How do I properly run Jello Wrestling?

April 29, 2008 9:34 AM

Jello Wrestling for dummies?

Because I live in a house with 24 people where two are graduating and two have birthdays in the same week, we have decided to throw a party that involves Jello Wrestling.

Our plan was to get a kids pool and fill it up with lots of this stuff.

If you have run this type of event before: Any advice or battle stories? Materials recommended?

And if you have attended this kind of thing: what made it awesome (or not so awesome)?

Where not a frat house but everyone is of college age and we have a spacious back deck where we will be hosting this.

posted by Blandanomics to food & drink (7 comments total)

You're going to have a lot of trouble getting the jello to set just because of volume. Some of the powder will likely not get thoroughly dissolved and will be a nasty wet gritty mess, which probably won't be much of a concern because everyone will be covered in jello. I wouldn't hold such an event on an elevated deck because of how slippery jello is and the potential for sliding off the edge/down some stairs/through a glass door. See if you can get a few old mattresses to put under the kiddie pool because jello doesn't have much of a cushioning effect - we found this out the hard way setting up a similar thing on a concrete basement floor.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 9:42 AM on April 29, 2008

The jello will stain everything, just so you know. Everything. Warning people of that before they show up in their nicest underwear might be a good idea.
posted by you're a kitty! at 9:42 AM on April 29, 2008

-get a pool that has an inflatable bottom, or put a mattress down underneath it. Otherwise, falls and slips hurt a LOT.

-make sure you have a hose or outdoor shower set up, and plenty of towels. The gelatin will get everywhere anyway, but it's a lot more pleasant for everyone if you don't have people walking around covered in crusty dried-up collagen (flies LOVE this stuff, by the way - an even better reason for quick clean-up). Tell everyone that they must be cleaned up before they can go in the house - gelatin ground into carpets sucks. If it's going into the night or it's on a chilly day, having a bonfire going is nice to keep people warm.

-if it's going to be a big party (and it should be, no one wants to wrestle when there's just one creepy dude watching), make sure it's at least a little bit organized - have a sign-up sheet, and try to pair up people of similar weights/sizes, at least at the beginning.

-IG is right, if your deck is elevated, it would be a lot safer to do it on the ground. Less risk of slips, and you don't want a ring of several dozen spectators jumping around on a second-story deck anyway.

-Make sure to have lots and lots of booze, but also set some ground rules - no kicking, biting, hair-pulling, whatever - and get some people to act as unofficial refs to make sure nothing gets out of hand and to watch and make sure no one drowns or chokes.

-Take bets.
posted by peachfuzz at 10:56 AM on April 29, 2008

I've done this - here are a few tips:

- We used clear unflavored gelatin. It's less visually impressive, but it doesn't stain and didn't attract bugs.

- We made it in one-gallon batches and poured it into gallon ziploc freezer bags to set. This worked remarkably well.

(I understand you want to use that stuff, but in case you change your mind, the above should help.)

- We used one of those collapsible kiddie pools, which made the pool-wall-collisions painless.

- We dumped about 13 gallons of jello into it - it wasn't full by any stretch, but there was more than enough to be sufficiently slippery.

- House rule was "knees only" - no standing up. This avoids the inevitable slips and potential nasty strains/sprains.

- Hoses are your friend.

- Take pictures. :)

We had a ton of fun and the prep really wasn't bad, although the whole experience was probably enhanced by large quantities of beer and, um, brownies.
posted by restless_nomad at 12:43 PM on April 29, 2008

I did this. We got the jello to set in the two kiddie pools by putting the pools in the beer cooler of a liquor store overnight. Jello will stain. It'll also be extremely sticky, so have a hose available so people can wash off.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 12:45 PM on April 29, 2008

It takes a lot of Jello to fill up those kiddie pools. Double check your math. We had an 8' x 4' pool, and we managed to produce 40 gallons of jello. The result was about 5 inches deep, which was more than enough.

My group had the advantage of holding this event in the winter, so we were able to make the jello outside without the aid of refridgeration. You might have to take out the shelves of your refridge so you can make 10 gallons at a time in storage bins.

It gets everywhere. We did ours in a basement. There was jello on the walls, all over the floor, and a good amount on the ceiling. We ended up power washing it all away.

It stains everything. The wrestlers that showered it off stained our showers pink. Hosing them off before hand is a good idea, a bit uncivilized, but it will work. Also think about laying down some drop clothes if wrestlers are going to be going inside to shower. All spectators should wear clothing they can live without.

Consider the sugarless jello. It doesn't retain its solid form as long, but it's not as sticky and I imagine it doesn't stain as bad.

If you're planning on making this an epic throw-down, you might want to consider charging for the event. My group spent around $200 in jello.

There is a company that sell high-volume jello specifically for jello wrestling. Apparently the stuff sets overnight, even in warm weather. I cannot vouch for it, but try googling around for them.

Good luck. Pulling this off takes a good amount of planning, engineering, teamwork and management. If executed properly, the results will be legendary.
posted by nemoorange at 1:26 PM on April 29, 2008

thanks all!

I think i didn't describe our deck well enough... its really on our roof, and heavily fenced in, a LOT of things would have to go wrong for someone to fall.
posted by Blandanomics at 6:28 PM on April 29, 2008