Tommy Bartlett Show - The Greatest Show on H2O

6 Shares

As some of you know, my family and I headed out last week for our honeymoon/family vacation. After 3 days of camping, we spent 4 fun filled days in Wisconsin Dells and let me tell you, we had the time of our lives! It’s the longest vacation any of us have ever taken and the longest amount of time that we have spent in the Dells on one trip.

We went to see the Tommy Bartlett Show Wednesday evening and let me tell you that was one of the biggest highlights of our trip. The show was absolutely amazing and we will definitely be seeing it again!

This year marks the 60th year that the show has performed in the Dells and they pulled it off with a bang! Since it is a water show, it only runs from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend so make sure you see it when you go to the Dells in the summertime. They have two show times, one at 4:30 pm and the other at 8:30 pm. We went to the later show and it was amazing in the dark, with all of the lights!

My family enjoying some concessions waiting for the “Greatest Show on H2O” to start

We made sure to get there nice and early so that we didn’t miss a thing. We weren’t sure what quite to expect at first, but this show far surpassed our expectations!

Photo courtesy of Tommy Bartlett Show website

During the show we saw a number of great acts including the Three-Tier Human Pyramid {shown above}, Aqua the Clown, Space Shuttle Jump, TJ Howell the comedic juggler and his son Carson, the Fausto Scorpions and many more amazing things. One of our favorite parts was Dieter Tasso and his awesomely hilarious jokes!

The water ski show was just the coolest thing ever, those people sure have some talent! They did some pretty awesome tricks and actually inspired my brother to learn how to wake board and practice water skiing. He’s like a spider monkey on a tube, almost impossible to dump; so you never know, he just might be a part of the show some day!

My camera wasn’t cooperating very well with the darkness and the lights, so I didn’t get a whole lot of good quality still shots. However, I did get some video footage here and there that I would love to share. Of course this is not the entire show, just a small glimpse into some of the amazing things you will see at the Tommy Bartlett Show.

Now if you thought that video looked like an awesome fun experience, just wait until you see the whole show!

“If you’re looking for jaw dropping, astounding live performances in Wisconsin Dells, look no further than the Tommy Bartlett Ski Show acts. When the Tommy Bartlett water-skiers take center stage for their summertime extravaganza on Lake Delton, you can expect the Tommy Bartlett Ski acts to be big time fun. This must see show in Wisconsin Dells features some of the best athletes in the sport today.The Show highlights a signature mix of fast-paced trick skiing, barefooting, jumps, flips and high-powered boat maneuvers. On shore, world-class thrill performers keep the adrenaline pumping with breath-taking feats and a mix of light-hearted humor. Come join us for the most fun things to do in Wisconsin Dells!”

I really don’t know that I could give an actual “favorite” part of the show. There were so many things that I really enjoyed, pretty much everything! I asked the kids and here’s what they had to say:

What did you think about the Tommy Bartlett Show?

Big Bro: I thought it was the awesomest show ever!
Lil Man: It was awesome, the best water ski show I’ve ever seen!
The Man: You like that? I’ll do it again! {then rolls with laughter}
Bro #2: I thought it was awesome!
Bro #1: I thought it was very amusing.

What was your favorite part of the show?

Big Bro: When they had the really fast boat do a wheelie.
Lil Man: My favorite part was when Aqua the Clown got stuck on the ramp and the little boat came to get him.
The Man: The cage walkers were amazing, the boat drivers and wake boarders were awesome, the flag and the water show while playing “God Bless the USA” was a great addition!
Bro #2: Ugh, that’s hard. There were a lot of favorites. The wakeboarders and skiers doing back flips was pretty cool.
Bro #1: The ending, I’d have to say, with all the water, lights, music and flag.

At the end of the show, they put on a very cool water and light show in honor of our country and our soldiers. At the end, they raised the American flag behind the water and lights. I thought that was just absolutely wonderful! If you haven’t already done so, take a look at the video above and you can see part of the water and light show, as well as other great footage from the show.

Aside from the great entertainment that the Tommy Bartlett Show provides, there are some fun facts about it’s history too that I’d like to share with all of you! You can check out all of these fun facts, photos and more from the media center on their website.

Tommy Bartlett was born July 11, 1914 and raised in Milwaukee, WI. He passed away September 6, 1998 in Madison WI at the age of 84.
By the time Tommy Bartlett was 20 years old, he was announcing as many as 7 radio soap operas a day.
Tommy took his ski show performers to 4 world fairs and toured with the USO.
In 1953 the Chamber of Commerce in Wisconsin Dells invited Tommy to a permanent show spot in Wisconsin Dells because of its success.

You can see a full list of show times and prices here. If you stay at Kalahari through the summer, you receive complimentary tickets to the Tommy Bartlett Show!

Connect: You can connect with the Tommy Bartlett Show on Facebook!