Wet the Hippo in Roseville

Price: $12.00Date: Friday, August 29th

Time: 8:00 PM

WET the HIPPO is coming to Blacktop Comedy for one night only. Sacramento, Roseville, and Rocklin...you do not want to miss this show!  This is a show is what we call... can’t miss. It makes you feel truly alive, unlike any other show you have seen before.

That means we’ve got your plans covered this Friday. What are you doing anyway? Step away from the Xbox.

Don’t miss WET the HIPPO, nominated for Best Comedy in the 2013 Hollywood Fringe Festival, performing at Blacktop Comedy this Friday!

HitchhikerHunters from Wet The Hippo on Vimeo.

They’ve been called twisted, fearless and total IDIOTS.

Trying to outdo each last show, this one­-of-­a-­kind comedy troupe is making waves in Los Angeles for its completely new approach to live performance, where the cast is directed in real time right in front of your eyes. Unafraid to go over-the-top, while creating truly honest, emotional connections with the audience, this is a must see show.

This show will leave you mostly confused and slightly delighted, just like your dating life, but less expensive. Come see this group, composed of unassuming yet mesmerizing actors, improvisers, comedians and one violinist, reach new levels of stupidity and leave you wanting more.

This talented and diverse group challenges each other on stage, creating a unique experience beyond comedy, one that pushes limits, emotions and takes big risks. Their provocative style has blown the minds of past audiences, leaving them feeling equally stunned and inspired. WET the HIPPO takes comedy performance to new heights, in a grotesque and absurd way.

Featuring 9 talented performers, this show is directed live by John Gilkey, a long time lead clown for Cirque Du Soleil. He appeared in more shows that any other clown, developing and performing original characters and routines. John has also been invited to Pixar Studios to consult on comedy routines that were included in Ratatouille. In 2012, Mr. Gilkey started The Idiot Workshop, with classes for experienced actors, devoted to further developing innovative and bold comedic performers.  Claiming to be “the most frightening and absurdly twisted comedy class in LA” from these classes, a group of selected students formed WET the HIPPO.

Other cast members include:

ALEC JONESTRUJILLO grew up taking ballet classes and swimming. After graduating with a theater minor and a history major from UC Santa Cruz, he attended the Clown Conservatory at The San Francisco Circus Center. Deciding to further train in physical comedy he studied at the Flying Actors Studio which emphasized mime, mask, and clown. Throughout all this, Mr. JT was regularly performing standup comedy and sketch. Once moving to Los Angeles he took classes at UCB and now performs in the indy improv scene. Constantly trying to blend and merge the physical, verbal, improvisational and nonsensical, Mr. JT is happy to find the perfect hybrid home for himself in Wet The Hippo.

MICHAEL LIEBERMAN Michael Lieberman, Violist, pursues a busy and varied career as a chamber musician, orchestral player and teacher. He performed as the onstage Violist for the world premier and national tour of Philip Glass’s opera, “In the Penal Colony”. He was the Music Director and Violist for, “Tempo of Recollection” a theatrical staging of Czech composer and holocaust victim Erwin Schulhoff’s works set in a 1920′s Prague beerhall.  Recently, he was the Assistant Music Director and Violist for Cirque Du Soleil’s “IRIS” at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood with over 500 performances including an appearance on the Tonight Show. Michael has played principal Viola with the Santa Babara Symphony, Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra and Opera Santa Barbara. For 10 years he was Violist in the Saint Helen’s String Quartet with performances in every major venue, on television and radio throughout the Pacific Northwest including a residency at Cornish College of the Arts. Currently he is a member of Central4 with performances throughout California and Latin America. Michael studied at the Peabody Conservatory.

GABE MCKINNEY Gabe McKinney has performed throughout the US with the Dell’Arte Company and internationally at Setia Darma House of Masks and Puppets in Sukawati, Bali. He has a MFA from Dell’Arte International School of Physical theater and performs in More Bigger Masses, directed by John Gilkey. He is the founder of Black Hive Theater Projects, a proud member of Wet The Hippo and once did a 28hour long improv show with 3 other guys.

NATALIE PALAMIDES Natalie graduated Summa Cum Laude from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with dual degrees in Theatre and Communications Media, as well as a minor in Fine Art. During her time there, she was selected to work with the Obie Award winning Pig Iron Theatre Company as a creative consultant in helping to develop a new production to be put up in the spring of 2014. She is now studying Improv and Sketch Comedy with the Upright Citizens Brigade, The Groundlings, and The Idiot Workshop.

TIM REID Tim Reid has been an ensemble member with the NeoFuturists in Chicago since 2008, writing and performing in their longrunning, latenight show Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind and recently in the prime time show Analog. He has created and performed work with Emmy Bright, Ellie Heyman and Gabe McKinney among others. He did not care for theater at all until he saw a play called Interference by DOG, a theater company in March 2003.

CLAIRE TITELMAN 2009 Andy Kaufman Award semifinalist Claire Titelman is a comedian, actor and writer. She has recently been on Chelsea Lately, filmed roles on Wilfred and the TBS pilot Do It Yourself, as well as parts on New Girl, Parks and Recreation, Veronica Mars and others. As a standup she performs in L.A., N.Y., the Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland and her solo show “Lemons are for Emergencies Only” was first produced in L.A. in her kitchen before going to the Edinburgh Fringe in Scotland. She is excited to be a part of the Fringe and loves the Hippos.

TYLER WATSON Tyler Watson is a graduate from the University of California Santa Cruz where he majored in creative writing. It was there that he performed with the long established improv teams Humor Force Five and Someone Always Dies. He was also a member of ShakestoGo for two seasons in which he played Dromio of Syracuse in Comedy of Errors and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night traveling to schools in the greater Santa Cruz area to perform for students. He currently lives in Long Beach, California where he is pursuing writing. He is thrilled to be wetting the hippo and to be in such talented company.

SCOTCH WICHMANN Scotch Wichmann is a writer, standup comedian, performance artist, actor, and filmmaker. A regular at comedy clubs and dive bars across the U.S., his comedy short SECRET TO A BETTER LIFE was recently showcased at the Nihilist and Freethought film festivals. His debut novel, TWO PERFORMANCE ARTISTS KIDNAP THEIR BOSS AND DO THINGS WITH HIM a screwball dark comedy about a pair of performance artists struggling to make itis due for publication in Spring, 2014. The book was a firstround finalist in the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest, and is receiving great early reviews.

Come see this chaotic live show and leave with something new to think about.

Improvisers and Comedians and Actors

I am writing to let you know that THE BOOK OF MORMON will be coming to Sacramento to hold auditions February 8th and 9th by appointment only. We are looking to build our files for future replacements for all three companies (Broadway, 1st National Tour, Jumamosi Tour) for the roles of ARNOLD CUNNINGHAM, KEVIN PRICE, NABALUGI and ELDER MCKINLEY etc. (See role descriptions below.) We realize that the area has some fantastic musical and comedy talent, and even though we have some appointments already scheduled we want to make sure that we are not missing anyone, and felt that it is important to reach out to the local theatres, universities and improv groups to make sure no one is robbed of the opportunity to submit themselves for consideration.  We appreciate you passing this on to anyone you feel might be right.  Or if you have an email list, doing a blast to make actors aware.  I am also attaching this info as a PDF flyer if you would like to post it anywhere.  

Anyone interested in auditioning for any or all of these companies should submit a picture and resume and any additional materials to jrichcasting@gmail.com by 5PM Thursday, February 7th 2013.  Please make sure you put the City Name of the audition ('Sacramento' 'Roseville') in the subject line.  Due to the amount of emails we receive, we may not be able to respond to every submission.  Please note that submitting does not guarantee an appointment.  Both Equity and Non Equity should submit.

SHOW INFO:

Producer: Anne Garefino & Scott Rudin

Director: Trey Parker & Casey Nicholaw

Book, Music & Lyrics: Robert Lopez, Matt Stone & Trey Parker

Music Supervisor: Stephen Oremus

Choreographer: Casey Nicholaw

Sacramento Casting Director: Jeremy Rich

Casting Director: Carrie Gardner

ARNOLD CUNNINGHAM (Early 20's-Late 20's to play 18): Caucasian. Seeking a true character actor. Must be a physical contrast to the other good looking, All-American Mormons. Dweeby, dorky, nerdy, overweight, or all four combined. Arnold is a pathological liar but his heart is in the right place. He is a total screw-up but not for lack of trying, he always wants to do the right thing. Must be fantastic comedic actor who sings well. Tenor. We are also particularly interested in comics who sing.

KEVIN PRICE (Early 20’s-Late 20’s to play 18): Caucasian. All-American. Very handsome. Head of the class, always optimistic. Heroic Mormon. Must be a great comedic actor and a fantastic pop-rock high tenor to a B. Should be at least 5’10 or taller.

NABALUNGI (18- Late 20’s to play 20): Black African. Pretty. Takes the hardships of her village very seriously and wants to help her people find a better life. Must have great comic timing. Strong Alto. Belt to an E.

ELDER MCKINLEY (early 20’s to late 20’s to play 18): Caucasian. District leader of the Mormon missionaries in Uganda. All- American, wide-eyed and hopeful. Often struggles to cover his flamboyant tendencies and adhere to his Mormon morals. Must be a fantastic comedic actor and great singer. High Baritone who can pop out high Bb's for comedic effect.

[MAFALA HATIMBI] (40’s): Black African. Father of Nabalungi. Has come to accept the hardships in the village where they live but is a discerning community leader and tries to bring joy to their lives. Must be a great comedic actor and singer. Also interested in actors who sing.

PRICE’S DAD/MISSION PRESIDENT/VARIOUS ROLES) (40’s): Caucasian. All-American good looks and physique. Plays several parts from the perfect picture of a head of a Mormon household, to the stern missionary president, to Joseph Smith, so must have the ability to be transformative. Must be a great comedic actor and good singer. High Baritone to an Ab.

[GENERAL] (Late 20’s to Late 30’s): Black African. The general is a warlord in Uganda who is terrorizing the local villagers. A physically threatening and intimidating figure who is a great comedic actor and singer. Baritone to an F.

[FEMALE AFRICAN VILLAGERS] Late 20’s to late 30’s.  Black African. Seeking great comedic actresses with excellent singing voices.  Seeking Altos, Gospel Sopranos and Gospel Belters of all physical types.

Guild Wars 2: We Like Being Humans

I sitting at Blacktop Comedy using Flipboard a few days ago, learning about new video games (Halo 4, Assassin's Creed 3, and Black Ops 2 to be precise), and came across a very interesting article about Guild Wars 2. Please! Don't tune out! I know this sounds like some nerdy talk about dwarves, and elves, and orcs, but it's more a story about people. And, it applies to improv, and theater, and even film.

The article focused on the players overwhelming tendancy to choose to be human. A player has the option of five disctint races, but the majority opt to be humans.

In fact:

"Players of MMORPGs do have a known bias toward creating attractive human (or very human-like) characters. Researcher Nick Yee, who studies World of Warcraft player behavior in depth, found in 2005 that Human and Night Elf were far and away the most popular character races in WoW."

Why does it matter gamers enjoy being human? It's a great reminder for an improviser. I've taught dozens of classes in Roseville and Sacramento where students worry being a human and dealing with human issues would lead to a boring improv scene. However, those are the most interesting stories, because they're human. A human issue is relatable, the audience will be engaged with something they can connect with. Consider the popularity of reality programming. If humans were a dull subjects, there wouldn't be dozens of reality programs, and the Guild War 2 players? They opt for a human avatar when they could be anything else.

Check out the article! It's worth the read.