Lil Wenker (real name)is an American clown, actor and comedian whose 2025 solo clown show BANGTAIL, co-created with director Cecily Nash, was a raucous interpretation of the Western genre. Now she returns with BOYKING, a clown musical charting one eight-year-old’s ambitions to become king. Below, Wenker talks us through her suitably power-thirsty mixtape.
Billie Eilish – you should see me in a crown
BOYKING is about a little boy who wants to become the king: he’s desperate to wear the biggest crown of all. Beyond the quite obvious title and lyric connection, I also love this song because desire just seeps from the lyrics. It’s dark and energising.
When I had the idea for this show, I dreamed of the boyking wearing a comically large crown as he ruminated on dastardly deeds. I told the fabulous designer Rosie Nicholls to make a crown quite literally as big as possible. She delivered. The crown is pretty much too big to carry, too big for the Soho Theatre ceiling, and almost too big to wear. It is a perfect representation of clowning and perhaps greed, taking something so far it becomes completely unmanageable. You actually should see me in a crown, and you can if you’re anywhere in a 5km radius of me.
Tears for Fears – Everybody Wants To Rule The World
A lot of the inspiration from this show came from observing the hunger for power both on a global scale but (perhaps more interestingly) on a micro scale. This song pretty much sums it up. Everyone wants a little bit more than they currently have. What I love about this song is how laidback it is while saying something quite profound. I’ve been inspired to strive for a similar balance: a show about power and greed that still makes you laugh.
Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells – You and Me (But Mostly Me)
I’ll admit it. I love musical theatre. If I could truly sing or dance, I’d ditch clowning and buy a one way ticket to Broadway. I’m (mostly) kidding, but I’ve been desperate to incorporate camp musical numbers into my work for ages. The absurdity of breaking out into song and dance feels quite in line with my offbeat style of clowning and so, goddammit, I’ve decided to make a clown musical!!!
Enter: The Book of Mormon. This was the perfect reference because the characters are greedy and self-centred and completely lacking in any self-awareness but the audience still wants to see their stories play out. In BOYKING, I wanted to create a character who’s a total egomaniac, who we enjoy laughing at, but who we still want to spend an hour with.
Beyoncé – Bow Down
My director, Cecily [Nash], is a huge Beyoncé fan. So this one’s a shoutout to her first and foremost. But this song was a direct inspiration for one of the songs in the show… you’ll have to see BOYKING to find out more! Also, I think it’s quite funny to picture an evil eight-year-old attempting to do Beyoncé justice. Did I mention the show is a musical?!?
Beedle the Bardcore – Get Busy – Medieval Bardcore Version
Shoutout to this Spotify channel which makes Medieval covers of pop songs. “Get Busy” has never hit so hard. I owe a lot of the show’s world-building to the sheer amount of pleasure these covers gave Cecily and me.
George Frideric Handel – Zadok the Priest
Out of respect to His Majesty the King, of course.
Lil Wenker: BOYKING, Pleasance, 5-30 Aug (not 17), 9.45pm