The Lilting Banshees Explained
The Lilting Banshees are a sketch comedy troupe at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.[1] [2] They are notable for launching the entertainment careers of several alumni and for being a popular campus attraction.[1]
History
The sketch comedy troupe was founded in 1998 by Ben Tomlin '94, Matt Jones '96, and several other theatre students.[3] The founders based their name on a CD of Irish harp music that Tomlin found in the theatre department sound booth.[4] In 2019, they celebrated their 25th reunion.[5] Over 40 alumni attended the reunion show. They performed classic sketches and unveiled a new fund in memory of alumnus James Buscher ‘98, who died in a car accident in 2010.[3] [6]
Style and content
Members plan each show three months in advance. They meet regularly to pitch ideas for sketches, and after there are a sufficient number of them, they host a “War Room” session where they choose the sketches; according to tradition, each decision must be unanimous.[7] Previous topics have included the excessively long lines at Chick-Fil-A and how cavemen first discovered cow's milk. Some performances feature sexually suggestive content.[3]
Alumni
The Banshees have helped to launch the careers of several notable alumni in entertainment-related fields.[8]
- 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, she partnered with head writer Chris Kelly to create The Other Two, which premiered on Comedy Central in 2019.[9]
- 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.[10]
- Shane Harris is an American journalist and author. He graduated in 1998. Harris was remembered for his portrayal and roasting of Chaplain Ed Christman's "What's in a Name?" freshman orientation speech.
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: McKenzie Maddox. September 2017. Old Gold and Black (student newspaper). Lilting Banshees kick off school year. October 10, 2020. ...The Lilting Banshees, led by senior Sam Ederle, is a student-run organization that performs three comedy shows a year with two in the fall and one in the spring.....
- Web site: Jessica Mark. August 2020. Old Gold & Black (student newspaper). How To Handle Homesickness. October 9, 2020. ...If you have the special skill of making others laugh, join the Lilting Banshees – our comedy troupe on campus.....
- Web site: Lilting Banshees Host Reunion Show . Lillian Johnson . Old Gold & Black . January 2019 . 24 July 2020 .
- Web site: Oh, Those Lilting Banshees! Where Are They (Funny) Now? . Cherin C. Poovey . Wake Forest Magazine . 24 January 2014 . 24 July 2020 .
- The Old Gold and Black (student newspaper), Olivia Field, January 2020, Lilting Banshees Host Classics Show, Retrieved July 24, 2020
- Web site: Lilting Banshees Comedy 25th Reunion at Wake Forest . Nick Gray . nickgray.net . 21 January 2019 . 24 July 2020 .
- Web site: Behind the Scenes with the Banshees . Olivia Field . Old Gold & Black . March 2018 . 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..."
- Web site: How to Start Your Career in Comedy: A Guide for College Students . Dieker . Nicole . Vulture . 10 November 2014 . 10 October 2020 .
- Web site: Treating Myself to Gatorade and Gum: An Interview with Emma Hunsinger - SOLRAD . Emil Wilson . SOLRAD . 12 March 2020 . 24 July 2020 .
