A History of Wilhelm
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A History of Wilhelm
Stephen Winchell and Sean Rose, alumni of the UConn drama groups Dramatic PAWS and Agents of Improv, noticed a distinct lack of sketch comedy on the UConn campus.
In Spring 2007, Winchell and Rose wrote a constitution. The name “Wilhelm” was chosen based on a popular stock sound effect, the “Wilhelm scream,” which is found in movies and television shows and was used heavily in the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises.
In Fall 2007, after some difficulty with the Involvement Office, auditions for the group were held. Ultimately, Rich Piepho and Steve Kress were let into the fold.
After pitching, writing, and wasting time, Wilhelm put together a series of scripts, some for live performances and others for videos. Shooting began for several YouTube videos, and Wilhelm performed a handful of times as the opening act for the Agents of Improv.The Fall 2007 semester ended with an hour-long show, featuring all new material, performed for a SUBOG end-of-semester Comedy Night, also featuring the Agents, along with Dramatic PAWS' improv troupe, Molotov Improv.
In December 2007, Piepho left school to pursue a writing career in L.A. working on an animated sitcom. Winchell, Rose and Kress pushed forward with Wilhelm, working on three hour-long performances during the spring semester while working on editing video sketches for the Internet. Unfortunately, almost all of these nearly-complete videos were lost when their external hard drive malfunctioned near the end of the semester.
In Fall 2008, Wilhelm held auditions, and Dan Gaewski, another Agents of Improv alum, joined the group. Wilhelm is currently producing a television show for UConn's UCTV, featuring all original material, with a new episode airing every other week. |