Northwestern’s longest-running student improv comedy show, the Mee-Ow Show, has always been about more than just comedy. It relies on a format that is one-third sketch, one-third improv and one-third music. The Mee-Ow Band takes care of the music section, making a name for itself separate from its comedian counterparts.
During each Mee-Ow Show, the band plays in between sketches and performs a longer set during the middle of the show, serving almost as an intermission and dance party with the audience.
The Mee-Ow Show will occur twice this quarter in Shanley Pavilion, during Weeks 4 and 8. Weinberg and Bienen senior and band keyboardist Khoi Le said he is excited about the upcoming shows because of the energy in each Mee-Ow Band performance.
“Performances are just as fun, if not more fun, as the rehearsals together,” Le said. “You have so much energy from the audience, and everyone’s there to just have fun.”
Although the band members span grade levels, some are veteran performers. Communication senior and music director of the Mee-Ow Band Sam Marshall joined the band as a guitarist in his freshman year.
Marshall said he has watched the band change, grow and formalize its audition process over the years, but the Mee-Ow Band remains committed to a central value: doing what they want.
“Those early Mee-Ow shows were like a drug,” Marshall said. “It felt like I didn’t quite deserve to be with these senior-level, talented musicians playing fun pop songs, rock songs — whatever we wanted to play, really. That’s the key with Mee-Ow; we just play what we want to play.”
The Mee-Ow Band had a busy 2024 in addition to their contributions to the Mee-Ow Show. The group won Mayfest Productions’ Battle of the Artists contest in May, securing them a mainstage set on Dillo Day.
Marshall described the Battle of the Artists as a rare occasion when there is winning and losing in music. Winning the chance to perform at Dillo Day is a favorite memory among the band members.
“I just remember riding on a golf cart being driven to the [Dillo Day] stage, feeling like a rockstar, sort of taking it in,” Marshall said. “In that moment I was like, ‘Whoa. We’re about to play on this giant stage, we’re getting VIP access and we’re just sitting on the back of the golf carts. We did it.’”
The band welcomed three new members at the start of their 2024-2025 season: Communication junior and vocalist Yara Nasr, Weinberg sophomore and bassist Morrie Schonfeld and Communication junior and vocalist Nayan Khambhla.
Nasr, who has a background in theatrical performance, said she has found this new creative pursuit very fulfilling thus far.
“I actually like singing in this style. It’s freeing in a way,” Nasr said. “And being backed by a group of really talented people who are also super passionate about what they bring to the band is really special.”
The band’s chemistry bleeds into their performances as they’ve built up traditions that occur at each of their performances. The Mee-Ow Band ends their sets with their rendition of “Twist and Shout,” originally written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns. The group originally rehearsed the song as a joke, but it has since become a crowd favorite, Le said.
Weinberg senior and Mee-Ow band vocalist Piper Fishkind first saw the Mee-Ow Band play after Marshall invited her on a date to see one of their shows. The rest was history for Fishkind, and she said she knew she had to be a part of the Mee-Ow Band and its community.
“The Mee-Ow Band has been an incredible outlet at Northwestern,” Fishkind said, “I’ve not only been able to scream and yell for a lot of my peers but also meet an incredible group of people who love music.”
Correction: A previous version of this story misattributed its featured photo. The photo is courtesy of Joss Broward. The Daily regrets this error.
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