with Makovetsky), and "Whores."