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The Lilting Banshees is a sketch comedy troupe at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.
History
The Lilting Banshees were founded in 1993 by Ben Tomlin (class of 1994), Matt Jones (class of 1996), and a group of theatre students.[1] Tomlin inadvertently contributed the troupe’s signature look, a white Oxford shirt and khakis, which later became the official uniform. The founding members based their name on a CD of Irish harp music that Tomlin found in the theatre department sound booth.[2]
In 2019, The Lilting Banshees celebrated their 25th reunion.[3] Over 40 alumni attended the reunion show, where they performed classic skits and unveiled a new fund in memory of alum James Buscher (class of ‘98), who died in a car accident in 2010.[1] [4]
Style and Content
Members of Lilting Banshees begin planning each show up to three months in advance. They meet multiple times per week to pitch potential sketches. Once there’s a sufficient number of ideas, the members host a “War Room” session where they must unanimously select the next skits to be performed by the group.[5]
Previous topics have included the excessively long lines at Chick-Fil-A and how cavemen first discovered cow’s milk. The Lilting Banshees shows are known for having some sexually suggestive content.[1]
Alumni
The Lilting Banshees have several notable alumni who have built upon their theatrical and comedic talents in other professional endeavors.[6]
Dr. James Hamblin is the author of If Our Bodies Could Talk and a staff writer for The Atlantic. He has served as a moderator for the Precision Medicine Initiative and interviewed President Barack Obama.
Sarah Schneider wrote and acted for CollegeHumor prior to becoming a writer for Saturday Night Live. After leaving SNL in 2017, Sarah partnered with head writer Chris Kelly to create The Other Two, which premiered on Comedy Central in 2019.
Emma Hunsinger is a cartoonist with work appearing in a variety of publications. She currently holds the record for the longest comic to appear in The New Yorker after releasing a ten-page feature.[7]
References
- ^ a b c Lillian Johnson (January 2019). "Lilting Banshees Host Reunion Show". Old Gold & Black. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- ^ Cherin C. Poovey (24 January 2014). "Oh, Those Lilting Banshees! Where Are They (Funny) Now?". Wake Forest Magazine. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- ^ The Old Gold and Black (student newspaper), Olivia Field, January 2020, Lilting Banshees Host Classics Show, Retrieved July 24, 2020
- ^ Nick Gray (21 January 2019). "Lilting Banshees Comedy 25th Reunion at Wake Forest". nickgray.net. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- ^ Olivia Field (March 2018). "Behind the Scenes with the Banshees". Old Gold & Black. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- ^ Karen Newton, Style Weekly, August 6, 2019, Brothers in Comedy: Siblings from New York give their take on the demanding world of comedy, Retrieved July 24, 2020, "...Bret Raybould began doing comedy when he was a student at Wake Forest University. As a freshman, he joined a sketch comedy troupe called the Lilting Banshees and the experience made him fall in love with making people laugh..."
- ^ Emil Wilson (12 March 2020). "Treating Myself to Gatorade and Gum: An Interview with Emma Hunsinger - SOLRAD". SOLRAD. Retrieved 24 July 2020.