This is very much a work in progress, and probably overly ambitious in trying to get a single story about a group that means very different things to all of its members. Hopefully, this website will serve as a way for alumni to contact current members and compile a single story.
Matt Clarke, a cast member for the first ISOC and former director of the troupe, contacted me and gave me information on the troupe’s formative years. Geoff Barton, director of ISOC XIII, also submitted a large amount of the information that follows. I sincerely appreciate both their help in arranging this history, and it would be great to have other members send anecdotes to add to this story. Since receiving their contributions, Elizabeth Lee Steere, Aaron Bokros, and Jacob Montgomery have all submitted new information about the troupe’s past. We certainly enjoy all personal anecdotes. If you wish to add anything to the following, please contact our Director, John Track, tracjl6@wfu.edu.
In the spring of 1993, Ben Tomlin had an idea that he wanted to do a show that made fun of Wake Forest's quirks. He posted fliers for auditions. About 15 students showed up. Some had never even been in a theatre before, and many were freshmen. Some knew Ben from a Mainstage play the previous fall, and everyone that auditioned made the troupe.
The troupe was initially part of the Anthony Aston players. The first show happened in the Spring of 93, around the theatre's usual spring ring shows. Ben wanted to do a kind of SNL about Wake, and cast members used some improv to flush out sketches that first year. A lot of times, Ben would just show up the next day with stuff written.
Most, if not all, of the early material was Wake-related parody and satire. The group hoped to create a name relating to that, and the first agreed-upon idea for billing the show was "The Yo Mama Players present Pbtbtbtbtbbtbtbh!" (Pbtbtbtbtbbtbtbh, of course, being the sound of someone sticking their tongue out at you...) The Lilting Banshee name was actually just something Ben thought was goofy and we all agreed. He took it from the name of a CD in the theatre's sound booth.
The Program for the Lilting Banshee’s I.S.O.C. XIII
The first ISOC was in the Ring Theatre. The first weekend, the troupe scheduled shows on Friday at 10 and Saturday at 10 & midnight. It was still unclear how the show would work, or for that matter, if anyone would show up. Members titled the first show “In Search of a Corner,” a play on words with the original venue. The name has stuck, and the troupe recently completed its 16th I.S.O.C., now in the larger Brendle Recital Hall.
By the time the troupe was ready to open the doors, the line stretched back to the lobby of Scales. The Banshees turned enough people away that the troupe considered doing a second show at midnight that night, but felt too overwhelmed to perform again.
Ben walked out onstage and did a quick speech about what the show was. He reminded the audience that even though the troupe made fun of them, it was out of love for Wake Forest. This spirit persists in everything the Banshees do at Wake Forest. After a quick-hit bit, the show began.
The first full sketch was a talk show featuring members of WFU security. Back then, they made a big deal about the different kind of pants security wore and the different powers that entitled them to. That was the main premise of the skit. One of the characters was based on a butch, red-haired, she-man cop everyone called Big Red. The crowd was laughing as soon as the lights came up. Thirteen years of shows have followed much the same way.
The response to the first show was so overwhelming, the troupe decided to try and do it again the next year. Anthony Aston voted the show as an official part of the Ring Theatre's season. ISOC took the third slot, so the show would go up right before finals. The next fall, the troupe did a show at freshman orientation. Some of the troupe members couldn't make it back, so Ben invited some theatre people to help. They all became members of the troupe, and more members joined after auditions that fall.
“In Search of a(nother) Corner,” had four shows. It started an early tradition of a marathon 8 hour-writing meeting to start. The cast didn't like to improv much, so everything in the show was written. The exception was one audience participation skit that was improvised, mostly during the first two ISOCs, by Ben and another Banshee, Paul Soundrigger. Paul masterfully performed the “Leaf Blower,” sketch, which went on to become the troupe's audition piece.
The second show had a higher production value, including a cameo from Dean Hamilton and some characters who recurred throughout the show. Anticipating the crush, the troupe removed the chairs from the Ring Theater. The theatre's official capacity was 124, but the troupe packed in over 200. Each assistant director got to direct one skit, so the troupe could see how we worked and elect the next director. Today, the troupe elects several underclassmen members before ISOC to direct one sketch as a means of helping to determine the next director. For ISOC IV, the troupe created its original structure of executive officers, and the revised structure established during ISOC X now runs the different facets of the production.
Some time between ISOC III and IV, the troupe separated from Anthony Aston. The separation involved much drama, a lot of negotiation, and a bitter comedy embargo that prevented anything funny from reaching Scales. In the end, the troupe survived.
The Banshees at 2005 Chicago Implosion Improv Festival
The troupe remains aloof from most other campus organizations, and served as intense satiric criticism of University life and administrators, namely president T.K. Hearn. By remaining unaffiliated with the school, the troupe keeps their budget independent from Student Government’s jurisdiction over campus student groups. In light of the loss of funding, the Banshees cut down their show time, and began to charge to cover the costs of renting Brendle. Thanks to continued support from the student body, the Banshees have existed without university funding for the majority of their history.
Around this time the troupe added two more annual shows. A welcome show early in the fall for incoming freshman to recruit new members, and a spring show comprised of the troupe’s favorite material from the two fall shows. The troupe wrote intensively during the fall, generally anywhere from 12 to 15 hours a week. Fall shows took place at Midnight in Brendle the night before finals, and generally lasted a little over two hours.
The “Quotes Reel,” or black projection screen that runs through a long list of one-line jokes and sight gags originated in 1998 at ISOC XIII. The troupe had previously just goofed around on stage and danced as the audience took their seats. The original quotes reel was a stinger set to Van Halen’s “Right Now,” with quotes beginning with “Right now someone is ___.” The cast attempted the a reel of open ended jokes during the freshman show the next year, and the Quotes Reel has been around since. Quotes have become one of the most beloved parts of Banshee shows, and the troupe works continuously to compose the gags during the semester leading up to each show.
In 2000, the troupe established its most recognized symbol on campus. Anita Woolley and Susannah Rosenblatt invented the troupe’s infamous yellow 11” x 17” signs, held up by blue painters tape. The troupe still produces nearly 100 different 1-line jokes for the signs before each show, spreading them around campus in the days before opening night.
After ISOC X, the troupe rewrote its constitution, establishing the executive officers and troupe practices as they are now. While also cementing the duties of each officer, the constitution preserves cherished troupe traditions. Ever since, the troupe has adhered to an amendment stating that the “Theme from Magnum PI,” will be played during each ISOC. Recently, the troupe has enjoyed many great successes. Despite no funding from the university, the troupe has broadened the scope of its comedy to include more off campus topics. After ISOC XIII in 2004, the troupe was chosen to perform in the Implosion College Comedy Festival during Chicago’s Improv Comedy Festival. Due to the urging of troupe director Geoff Barton, that year Student Union brought professional stand up comedian Lewis Black to Wait Chapel, where the Banshees opened for him in front of a crowd of nearly 2,000 spectators.
2005 and 2006 have been very successful years. In the spring of 2007, the troupe hosted the “Pants Down Comedy Festival,” at The Warehouse in Winston-Salem in an effort to connect to nearby college comedy troupes and the Winston-Salem community. Davidson’s Oops! & Duke’s D.U.I. filled the club on Thursday April 12th, with N.C. State’s C.I.A. and the Banshees closing the festival on Saturday, April 14th.
We still want know more about the history of our troupe. If you have stories you would like to share, please do not be afraid to drop a line at tracjl6@wfu.edu. |
