Wet The Hippo, nominated for Best Comedy in the 2013 Hollywood Fringe Festival, is a collection of LA’s most twisted and uncontrollable performers in sublimely irreverent and beautifully chaotic live performance. A completely new approach to live performance in which the ensemble is directed in real time right in front of the the audience, Wet The Hippo will stop at nothing to make sure the audience is satisfied. The show, directed live by John Gilkey, long time lead clown for Cirque Du Soleil, stars nine performers including actors, improvisers, comedians, and one concert violist.
Created in 2013 by John Gilkey, Alec Jones-Trujillo, Gabe McKinney, Natalie Palamides, Scotch Wichmann. Claire Titelman, Michael Lieberman, Tyler Watson, Tim Reid and Don Colliver. Wet the Hippo ensemble is currently on hiatus, however it has evolved into the larger Wet the Hippo Collective which includes other ensembles and their productions.
In the summer of 2013, we played 20 shows at the 2013 Hollywood Fringe Festival where we were nominated for "Best Comedy", won "Best Stunt" for reading Moby Dick non-stop for 32 hours out on Santa Monica Blvd and Won a "Best of the Fringe Extension".
'Wet the Hippo' is directed by the great John Gilkey, one of the master clowns who I had the pleasure of working with at Cirque du Soleil. He's assembled an outstanding group of phenomenal performers and somehow found room to let one violist into the mix.
Following our success at the 2013 Hollywood Fringe, Wet The Hippo played venues throughout Los Angeles, Northern California, Las Vegas, and beyond. Here is just a brief listing of some are some upcoming shows we did:
2014 Shows
November 7th, 10PM: San Diego
October 31st, 9PM: University of La Verne
October 25th, 11:30PM: Late Night Carpe Noctus
October 25th, 9PM: Fais DO DO
Sepember 4th, 9:00PM: Wet the Hippo at the Complex
September 18th, 9:00PM: Wet the Hippo at the Complex
August 31st, 8:00PM: Grass Valley
August 30th, 8:00PM: Placerville
August 29th, 8:00PM: Roseville
July 3rd, 9:00PM: Wet the Hippo at the Complex
August 7th, 9:00PM: Wet the Hippo at the Complex
July 7th, 9:00PM: Wet the Hippo at the Complex
July 13th, 7:30PM: Short Spotlight Show at the Clubhouse
July 3rd, 9:00PM: Wet the Hippo at the Complex
June 20th, 8PM: Performing outside on Santa Monica Blvd
ltr: John Gilkey, Scotch Wichmann, Michael Lieberman, Natalie Palamides, Claire Titelman, Gabriel Mckinney
May 25th, 7:30PM: Catsby Clubhouse
May 22nd, 9:00PM: Wet the Hippo at the Complex
May 14th, 10:30PM: Neon Venus
May 8th, 9:00PM: Wet the Hippo at the Complex, Flight Theatre
March 29th, Midnight: Art Square Theatre, Las Vegas
February 20th, 9:00PM: Wet the Hippo at the Complex
February 9th, 7:30PM: Catsby Clubhouse
February 8th, 7:00PM: Hate Mail Show at the Clubhouse
January 9th, 9:00PM: Wet the Hippo at the Complex
January 12th, 7:30PM: Catsby Clubhouse
January 14th: Artworks
2013 Shows
December 22nd, 10:00PM: Comedy Music Circus at iOWest
December 21st, 11:00AM-2:00PM: Hippos wrapping books at Skylight Books
December 14th, 11:45PM: Ron Lynch's Tomorrow Show
December 10th, 10:00PM: Neon Venus
December 9th, 10:00PM: Hyperion Tavern
December 8th, 7:30PM: Catsby Clubhouse
November 16, 11:45PM: Ron Lynch's Tomorrow Show
November 16, 9:00PM: LA Comedy Fest
November 13, 10:00PM: Neon Venus
November 7: Sketchmelt
September 13, 7:30PM: The Last Bookstore, downtown LA - full show
September 6, 10PM: Matty's Pizza Party - short set cabaret show
August 23-27: Hippo tours Northern California:
August 26-27, 7:30PM: San Francisco
August 24, 11PM: the Creamery Festival at the Arcata Playhouse
August 23, 9PM: The Smith Flat House, Placerville
August 9th, 10PM: Cirque-a-palooza at the Pasadena Playhouse
June-July, Fridays and Saturdays, 8:00PM, 10:00PM: Hollywood Fringe Festival at the Complex in Hollywood
Wet the Hippo at the 2013 Hollywood Fringe Festival
On June 21, 2013 'Wet the Hippo' read the entirety of Moby Dick out on Santa Monica Boulevard, only stopping to perform our show in the Hollywood Fringe Festival. We went out in teams. Here is some video of the very beginning and the very end, over 30 hours later.
Below: Scotch Wichmann reads the first lines with only me there to witness.
Below: Tim Reid finishes it off 32 hours later with the huge gathered crowd.
