POPULARITY
8 episodes with Jill Twiss
3 episodes with Jill Twiss
2 episodes with Jill Twiss
2 episodes with Jill Twiss
2 episodes with Jill Twiss
Mitch makes the rounds of all the popular late night chat shows.Endnotes:“Marlon Bundo” with Jill Twiss, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo (Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2018) An audacious statement on societal inclusivity, employing a metaphorical layering akin to the works of postmodern deconstructionists, a critique of the infantilization of the literary world. Slack Score: 11; Snark Score: 12; Overall FCA ranking: 71Jimmy Fallon, Your Babies First Word Will be Dada (Feiwel and Friends, New York, 2015) A deconstruction of phonetics, subverting language into a world where meaning is elusive and language is presented as a fragmented system. The seemingly chaotic string of sounds presented as the child's first words parallels the avant-garde's challenge to linguistic precision. Slack Score: 15; Snark Score: 2; Overall FCA ranking: 43Seth Myers, I'm Not Scared, You're Scared (Flamingo Books, New York, 2022) A navigation of the disorienting terrain of self-perception, the dialogue itself oscillates between a strange, almost surreal repetition of thoughts, as though the characters are trapped in a loop of denial and confrontation — much like the cyclical nature of fear itself. Slack Score: 15; Snark Score: 12.5; Overall FCA ranking: 169Stephen Colbert, I Am A Pole (and So Can You), (Spartina, New York, 2012) In this surrealist work, the reader is asked to engage in an almost Sisyphean act of identification: the protagonist, a figure who, through sheer assertion, becomes a "Pole," Through a chaotic blend of humor and paradox, I'm a Pole (and So Can You!) disrupts the reader's expectations, presenting identity not as a fact but as an ever-shifting, often absurd construct. Slack Score: 13; Snark Score: 14; Overall FCA ranking: 78Jimmy Kimmel, The Serious Goose, (Random House, New York, 2019) The progressive, almost hypnotic attempts by the reader (or rather, the characters in the book) to force the goose to smile mirror the struggle between the human desire for emotional expression and the societal pressures to remain “serious." Slack Score: 2; Snark Score: 8; Overall FCA ranking: 36Amber Ruffin, Sidney the Squirrel Doesn't Fit In (Brightstar Tales, Oklahoma City, 2025) The acorn, traditionally a symbol of growth and potential, is something Sidney is unable to "digest" in the same way as his peers. The “tree of conformity” where all other squirrels gather confines Sidney's sense of self. His inability to fit in is not merely a social issue, but a philosophical one: is the need to fit in an authentic desire or an imposition of artificial conformity? Slack Score: 7; Snark Score: 11; Overall FCA ranking: 57Conan O'Brien,Floyd the Flamingo Who Couldn't Stop Dancing, (Sprinklewood Press, Modesto, 2026) Floyd's dance becomes both a figurative “dance of death,” as he can never escape the invisible chains of social approval. O'Brien challenges the reader to reconsider the true cost of “fitting in” and whether perpetual performance is a path to freedom or a cage of self-doubt. Slack Score: -6; Snark Score: 9.5; Overall FCA ranking: 110Jon Stewart, Naked Pictures of Famous People (Harper-Collins, New York, 1998) Stewart's manipulation of famous historical and pop culture figures often distances them from their real-world counterparts, forcing readers to confront the notion that fame itself is a form of performance, a simulation of identity rather than an expression of authentic selfhood. Slack Score: 12.5; Snark Score: 15; Overall FCA ranking: 24
It had been far too long since we played Mullendash, one of our favorite games, so we reached out to our network and gathered three people who write jokes for a living: standup comic Brandi Brown; comic and former Desus & Mero head writer Josh Gondelman; and former Last Week Tonight writer Jill Twiss. How good were they at writing bad punchlines that could pass for Jim Mullen's, thus fooling their fellow players? Listen and find out! GUESTS
Emmy Award-winning comedy writer Jill Twiss ("Last Week Tonight with John Oliver") returns to the show for a lively chat about her book "Major Makes History." (From September 28, 2021)
Face front, true believers! It's a brand new episode of Go Fact Yourself! In this episode…Guests:Jill Twiss is an award-winning comedy writer and children's book author. For years, she worked as an SAT tutor. She'll explain how that directly led to her big break: writing for “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” AND the publication of her first children's book about a former Vice President's gay bunny. Plus, Jill tells us how she got the chance to contribute material to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.Myq Kaplan is a comedian who was introduced to many audiences on two competition shows – “Last Comic Standing” and “America's Got Talent.” On AGT, Myq sometimes had to compete against cute children and well-trained dogs. He'll tell us about how his latest show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is based on advice he would give his younger self… and how he doubts he would have listened.Areas of Expertise:Jill: The TV show “The Good Place,” the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and the SAT.Myq: Linguistics, psychedelics and Spider-Man.What's the Difference: Preaching to the ChoirWhat's the difference between a preacher and a pastor?What's the difference between a choir and a chorus?Experts:Rebecca Feldman and Sarah Saltzberg: Writers and performers, who originated the roles that became Olive and Logan in the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.Marv Wolfman: Legendary and award-winning comic book author and editor, whose career includes creating the character Black Cat for Spider-Man.Hosts:J. Keith van StraatenHelen HongCredits:Theme Song by Jonathan Green.Maximum Fun's Senior Producer is Laura Swisher.Associate Producer and Editor is Julian Burrell.Seeing our next live-audience show in Pasadena by YOU!
First Draft Episode #347: Seth Meyers Seth Meyers, host of Late Night with Seth Meyers and former head writer for Saturday Night Live, talks about his debut picture book, I'm Not Scared, You're Scared with Rob Syegh. Links to Topics Mentioned In This Episode: The Story of Babar: The Little Elephant, the first book in the Babar series by Jean de Brumhoff Spider Man: The Short Halloween written by Seth Meyers and Bill Hader Richard Scarry, author and illustrator of Trucks, A Day at the Airport, Cars and Trucks and Things That Go! and many more Jill Benjamin, Seth's writing partner from his Improv Olympic days Documentary Now! on IFC Watership Down (movie) The Secret of NIMH (movie) The Black Cauldron (movie) The Hobbit (movie) Seth Meyers on Sesame Street (with The Count and with Elmo) Sandra Boynton, author and illustrator of picture books like Snuggle Puppy: A Little Love Song, Barnyard Dance!, Pajama Time! and many more. Where's Waldo by Martin Handford
The Big Wakeup Call says goodbye to 2021 with interviews from some of our favorite guests!Scott Aukerman from Comedy Bang! Bang! makes his 17th appearance on our show, as we chat about Comedy Bang! Bang! World, an unlicensed CBB coloring book, an 8-hour documentary, and the show's original host.Jill Twiss joins us for the 3rd time as we discuss her career as an Emmy Award-winning comedy writer, best-selling author of children's books, and joke writer for the national spelling bee.Dylan Brody breaks through into the 10-timers club with a special performance of his monologue "A Child's Christmas in Brief," destined to be an annual holiday tradition on our show.Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, the nation's top fashion bloggers from gofugyourself.com, call in for the 11th time. We chat about the year in fashion, Jessica's appearance on Jeopardy, and trends for 2022, which may or may not include capes and velvet.Dayna Isom Johnson, Etsy trend expert and a judge on NBC's "Making It" with Nick Offerman and Amy Poehler, joins our 7-timers club as we discuss what's hip and happening in design for 2022.And Bill McCormick calls in for what must be at least the 500th time as he makes another weekly appearance.Thanks for listening all year long, and let's have a better 2022.
Jill Twiss has won multiple Emmys, WGA Awards and Peabody Awards for her work as a writer on HBO's acclaimed hit series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. In addition, Jill is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the children's picture books Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, The Someone New and Everyone Gets a Say. Now, Jill's latest book – Major Makes History: From the Shelter to the White House -- tells the tale of President Biden's friendship with Major, the first shelter dog in the White House. Hilarious and filled with heart, Major Makes History is written in the dog's voice, and offers his perspective on adjusting to the White House and his urgent calling in life—to support and care for the president. When President Biden adopted his Major from the Delaware Humane Association in 2018, their bond was immediate. President Biden rescued Major and provided him with a loving home. What he didn't know is that Major would also rescue him too.
Jill Twiss has won multiple Emmys, WGA Awards and Peabody Awards for her work as a writer on HBO's acclaimed hit series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. In addition, Jill is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the children's picture books Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, The Someone New and Everyone Gets a Say. Now, Jill's latest book – Major Makes History: From the Shelter to the White House -- tells the tale of President Biden's friendship with Major, the first shelter dog in the White House. Hilarious and filled with heart, Major Makes History is written in the dog's voice, and offers his perspective on adjusting to the White House and his urgent calling in life—to support and care for the president. When President Biden adopted his Major from the Delaware Humane Association in 2018, their bond was immediate. President Biden rescued Major and provided him with a loving home. What he didn't know is that Major would also rescue him too.
Jill Twiss has won multiple Emmys, WGA Awards and Peabody Awards for her work as a writer on HBO's acclaimed hit series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. In addition, Jill is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the children's picture books Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, The Someone New and Everyone Gets a Say. Now, Jill's latest book – Major Makes History: From the Shelter to the White House -- tells the tale of President Biden's friendship with Major, the first shelter dog in the White House. Hilarious and filled with heart, Major Makes History is written in the dog's voice, and offers his perspective on adjusting to the White House and his urgent calling in life—to support and care for the president. When President Biden adopted his Major from the Delaware Humane Association in 2018, their bond was immediate. President Biden rescued Major and provided him with a loving home. What he didn't know is that Major would also rescue him too.
Shannon welcomes New York Times Bestselling Author Jill Twiss to discuss her new book, MAJOR MAKES HISTORY – FROM THE SHELTER TO THE WHITE HOUSE, a children's book about the journey of the famous first dog from the shelter to the limelight. Twiss has won Emmys, WGA Awards, and Peabody Awards for her work as Senior Writer on HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and her first children's book, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo was a New York Times Bestseller. Our Lives with Shannon Fisher explores personal, political, and societal perspectives of the American experience. The show delves deeply into the worlds of writers, artists, celebrities, and community leaders and offers listeners food for thought about the world in which they live. Follow Shannon on Twitter: @MsShannonFisher. Copyrighted podcast solely owned by the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network, LLC.
Shannon welcomes New York Times Bestselling Author Jill Twiss to discuss her new book, MAJOR MAKES HISTORY – FROM THE SHELTER TO THE WHITE HOUSE, a children's book about the journey of the famous first dog from the shelter to the limelight. Twiss has won Emmys, WGA Awards, and Peabody Awards for her work as Senior Writer on HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and her first children's book, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo was a New York Times Bestseller. Our Lives with Shannon Fisher explores personal, political, and societal perspectives of the American experience. The show delves deeply into the worlds of writers, artists, celebrities, and community leaders and offers listeners food for thought about the world in which they live. Follow Shannon on Twitter: @MsShannonFisher. Copyrighted podcast solely owned by the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network, LLC.
Shannon welcomes New York Times Bestselling Author Jill Twiss to discuss her new book, MAJOR MAKES HISTORY – FROM THE SHELTER TO THE WHITE HOUSE, a children's book about the journey of the famous first dog from the shelter to the limelight. Twiss has won Emmys, WGA Awards, and Peabody Awards for her work as Senior Writer on HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and her first children's book, A DAY IN THE LIFE OF MARLON BUNDO was a New York Times Bestseller. Our Lives with Shannon Fisher explores personal, political, and societal perspectives of the American experience. The show delves deeply into the worlds of writers, artists, celebrities, and community leaders and offers listeners food for thought about the world in which they live. Follow Shannon on Twitter: @MsShannonFisher. Copyrighted podcast solely owned by the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network, LLC. #JillTwiss #MajorBiden #FirstDog #WhiteHouse #MajorMakesHistory #ChildrensBooks #HarperCollins #AuthorInterviews #Authors #Writers #Writing #Books #AuthorsOnTheAir #Radio #Podcast #ShannonFisher #MsShannonFisher
Guest: Jill Twiss (2:28:37). The KQ Morning Show - Originally aired on September 28, 2021 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Marlon Bundo, a lonely bunny who lives in an old, stuffy house. But on this very special day, Marlon's life is about to change forever. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sleepyhead/message
First Draft Episode #314: Ben Zhu Ben Zhu, author, illustrator, and founder of Gallery Nucleus, talks about his debut picture book, Dessert Island. Links to Topics Mentioned In This Episode: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak Dan Krall, illustrator for Samurai Jack Chris Appelhans, writer and director of Netflix animated movie Wish Dragon, and illustrator of picture books Sparky! (written by Jenny Offill) and A Greyhound, a Groundhog (written by Emily Jenkins). Dan Santat, Caldecott Award-winning author and illustrator of The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, as well as After the Fall, Are We There Yet?, and The Guild of Geniuses, among many more. How to Draw the Marvel Way by John Buscema and Stan Lee Astro Boy (movie) Dave Masters, who taught animation at Rowland High School before leaving to become head animation trainer at Warner Bros. Chuck Jones, animator, filmmaker and voice actor, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Shorts. Kevin Chen, founder of Concept Design Academy Call of Duty Medal of Honor Jon Klassen, Caldecott Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the I Want My Hat Back series, who is back with a book he wrote and illustrated: The Rock From the Sky. Hear his First Draft interviews here and here. Wish Dragon, written and directed by Chris Appelhans (hear his First Draft interview here) Du Iz Tak? a Caldecott Honor book written and illustrated by Carson Ellis, who also wrote and illustrated Home and In the Half Room. Hear her First Draft interview here. Drawing on Walls: A Keith Haring Story written by Matthew Burgess and illustrated by Josh Cochran. Matthew is a poet, picture book author, and Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College who wrote The Bear and the Moon, illustrated by Cátia Chien. Hear their First Draft interview here. Arree Chung, award winning author and illustrator of Mixed: A Colorful Story, Ninja!, and Out!, as well as founder of Storyteller Academy.
To celebrate diversity in kids books this month, Mark hosts Joel and Sarah discussing representation in kids books, their favourite books in our campaign, and more. Sarah also sits down with author Sam Squiers to discuss writing for kids and her own book, Princesses Wear Sneakers. Blog(Why diversity in kids books is important): https://bit.ly/3bWCSPf Books mentioned in this podcast: Gary Lonesborough - The Boy From The Mish: https://bit.ly/3paHhBo Scott Stuart - My Shadow is Pink: https://bit.ly/3s1yZxS Marlon Bundo, Jill Twiss, EG Keller (Illustrator), EG Keller - A Day In The Life of Marlon Bundo: https://bit.ly/3bU9YPM Sophie Beer - Love Makes a Family: https://bit.ly/3qQYtgc Yumi Stynes, Melissa Kang - Welcome To Consent: https://bit.ly/3eSdpbw Patrick Boyle - Queer Icons from Gay to Z: https://bit.ly/2Nr2BWs Bruce Pascoe - Young Dark Emu: https://bit.ly/3bW7Xm4 Sam Squiers, Annabel Cutler (Illustrator)- Princesses Wear Sneakers: https://bit.ly/3twmUkF Hosts: Mark Harding Guests: Joel Naoum & Sarah McDuling Producer: Nick Wasiliev
Reading is essential for student success, but too many children don’t have their own books or parents who read to them, and many minority students don't see themselves depicted in lessons or books. CEF’s Virtual Video Puppet Program combines the importance of reading with a fun, exciting way--through the eyes of two puppet characters from a book about diversity, unity, and inclusion-- to help instill a love of reading in children. The goal is to help students discover the joys of reading by bringing books to life in a unique and fun way that will cultivate good reading habits, while sharing the message about unity, inclusiveness, and diversity.The University of Connecticut has a special Puppet Arts Program and creates world-class puppet masters. One of those puppet masters, Mary Gragen Rogers, is creating two puppet characters from the book, The Someone New, by Jill Twiss. The puppeteer will then create a show and read the book using the two puppets. The show will be videotaped for us to distribute via an online link, to school districts across the state to use as an online teaching tool. This 30 to 60 minute video program will provide teachers the opportunity to teach about diversity in a fun and exciting way. The author of the book and the illustrator have both given us their approval to use the characters and the book. In fact, the author has stated that she would like to be involved, so we are trying to find a way for her to participate in the video, maybe with a Q&A segment with the puppets at the end of the book. She or the puppet master might be good interviews.About 3,100 first and second grade students in Bridgeport, the state’s largest and one of the poorest school districts, will receive a free book to take home with them. Due to COVID, we can only drop off the books to teachers at each school to distribute to their students. Teachers in the first and second grade classrooms in Bridgeport will also receive a special book about teaching diverse students. That’s a lot of books, three times our normal amount and we are seeking donations. As of right now, we have 500 books; Our Little Kitchen, by Jillian Tamaki, donated by her publisher, Abrams books. This is a beautiful hardcover book as is The Someone New and while we would like to give every student these book, we can’t afford to purchase the remaining 2,600 books. Even at a 54% discount offered by the publisher, it comes to nearly $25K. So, we are certainly looking for partners to help with costs so we can buy these beautiful books, or others for the students. Mercer Mayer has offered to donate books, but these are small paperbacks and would not be equitable with the other two books, but we are doing what we can with what we have.I know there is a lot going on right now and there is a lot of need out there, but if you have any clients who might be willing to donate for the purchase of books, we would welcome them with open arms. Of course donors are included in every book plate, placed in each book and in any and all materials, including press releases and online and social media posts. Of course, time is of the essence and we would need to know if you have anyone available ASAP. It’s my fault, as I waited too long to hold a meeting with the committee and now we are a little behind as we need to move things forward and be ready for March 2- Dr. Seuss’ birthday.
Our guest this week is Jill Twiss. Jill is a former writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, where she won Emmy and Peabody awards and wrote “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.” She’s the author of the new children’s book about voting called “Everyone Gets a Say.” About Everyone Gets a Say: Don't miss this picture book about voting from the #1 New York Times bestselling team behind Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo and The Someone New. Pudding the snail and his friends can’t seem to agree on anything. Whatever Jitterbug the chipmunk wants, Geezer the goose does not. Whatever Toast the butterfly wants, Duffles and Nudge the otters are absolutely against. And if somehow Toast and Duffles and Jitterbug and Nudge all agree on something, then Geezer is not having it. So when Toast suggests they need a leader, the friends try to figure out the best way to pick someone to be in charge. Should that someone be the fastest? The fluffiest? The squishiest? Or can Pudding show his friends that there just might be a way where everyone gets a say? In this follow-up to The Someone New, Jill Twiss and EG Keller cleverly underscore the importance of speaking up and using your voice. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message
Marlon Bundo, the BOTUS, lives a lonely life until he meets Wesley. Can their love remain when the stink bug decides same sex marriage is still allowed?
Hey Listeners! Wow, it has been QUITE the opening season for us here at Theatre with P.R.I.D.E. We are so thankful for your continued support and to all the amazingly-talented and knowledgeable theatre professionals that have joined us on our past episodes. We love you all!And don't worry! Theatre with P.R.I.D.E. is here to stay! We will be posting occasionally during our off-season (November-May), and will be back full-force in June (the start of PRIDE month) for SEASON 2!Remember, when you go to vote, vote for the candidate(s) that you feel best exemplify our acronym P.R.I.D.E. (Perspective, Respect, Identity, Diversity, & Equity). Voting is a step forward toward positive change. However, we then must come together, undivided to create the change we want to see. Much love to all of our listeners! We'll be back soon!~The Theatre with P.R.I.D.E. Team(Chad, Georgia, and Riley)*NOTE: This episode was filmed on October 27, 2020. It was released on October 29, 2020—less than ONE WEEK before November 3, Voting Day. Vote!*Want to purchase the book we read? Look here: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss and Last Week TonightReNew Productions LinksWebsiteGoFundMePodcast Cover Art by Frankie RowlesPodcast Music by Ben Pederson
Jill Twiss has won multiple Emmys, WGA Awards and Peabody Awards for her work as a writer on HBO’s acclaimed hit series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. In addition, Jill is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo and The Someone New – two picture books that teach children about tolerance for those that are different and the power of kindness over fear. Just in time for the 2020 Presidential Election, Jill’s new children’s book Everyone Gets a Say offers a timely message about the importance of voting and democracy. In this sweet-natured story, Pudding the snail and his friends can’t seem to agree on anything. So when Toast the butterfly suggests they need a leader, the friends try to figure out the best way to pick someone to be in charge. It’s up to Pudding to show his friends that there just might be a way where everyone gets a say. Illustrated by Jill’s regular collaborator EG Keller, the book cleverly underscores the importance of speaking up and using your voice.
Jill Twiss has won multiple Emmys, WGA Awards and Peabody Awards for her work as a writer on HBO’s acclaimed hit series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. In addition, Jill is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo and The Someone New – two picture books that teach children about tolerance for those that are different and the power of kindness over fear. Just in time for the 2020 Presidential Election, Jill’s new children’s book Everyone Gets a Say offers a timely message about the importance of voting and democracy. In this sweet-natured story, Pudding the snail and his friends can’t seem to agree on anything. So when Toast the butterfly suggests they need a leader, the friends try to figure out the best way to pick someone to be in charge. It’s up to Pudding to show his friends that there just might be a way where everyone gets a say. Illustrated by Jill’s regular collaborator EG Keller, the book cleverly underscores the importance of speaking up and using your voice.
Jill Twiss has won multiple Emmys, WGA Awards and Peabody Awards for her work as a writer on HBO’s acclaimed hit series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. In addition, Jill is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo and The Someone New – two picture books that teach children about tolerance for those that are different and the power of kindness over fear. Just in time for the 2020 Presidential Election, Jill’s new children’s book Everyone Gets a Say offers a timely message about the importance of voting and democracy. In this sweet-natured story, Pudding the snail and his friends can’t seem to agree on anything. So when Toast the butterfly suggests they need a leader, the friends try to figure out the best way to pick someone to be in charge. It’s up to Pudding to show his friends that there just might be a way where everyone gets a say. Illustrated by Jill’s regular collaborator EG Keller, the book cleverly underscores the importance of speaking up and using your voice.
John & Heidi share funny stories of people doing weird things... plus John chats with a guest. We visit with Jill Twiss about her new book Everyone Gets A Say Learn more about our radio program, podcast & blog at www.JohnAndHeidiShow.com
ICYMI: The Mo'Kelly Show Presents – Thoughts and anecdotes marking the passing of actor Chadwick Boseman and the importance of colorectal cancer screenings with guest Cy Sharp & news anchor Amy King respectively…PLUS Award winning writer Jill Twiss introduces her amazing new children's book “Everybody Gets a Say” and Space Force reveals its new ranking system and uniforms on KFI AM 640 & the iHeartradio App
BV discusses how conventions will look in the future with former John Oliver writer Jill Twiss new book "Everyone has a Say" on News Radio KKOB
On today’s ALL NEW Nerdtastically Newsworthy episode of #NerdORama Emmy Award-winning comedy writer Jill Twiss (HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) joins the program to introduce her amazing and oh so timely new children’s book ‘Everyone Gets a Say’, which offers children a timely message about the importance of voting and democracy just in time for the 2020 presidential election…PLUS – Hannibal Tabu has all the hits, misses and everything in-between on comic book shelves with a brand new edition of ‘The Buy Pile’!!!
Jill Twiss (A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, new book Everyone Gets a Say, Last Week Tonight) competes to cheer Josh up! Jill gives a masterful performance matching animals with silly names in a game of Who The Wild Things Are, setting the all-time Make My Day high score. Jill donates her $100 grand prize winnings to Alice's Kids. Plus, pep talks for theater kids and for animals who have had their names changed. Buy Jill's new children's book Everyone Gets a Say and her other books here: https://www.jilltwiss.com Donate to Alice's Kids: https://aliceskids.orgFollow Jill on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jilltwiss Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ric Speaks with Jill Twiss, the Emmy Award-Winning Comedy Writer Behind HBO’s LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER Also a New York Times Best-Selling Author, Twiss’ New Book, EVERYONE GETS A SAY, Introduces Children to the Importance of Voting and Democracy Jill Twiss has won multiple Emmys, WGA Awards and Peabody Awards for her work as a writer on HBO’s acclaimed hit series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. In addition, Jill is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo and The Someone New – two picture books that teach children about tolerance for those that are different and the power of kindness over fear. Just in time for the 2020 Presidential Election, Jill’s new children’s book Everyone Gets a Say offers a timely message about the importance of voting and democracy. In this sweet-natured story, Pudding the snail and his friends can’t seem to agree on anything. So when Toast the butterfly suggests they need a leader, the friends try to figure out the best way to pick someone to be in charge. It’s up to Pudding to show his friends that there just might be a way where everyone gets a say. Illustrated by Jill’s regular collaborator EG Keller, the book cleverly underscores the importance of speaking up and using your voice. Everyone Gets a Say is available wherever books are sold. http://www.bluefunkbroadcasting.com/root/twia/jtwisssay.mp3
Jill Twiss was a long-time writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, where she got the random idea to write a children's book for a bit. Then, it became a thing that made her a New York Times Bestseller! Now she's telling us about a new book that teaches kids about voting... but what is most fascinating is her life before the books, and how she stumbled into a career she never imagined.
First Draft Episode #267: Jill Twiss Jill Twiss, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo and Emmy winning comedy writer on Last Week Tonight, talks about her latest picture book, Everyone Gets a Say, with illustrator EG Keller. Today’s episode is brought to you by Caveda, which leads group focus sessions for a worldwide community everyday on Zoom. First Draft listeners can try a free, three hour cave with promo code "FIRSTDRAFT" at caveday.org/firstdraft This episode is sponsored by Revision Season, a seven-week, virtual master class in revising your novel, led by Elana K. Arnold, author of Printz honor winner Damsel and National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and more. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Laurie Kilmartin, comedian and writer for Conan Nell Scovell, writer, producer, director, and author of Just the Funny Parts and co-writer for Lean In with Sheryl Sandberg, writer for The Simpsons and creator of Sabrina: The Teenage Witch Marlon Bundo The New Yorker review of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo E. G. Keller, illustrator of Marlon Bundo The Trevor Project AIDS United Brenda Bowen at The Book Group, Jill’s literary agent I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998 or send an email to mailbag @ firstdraftpod dot com! Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds; Leigh Bardugo, author of Ninth House and the Grishaverse series; Creator of Sex and the City Candace Bushnell; YouTube empresario and author Hank Green; Actors, comedians and screenwriters Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham; author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast Linda Holmes; Bestselling authors and co-hosts of the Call Your Girlfriend podcast, Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish and co-host of the Sciptnotes podcast; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Track Changes If you’re looking for more information on how to get published, or the traditional publishing industry, check out the Track Changes podcast series, and sign up for the Track Changes weekly newsletter. Support the Show Love the show? Make a monthly or one-time donation at Paypal.me/FirstDraft. Rate, Review, and Recommend Take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
This week Seth is joined by physical education and health teacher Nichole Wilder, sex and sexuality educator Nadine Thornhill, and educator Lauren Jackson for part two of our discussion about how to talk to kids about sexual orientation. Show Notes: 25:56- A Day In the Life of Marlon Bundo, by Jill Twiss 43:55 PFLAG 43:57 Egale Canada 46:36- Transgender 101, by Nick Teich 47:55- Rad Child Podcast Giveaway 48:30- A Kids Book About discount code radchild 1:11:13- She-Ra 1:11:13- Steven Universe 1:11:55- GLSEN 1:12:04- The Trevor Project 1:12:25- Netflix Babysitters Club 1:13:16- Sex Is A Funny Word, by Cory Silverberg 1:13:36- Every Body Curious web series 1:14:22- The Every Body Book by Rachel E. Simon 1:15:22- Jessica Kingsley Publishers 1:15:45- Fandumb Podcast 1:16:35- Let's Talk eBook, by Nadine Thornhill Follow Nadine: Nadinethornhill.com Nadine Thornhill on YouTube @NadineThornhill on Instagram & Twitter Find us on the web! www.radchildpodcast.com Facebook Twitter Instagram Contact us: radchildpodcast@gmail.com Be a guest Donate Buy Rad Merch
Jill Twiss is a New York Times #1 Bestselling author and an Emmy Award-winning comedy writer. She was a staff writer for six seasons of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Produced by Matt Elzweig Music Maccary Bay by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4010-maccary-bay License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
An interview with Jill Twiss covering her journey from Redmond, Oregon to becoming a television writer in New York City.
This week on The Spark File, Susan and Laura talk with Emmy Award winning comedy writer, Jill Twiss about her years on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver making people laugh (rather than cry) from current events, and how constantly pitching new things lead to writing her successful children's books, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, and The Someone New.
On the second part of our special Gender two-parter, Seth is joined by creator of Queer Kid Stuff Lindz Amer, author of You Be You Jonathan Branfman, therapist Karen Foley, and sociology professor Simone Kolysh. This week they discuss practical ways to talk to kids about gender and help raise kids to be aware of gender roles and stereotypes. Show Notes: 6:58- It Feels Good to Be Yourself, by Theresa Thorn 31:56- Gender Neutral Parenting, by Paige Lucas-Stannard 34:05- Neither, by Airlie Anderson 34:19- Julian is a Mermaid, by Jessica Love 34:23- Red: A Crayon's Story, by Michael Hall 35:54- Sewing the Rainbow, by Gayle E. Pitman 36:45- A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, by Marlon Bundo and Jill Twiss 37:37- Worm Loves Worm, by T.J. Austrian 38:07- A is for Activist, by Innosanto Nagara 38:15- The ABCs of Equality, by Chana Ginelle Ewing 38:23- The GayBCs, by M.L. Webb 38:52- A is for Awesome!, by Eva Chen 39:25- Sex is a Funny Word, by Cory Silverberg 39:37- What Makes a Baby, by Cory Silverberg 40:01- Camp Aranu'tiq ( summer camp for gender variant youth) 40:11- Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas, by Pamela Ehrenberg 40:53- Intersectional Allies, by Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council, and Carolyn Choi 41:38- The Conscious Parent, by Shefali Tsabary 42:24- Gender Born, Gender Made, by Diane Ehrensaft 42:38- The Gender Creative Child, by Diane Ehrensaft 42:44- Parenting Beyond Pink and Blue by Dr. Christia Brown 43:19- Queer Kid Stuff 43:48- Lindz Amer Ted Talk about Gender 44:18- Activist, You! Podcast
She writes Emmy-winning television comedy, bestselling children’s books, plays, and sentences for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Is there nothing Jill Twiss can’t do?Musical theater actress and stand-up comic Jill Twiss dreamed of writing for television but did not know how to break in to the world of late-night comedy shows. The stars aligned when a few supportive women called some chits on her behalf, and lo, she landed a spot in the writing room of the Emmy-award winning show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Her work on Last Week Tonight has earned her multiple Emmys, WGA and Peabody Awards, and led to a series of bestselling children’s books as well as the opportunity to write humorous “Can I have that word in a sentence, please?” hints for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. This week, Jill and Jess talk about how Jill got her start in television, her love of Vice President Mike Pence’s pet rabbit Marlon Bundo, how her children’s books came to be, their shared need for pressing deadlines, and Jill’s play-in-progress about the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention.Episode links and a transcript follow—but first, you know we dropped the Top Five Ways to Find the Right Agent to pitch into everyone’s inbox last Monday. What will our supporters find there this Monday? It’s SO FRESH WE DON’T EVEN KNOW. But if you become a supporter, you will. Support the podcast you love AND get weekly #WriterTopFives with actionable advice you can use for just $7 a month. As always, this episode (and every episode) will appear for all subscribers in your usual podcast listening places, totally free as the #AmWriting Podcast has always been. This shownotes email is free, too, so please—forward it to a friend, and if you haven’t already, join our email list and be on top of it with the shownotes and a transcript every time there’s a new episode. Want to share this one? Click here to share on Facebook, and here for an editable tweet. LINKS FROM THE PODCAST#AmReading (Watching, Listening)Jess: Good Luck with That by Kristan HigginsJill: The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent of Angels in America by Isaac Butler and Dan KoisOur guest for this episode is Jill Twiss.Last Week Tonight with John OliverA Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo The Someone NewEveryone Gets a SayThe Marlon Bundo episode of Last Week Tonight (full episode): Just the excerpt about A Day in The Life of Marlon Bundo with a clip of the animated all-star cast audiobook: This episode was sponsored by Author Accelerator, the book coaching program that helps you get your work DONE. Visit https://www.authoraccelerator.com/amwritingfor details, special offers and Jennie Nash’s Inside-Outline template.Find more about Jess here, Sarina here and about KJ here.If you enjoyed this episode, we suggest you check out Marginally, a podcast about writing, work and friendship.The image in our podcast illustration is by Kate DeCarvalho. The music in our podcast is by Max Cohen.Transcript (We use an AI service for transcription, and while we do clean it up a bit, some errors are the price of admission here. We hope it’s still helpful.)KJ: 00:01 Hello fellow writers. The beginning of the year is a great time to think about what you really want from your writing life and if one of the things that's filled you with joy in the past is time spent encouraging, editing, and helping another writer you might want to consider becoming a book coach yourself. Our sponsor, Author Accelerator provides book coaching to authors like me, but also needs and trains book coaches. And they'll be hosting a free book coaching summit in January for anyone who wants to learn more. If that's got your ears perked up, head to authoraccelerator.com/summit. Is it recording?Jess: 00:39 Now it's recording.KJ: 00:40 Yay.Jess: 00:40 Go ahead.KJ: 00:41 This is the part where I stare blankly at the microphone and try to remember what I was supposed to be doing.Jess: 00:45 Alright, let's start over.KJ: 00:47 Awkward pause and I'm going to rustle some papers.Jess: 00:50 Okay.KJ: 00:50 Now one, two, three.Jess: 00:58 Hey, I'm Jess Lahey and this is #AmWriting. Our podcast about writing all the things, the podcast about sitting down, getting the work done and often that work looks like pitches, looks like queries, looks like invoicing so that you can get paid for all that stuff. But really this is just the podcast about the nuts and bolts of being a writer.Sarina: 01:22 I'm Sarina Bowen, when I do my writing it's about fiction and novels. I'm the author of 30-odd romance novels and my new one is called Heartland.Jess: 01:32 And I'm Jess, again. And my work of writing is about mostly nonfiction and I'm in the process of writing a new book and in the process of editing it. But my first book is the Gift of Failure, How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed. And we are missing KJ again today. She is still hockey tournament-ing. And we are going to have an interview today with someone really, really cool. But I wanted to catch you at the beginning of this, Sarina to tell you that you and our guest today have something in common.Sarina: 02:01 We do, what?Jess: 02:03 So a couple of years ago you sent us a text, KJ and myself, a text about the fact that someone had gotten a tattoo in your honor. And are we still at a couple of people, two people who have tattoos of your books?Sarina: 02:18 I know of three...Jess: 02:19 Three people. And what do they have on their bodies?Sarina: 02:22 Well, the first one had the cover of Him.Jess: 02:27 Okay. Him being one of the books that you have written.Sarina: 02:31 Right. And then another one has a quote from The Year We Fell Down.Jess: 02:35 Oh, that's cool. A quote, I love that.Sarina: 02:38 And hers is in French because she helped me proofread the French edition. And then I have a lovely friend, Claudia, who has a tattoo of The True North titles.Jess: 02:49 That's just so permanent. It's so permanent. I mean, number one, you gotta be a super fan to get a tattoo of. Well the other thing is you said that one of them has The True North novels, which means this is a tattoo that will expand over time, maybe.Sarina: 03:05 Well, perhaps...Jess: 03:11 What if you end up writing like 70 books in this series? It'll be like all the way up her arm or his arm.Sarina: 03:16 Yeah, but I'll be dead from writing all those. So you know, we have bigger problems...But, so tell me about our guest.Jess: 03:24 So our guest today is Jill Twiss and she is a writer on the show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. And she found someone who has a tattoo of a rabbit on them and that rabbit's name is Marlon Bundo. Do you know who Marlon Bundo is?Sarina: 03:41 He's the bunny in her book.Jess: 03:43 The bunny in her book. And we'll talk to her a little bit about that tattoo and what it was like to find out that she has landed a place of permanence on someone's body, which just to me, blows my mind. I can't even picture. It's just amazing.Sarina: 03:57 You know what blows my mind?Jess: 03:58 What's that?Sarina: 03:59 If your first book in Amazon is a picture book with like 8 million reviews and went viral, like I'm so excited for this.Jess: 04:09 I know, this is going to be great also because as you will find out when you listen to this interview, it's her first writing job.Sarina: 04:16 That's amazing. Okay, I'm ready to have my mind blown.Jess: 04:20 Alright, so with no further ado, here is my interview with Jill Twiss. I am here today with Jill Twiss. She is a senior writer at Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. She has a crazy, amazing story. She has Emmies, she has WGA awards, she has Peabody awards. There are some other things she does that I am so excited to talk about. I'm not going to burst the the surprise right off the bat. But Jill, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.Jill: 04:52 Thank you so much for having me. I'm such a huge fan of your podcast and I'm so excited to be here.Jess: 04:58 What was really funny was when I first asked you to be on the podcast, you were on Twitter, I was on Twitter, and we were following each other and I messaged you about being on the podcast and you were so excited. You're like, I'm a fan. And I'm like, I'm a fan. So we got to fan girl a little bit. It was very, very exciting.Jill: 05:14 Well, I'm new-ish to book world. And so this podcast was sort of as I was thrown into it, how I learned about what I was supposed to be doing.Jess: 05:26 Well, and you come at it from a really unconventional angle, which is part of what I want to talk about today. Speaking of books - so you have now two books. One is about to come out. But you have a book out that some of our audience may have heard of, which is called A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, which is a children's book. And I wanna talk a little bit about how that book came to be. But I'm also going to link to a wonderful article that you wrote for Glamour about why you wrote this children's book since it seems in contrast with what you do day to day, which is to write for a late night audience. Which is a story that I love. Could you tell us a little bit about how Marlon Bundo came to be? Because he is a cool, cool character. Oh, and by the way, before I keep going, you tweeted recently that you saw someone with Marlon Bundo tattooed on them. How did that happen? How did you come across that?Jill: 06:28 Okay, well, it was at my gym. I just happened to be there and I go to sort of a very fun, weird gym where we all know each other pretty well. And so we do a name game at the beginning of every class. And this woman heard me say, my name was Jill and she said, 'Are you Jill Twiss?' And then she held up her arm and she had a full Marlon Bundo tattoo. And she said she'd gotten them with her cousin. It was the craziest thing. I can't imagine ever even getting a tattoo of my own books, much less someone else's, but it could not be a bigger honor.Jess: 07:06 Well, and I mentioned in the introduction to Sarina because she knows of three people that have tattoos of her books on them and one is a line from one of her books and two of them are just pictures of the books. And that blows my mind. That's a level of permanence and fandom that I can't even imagine. I can't even imagine. So tell us a little bit about this book, Marlon Bundo. Who in the heck is Marlon Bundo?Jill: 07:33 Sure. Okay. So as you said at the beginning, I am a writer at Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. And I have been a writer there since the show started. So I am a pretty, you know, dark, angry, comedy writer kind of person.Jess: 07:51 And I just realized that with you saying that, that I started in absolutely the wrong place. I don't have KJ here to kick me under the table to say, 'No, no, no. You're starting in the wrong place.' Which she does so brilliantly. Because am I correct - I heard somewhere that this is your first writing job, the Last Week Tonight. Is that correct?Jill: 08:11 It was my first professional writing job, yes. I had done stand up comedy,Jess: 08:17 I'm sorry, but we have to talk about how that happens because the idea that your very first job, professional writing gig out of the gate is with a late night television show. I guess we kind of have to start there before we can even talk about how Marlon Bundo came to be.Jill: 08:32 Sure, it's a lovely story about women helping women, actually.Jess: 08:40 Oh, we like those stories a lot.Jill: 08:42 I don't want to mislead you, it wasn't an accident. I was very much trying to get a late night writing job. I had done standup comedy. I'd loved the comedy part, but the standing up in front of people made me sort of sick to my stomach all the time. And part of me was like, if you're not happier when people clap, maybe you're a writer, maybe this isn't for you. And I started to try to find writing jobs. And as everyone listening I'm sure knows, it's really hard. And the TV late night world is just really hard to break into because it's really hard to find out how those jobs are out there. And crazily I got an email one day from a woman named Nell Scovell, who I now know was the co-writer of Lean In. She wrote for The Simpsons. She wrote for David Letterman. I had never met her, or at the time heard of her, and she said, 'Have you ever wanted to write for late night?' And I said, 'Yeah, that's all I want. Who are you? What are you talking about?' And she said, 'I've been reading your Twitter. I think you'd be great at it. She said, you know, she had been a woman writing comedy for decades and sort of thought that was enough. You know that she was the woman in the writer's room, wasn't she doing enough for women? And she realized things weren't getting any better. So she wanted to start to find women. So in any case she said, I can't get you a job but I can get your packet read, I can get someone to read your stuff. So, literally within four months I had this job.Jess: 10:23 You do realize that you're inadvertently ratifying David Sedaris's advice that he gave on our show (which is to never, well, and I'm sure you weren't like in a position of just sitting in your apartment waiting for opportunities to come to you) but his advice on our show was to never ask anything of anyone and just wait and be ready when the opportunities come to you.Jill: 10:47 Well, if I go back one more step. I actually did ask something of someone because my job (I was a musical theater actress and I was a standardized test tutor) and I tutored a real smart kid whose mom worked for David Letterman. And when he did really well on the SAT I asked his mom if she would meet with me and if I could write a packet, and I ended up asking someone who I didn't really know to read over that packet. She was a writer for Conan and it turns out five years later Nell had gone to her and said, 'Do you know anybody that should be writing for TV?' And she said, 'I read this packet years ago. She should be writing for late night.' So I did ask for a little help in someone just reading something and giving advice. And she couldn't help me at the time, but when she could, she did.Jess: 11:42 That is so cool. And you've used the word packet a couple of times, and that's a word I don't think we've ever heard on our show before. So I'm sure there are people out there saying, 'Oh my gosh, what's a packet? I don't have one. I need it. What is it?' .Jill: 11:55 Fair. In the late night world, and that's, you know, shows like The Daily Show or Jimmy Fallon show, all the Jimmy's shows, Jimmy Kimmel's show. Instead of doing what you do I think in narrative television, which is you write a spec script of like a whole show, they want packets and every show wants a different packet. So you might write a whole bunch of monologue jokes that happen at the beginning of Stephen Colbert's show. For a show like ours, you're going to write something similar to what is going to air on the show and they give you that assignment. So you have to find out about the packet. At the time I did it, we didn't have a show, so it was a lot looser. It was a little bit like, guess what John Oliver might do on a show that doesn't exist yet. I think specifically they asked to write a domestic and an international story. For something like The Daily Show, you would write maybe something similar to what happens in like a seven minute increment. They might tell you exactly what they want, they might not. Every late night show has a different packet, but you generally have to write it specifically for that show.Jess: 13:09 So there's no just like writing some vague generalized packet and hoping that it lands right.Jill: 13:15 No, although weirdly I would recommend that, just because there's no way to practice this but to do it. And so I had written packets for shows that I never, ever got to submit that were just me trying to figure out, you know, how do you do this? How do you write a packet for this show? I had seen (it sounds crazy now) but I used to read like every article about writing for late night and someone had said, 'You know, well, at this late night show, they write monologue jokes. They show up at 9:00 AM and then they write till noon.' And I was like, great, three hours, I can write monologue jokes for three hours every day. So that's what I did. You know, I just tried to find like, let's pretend I have this job and figure out how to do it until finally, and it took a long time, someone gave me the opportunity to show what I'd been working on all that time.Jess: 14:08 Is there a magic format for a packet? Like there are certain tells for hacks. Like you know, if I try to send in a spec script in just the wrong format or in a way that doesn't adhere to the look of the standard spec script, someone's going to ding it right away cause they're going to say, 'Oh, this person doesn't have the slightest idea what they're doing.' Or, we had a children's book author come on and she said one dead giveaway of people who don't know what they're doing with children's books is that they send in the wrong format, or an odd number of pages, or they say, and here's the illustrator I need to have in order to write this book.Jill: 14:52 I did all of those wrong things, by the way. Literally, all the things you just said I'm pretty sure I did, but whatever.Jess: 14:58 So is there a magic format for a packet? Is there a program out there that you have to have that adheres to this magic format?Jill: 15:07 Weirdly, no, like late night I think is the Wild West of everything. Every show is different. I can't tell you they're going to be great about telling you what they want, but I think some of the best shows will give you samples of what their scripts look like and you can do your best to copy them. The closest I can give you is that you have to put it in the language of the show. You know, the packet you write for John Oliver is not going to be the same packet you write for Trevor Noah. Even if you're writing on exactly the same topic. So the big thing that they're looking for is, 'Yeah, are you putting some of yourself in there because we're hiring you because of you, but also are you in the voice of the show? We're not interested in you changing the whole format of the show. I think some people like to come in and be like, you know, I have a new idea. Like what if Jimmy Fallon was in space the whole time? And it's like, well, you're not showing us that you can write the show that we have. This is really you showing you could start today and fit in with the show that's already there.Jess: 16:16 I was a political speech writer for a while and part of the fun (for me anyway), was the challenge of writing in someone else's voice completely and not letting my voice dominate. So that's a really interesting balance. And are there times when you write scripts and then the person who for example, John Oliver, will put his own particular read on it so you don't have to be too worried about writing it exactly the same way he would say it?Jill: 16:41 Oh yeah. I think of course he's going to put everything in his own words. I will say, because some of us have been there since the beginning, I've absolutely adapted to John's voice, but I think in some weird ways he's adapted to our voices, too. There are jokes he tells because I love them or because you know, someone else loves that voice and he (I think) has just a lot of skill at doing lots of different kinds of jokes. So I for sure have adopted his speech patterns, but I think he has in some ways altered his speech patterns for all of us, too.Jess: 17:20 That's fascinating. Alright, so back to Marlon Bundo. So you're writing on a television show, which isn't the normal pattern of things that the next thing on your plate, affiliated with the show is a children's book. Will you tell us how that came to be?Jill: 17:37 Sure, yes. We are not a children's show. We say a lot of words that you wouldn't say on children's shows.Jess: 17:45 But you do have a lot of very cute, mascot looking creatures that come on the show.Jill: 17:54 It's true, we do love that. So it happened that I was and am obsessed with a very real bunny named Marlon Bundo. Who is, if you don't know, the Vice President, Mike Pence's actual pet.Jess: 18:10 Now is he still around? Bunnies don't have the longest lifespan. Is the real Marlon Bundo still around?Jill: 18:15 To my knowledge, the real Marlon Bundo is still around. I don't want to start any conspiracy theories here. I believe that there is still a Marlon Bundo living.Jess: 18:29 I will put it in the show notes if I find otherwise.Jill: 18:32 Right. Yeah. Don't blame it on me. And Marlon Bundo had an Instagram and I loved this bunny. It's a very cute bunny. I am not, perhaps, the biggest fan of Mike Pence and some of his policies. And one day I saw an announcement that they were releasing a book about Marlon Bundo. And for some reason I got like weirdly territorial, as though I had any ownership of this bunny, which I obviously do not. And I was like, 'No, I want to write the book about Marlin Bundo.' So I pitched it, I just wrote an email that said no, we should write a book about Marlon Bundo. That, you know Mike Pence himself does not have the kindest record perhaps with same sex marriage. And so we decided to make Marlin Bundo a gay bunny.Jess: 19:27 So you pitched it to the show, not necessarily to a literary agent first?Jill: 19:31 Oh, not at all. No, that was in no way involved.Jess: 19:35 Did you have a literary agent at that point?Jill: 19:37 Nope, I did not. I also didn't have a TV agent, for whatever that's worth. No, I just pitched it to the show as like we should put out a book, which, you know, I pitch a thousand things to the show and most of them don't happen. But they said, 'Okay, yeah, let's do it.' And we had a quick meeting just to decide if it should be an actual children's book or if it should be one of those like parody books that's really for adults, but looks like a children's book. And I think we just decided why not? Like, why not write a kind book for kids about a thing that really matters to us.Jess: 20:20 Now the writer in me and the person who now understands publishing timelines is freaking out. Because if you have just seen that a press release or some sort of release on the Twitter feed about the fact that they're going to come out with this book about Marlon Bundo, how on earth do you get a children's book out in time to have it still be relevant to the release of the other book? Because that was part of the deal when it was announced is that it was a competing book with the real Marlon Bundo's book. So how do you make those timelines work? Publishing moves slow, Jill.Jill: 20:55 The great news is I didn't have to do any of it. I wrote the book, actually I didn't even... I went back to my office and we didn't even assign a book at that point. We were just kind of like pondering some ideas and I said, 'You know what, I'm just going to write something that way it'll be easier for them to be like, Oh no, not that. Now that we see that, we'll say, not that, we want something more like this.'Jess: 21:26 You have a comfort with rejection of ideas that will be so refreshing to so many of our listeners because still - there's a pitch I put out there like two weeks ago and I haven't heard back and I am just feeling all sorts of rejection and yet now I can have Jill Twiss's 'almost everything I say gets rejected at some stage of the game' You're my new voice in my head. I love it.Jill: 21:52 I mean, all of us probably write I would guess 30 to 50 jokes for every joke that goes on the show. So that's just the norm for sure. So I wrote this - just a thing just to be like, 'Hey, I don't know what about this?' And they said, 'Oh yeah, that. We'll just publish that.' So, it turned out to be like a day-long process. We changed literally a couple of words, had someone help us with things that you're talking about now. Like this is the number of pages or whatever. And I now realize that the publisher, Chronicle, was probably flipping out. But, not my problem. I didn't know. I had no idea. We found, again, what I now know is an extremely fast illustrator. We just picked the best person we found. Who was E.G. Keller, who is fantastic.Jess: 22:55 I have to say, the illustrations are absolutely fantastic. I love the illustrations.Jill: 22:59 When you were saying earlier you can't ever come in demanding an illustrator, that's exactly what I did for my next book. I didn't demand anything. That's not at all true. But after this (we're skipping ahead), I did get a literary agent, and she did sell us together. So my next two books are also with the same illustrator.Jess: 23:20 And your next two books, including the one that is going to be coming out soon, which is called The Someone New...Jill: 23:26 Oh, that one's out.Jess: 23:27 Oh, that one's out now. Okay.Jill: 23:28 That one was out last June so you can buy that one right now.Jess: 23:31 Okay. So the two books you're talking about are in addition to the Marlon Bundo book and The Someone New?Jill: 23:37 No, sorry, I'm saying this weird. So Marlon Bundo exists in the world of the show. My first book, that is entirely outside the show, was The Someone New and that is about welcoming someone new to your life, or your country, or your whatever.Jess: 23:57 It is delightful, and beautiful, and sweet. I got a little choked up reading The Someone New. Well, mainly, I mean the town that I live in (I'm right near Burlington, Vermont) has been a sanctuary city. You know, there are lots of someone news in Burlington. Every single time I'm out and about in Burlington I run into people who are new to town and it had a really important place for me in terms of thinking about what it must be like to try to be new somewhere. And I love the book. I absolutely loved The Someone New.Jill: 24:36 Thank you so much. I went to 11 schools in 12 years, so I was always the someone new. So when it came down to, Hey, you can actually write anything now, generally when I write for the show, I have very specific parameters. So when it came down to I had a literary agent, I could write a children's book on anything I wanted. What I wanted to write about are the things that really mattered to me right now, which is welcoming someone new to our country, but also just - kids are faced with new things every day. And new things are scary. You know, you don't know when you're a kid. And I really wanted to help that new kid in school...Jess: 25:23 Which gets back to your Glamour article, you talk in that article about the fact that it can be really, really difficult to reach people who are adults, who can be really entrenched in their thinking, and really entrenched in their views. Whereas with kids, there seems to be more of an openness and (that's not easier to write to) but it's a welcome and it's the reason that I've been a teacher for so long is it is so wonderful to be able to reach someone when before they've become completely entrenched in their views one way or the other and have a conversation about things that are difficult.Jill: 25:59 Yeah, I think that whatever side of the political spectrum you're on, one thing that we're all experiencing is just finding out that adults are tough sometimes. They're frustrating. It's hard to watch things happen and realize that people are just so set in their ways and they don't want to hear always what's true. They want to hear what they want to hear. And kids, everything's new, you know, and they are perfectly willing to learn a new fact, take it in, change their mind if it changes what's previously there. There's just such a wonderful openness and I have so much hope for the next generation and I need that hope right now.Jess: 26:48 Yeah. There was a moment when I was teaching at my very first teaching gig, I was teaching middle school kids and there was a kid who came from a really, really remote rural town. You know, he came into my classroom and from the first day he would say things that I could tell were not his words. He was parroting things that he'd heard from other adults. And it was really interesting cause he was putting things out there to see what our reaction would be. And it led to some really, really interesting conversations and moments when he realized, 'Oh, I do believe that thing I said', or 'No, I don't believe that thing I said, but I'm just putting it out there because I've never had the opportunity to get feedback on the thoughts that I hear from the adults around me. So it's just really cool to be able to get inside of a kid's head and see how their thought process is when they're forming their identity, and their views, and their beliefs, and their ethics. It's really cool.Jill: 27:47 I've really fallen in love with the book world, first of all. But the children's book world and just like the chance to go and read books to kids and sing songs with kids. I don't have kids, so this is new to me. Everything I've learned in the children's book world has been a shock as far as like what age kids read what kind of books, like all of that stuff. I'm learning at sort of double speed as I go through this. But it is just delightful to get to work with kids and see them and you get nice emails instead of mean emails, you get nice pictures of children and dogs with your books instead of like me and emails of people threatening to you know, hurt you.Jess: 28:33 Well, and speaking of kids you do something that I just had never even thought of as a task. You write sentences for the Scripps Spelling Bee. How did that come about? And how is that a gig that you become aware of and get?Jill: 28:52 Yeah. Well first of all, I'm obsessed with the spelling bee. I have been for years. So it was very much on our radar. And again, I would pitch it as a story for the show and we did do it on the show once as just a short, funny story in the show. Right around then, I hit this stage of my life that I would I highly recommend, which is just ask for things you want. I don't know. Maybe they'll say yes. I've never done that before. But we did that story about the spelling bee and then I went to our executive producer and I said, 'Do we have a contact there? Can I ask them if I can write for them?' And she was like, 'Why would you want to do that?' And I was like, 'Fine, not your problem. It's fine. And I literally just emailed the spelling bee, told them what I do and that I had worked on the piece for the show and I said, 'I know you must have comedy writers write sentences. Like, I've seen the sentences that show up there, can I be one of them?' And they said, 'Yes'. That was really that easy, which I know is not how life works. And I know I had many years of opportunities not coming like that. So, now that I have a little clout and a little something, I'm just asking for all the weird things that I want. My next goal, I'm just going to put this out in the world, I want to write for the Tony awards. So if you know anyone, if you could make it happen, let me know.Jess: 30:20 Very cool. So wait, they give you the word and then you write the sentence to go with the word that helps? So when the kid says, 'Could you give me that word in a sentence?' you're writing that sentence?Jill: 30:31 Yes. Not all of the sentences. They have like really great experts writing sort of I'll say 'not funny sentences'. But, yes. So they do that to make sure everything is grammatically exactly what it needs to be. It's really important. It's so much more important that the sentences be correct than that they be funny. But they have comedy writers that go through maybe a month before the B and write a certain number of comedy sentences for it. And then this year for the first time, I actually got to go to the spelling bee. And as it was on the air, we were up there writing sentences for words that were coming up because they could switch the order of the words, for anyone that saw it this year, everything went crazy because there were eight champions and so everything was sort of getting decided on the fly. So we write sentences there, too.Jess: 31:31 Wow. I actually had read somewhere, I think it might've been at the Tony awards one year, that they were writing - it was the year that Neil Patrick Harris rapped at the end and they were writing the rap during the show as winners were announced. First of all, Neil Patrick Harris, all hail Neil Patrick Harris and his ability to learn that stuff and perform it with like 10 minutes to spare. But the television world always to me, you know, Shonda Rhimes talks about writing for television as laying tracks while you're on the train that's going to... Sorry, Shonda, I'm sure I said that terribly, but it has always petrified me because of the speed at which things need to happen. So I'm always amazed when I hear things like the script story, where you're actually under pressure writing stuff while the show is happening.Jill: 32:20 I was nervous because our show is once a week. And I have a lot of people, I have a lot of oversight on Last Week Tonight. But I actually found it incredibly calming. There's something really nice about not being able to read over what you've done. I'm writing a play right now and it could not be more stressful because I just have infinite time to revise and do and if it's up to me I will just revise for the rest of my life and no one will ever read anything I've written. So there's something really calming about being there and being under time pressure and being like, well it's out there. It worked or it didn't work. Who knows?Jess: &
This week’s episode is a faaaabulous conversation with #1 New York Times best selling author and staff writer on HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John OIiver", Jill Twiss where we talk about why and how we can take the scary world around us and make it a little lighter. For our #ActionSteps in this episode, we are proud to give a shout out to the book "The Someone New" by Jill Twiss / @Jill Twiss / JillTwiss.com "What Do I Do?" can be found at WhatDoIDoPod.com, Patreon.com/wdid_pod, Facebook @WDIDPod, Twitter @WDID_Pod, & Instagram @WDID_Pod. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Learn about the first crime committed in space, & how love makes fools of us all. Sarah discusses I Love You, Now Die, about a girl who encouraged her friend to commit suicide. Susie claims there is a wisdom tooth conspiracy. We hear how "broken heart syndrome" is real & could be fatal. Sarah had a "stop being polite" moment when a man commented on her eating. We talk to Jill Twiss from Last Week Tonight w/ John Oliver & author of children's book, The New Someone.
When LGBT children’s literature was first introduced, two moms or two dads were represented as being the typical LGBT family, doing traditional family-style activities. The family dynamic has changed significantly over time, and today’s LBGT family might look quite differently: single moms, single dads, aunts, and uncles raising kids, grandparents, adopted and foster families are all widely seen now. Most data available to youth is in middle school and high school, and any inclusive idea is if you introduce the concept of the various family dynamics early on when children get to those later grades, it’s no big deal. Just a family. Their family! Amanda and Vickie chat with special guest Wendy Evans, concerning a project very close to her heart. Please listen in! Wendy Evans is the Inclusion Director at A Child’s Place in Costa Mesa, an early childcare center. Wendy’s passion project is bringing more representation of LGBT children’s literature and LGBT 101 Training to early childhood centers. She is the liaison between the LGBT Center in Orange County and the Orange County Association for the Education of Young Children. Show Highlights: The goal of LGBT early education is family representation and does not focus on safe sex or HIV. National Association of the Education of Young Children: their code of ethics is not participating in things that will harm children. By not bringing up LGBT families and discussing their world, you’re in effect harming them, and saying something is wrong with their family. The Rainbow and Human Rights Campaign are universal signs of LGBT-friendly and safe spaces where one might “out” themselves. LGBT 101 Training: LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Sometimes there will be a letter “Q” at the end, which stands for Queer, or Questioning. “Queer” used to be a derogatory term, but the youth have given it a new meaning. Getting caught up in labels. Amanda, Vickie, and Wendy discuss transgenderism in children. In some locations, teachers can be fired if they are part of the LGBT community. Considering changing “Mom” and “Dad” on intake forms to “Parent 1” and “Parent 2” The early childcare curriculum has the backing of the California Preschool Foundation Links/Resources: Thank you for listening! Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Tuesday. If you enjoyed this episode and believe in our message, then please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and Review this show in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, or Google Play. It helps other listeners find this show. Be sure to connect with us and reach out with any questions/concerns: Facebook Instagram Twitter IEP website This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not to be construed as legal advice specific to your circumstances. If you need help with any legal matters, be sure to consult with an attorney regarding your specific needs. You’re Invited! Trans Pride 2019 - July 27th from11:00 am – 6:00 pm Downtown Santa Ana at The Center on Fourth For more information: https://www.lgbtcenteroc.org/event/trans-pride-2019/ Email Wendi Evans: wendi.evans01@gmail.com Books Mentioned: Sparkle Boy by Leslea Newman It’s Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Marlon Bundo with Jill Twiss
Spawned Parenting Podcast with Kristen and Liz of CoolMomPicks
On this week's Spawned Parenting Podcast, we're talking with Emmy-winning staff writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Jill Twiss, about finding humor when times are tough, and how humor can be a great tool for imparting important messages -- especially to kids. And that's what she did with her best-selling picture book, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo and in her brand new book for kids, The Someone New. It's all about choosing kindness over fear when meeting people (or...snails) who are different from us -- and yes, it's funny! // An easy way to support Spawned is to subscribe right now and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. // Connect with us in the Spawned Podcast Community on Facebook so we can chat about this episode and more. // Thanks so much for listening! - Liz + Kristen
Back in Episode 38, Quinn & Brian asked: Is it harder to build clean power plants or play in a reputable cover band? Our guest Sean Casten then went on to win the election for congressman of Brian’s home district, Illinois’ 6th! There’s a little more hope in the world, so we want to re-introduce you to these kickass STEM politicians. Sean is a scientist, clean energy entrepreneur, and cover band member who ran against Peter Roskam, who called climate change “junk science,” which is really all we needed to hear to know that Sean is the right man for Illinois’’ 6th district. Plus, Sean is backed by our friends at 314 Action, an incredible group of people who are smarter than us trying to get other people who are smarter than us elected. You can check out our previous episodes with 314 Action founder Shaughnessy Naughton (episode 35) and fellow Congressional candidates Chrissy Houlahan (episode 37) and Joseph Kopser (episode 32). Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message! Trump’s Book Club: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents a Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss and Marlon Bundo: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3R5XF4WMZE0TV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_2Gr8Ab6RS5WF3 Links: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/castenforcongress/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/votecasten Support more candidates endorsed by 314: http://www.314action.org/endorsed-candidates-1/ Connect with us: Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett Follow Brian: twitter.com/briancolbertken Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant Check us on Instagram: instagram.com/ImportantNotImportant Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp Pin us on Pinterest: pinterest.com/ImportantNotImportant Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr: importantnotimportant.tumblr.com Important, Not Important is produced by Podcast Masters Support this podcast
Boogie on Reggae Woman... We have for your listening pleasure Episode 273 of "Troubadours and Raconteurs with E.W. Conundrum Demure." This week we feature a fabulous conversation with regular contributor, Brooklyn Based Comedic Writer and Comedian Nash Rose. Nash and I discuss Political Correctness and Its Impact on Comedy(and on society at large), Satire, How Perhaps There Are Too Many Socio- Political Movements, How the Internet Creates Perspective Bubbles, Kathy Griffin, Blue Humor, Kayne West ... We share an EW Essay titled "Jane, Nubian Princess." EW reads the story "A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo" by Jill Twiss. We have a poem called " And You." Our music this go round is provided by these wonderful artists: Django Reinhardt, Stephan Grapelli, Stevie Wonder, Lauyrn Hill, the Hold Steady, the Velvet Underground, Ruth Etting, Branford Marsalis and Terrence Blanchard. Commercial Free, Small Batch Radio Crafted In the Moosic Mountains of Pennsylvania... Heard All Over The World. Tell your Friends and Neighbors...
Jill Twiss, comedian and writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, joins Nick and Lars for week 3 of NOWvember, our month-long journey into all that is current and topical in the ceaseless world of children's television. We watched K.C. Undercover, a live-action Disney Channel sitcom starring supposed famous person Zendaya, in which typical family comedy plots are smashed together with over-the-top tactical espionage action. In the episode we watched, the main character belts a teacher in the stomach in one scene, and then makes her parents shoot each other in the next! It's weird! Send your emails to letters@breakfastquest.net! You can watch "Virtusl Insanity," the episode we watched, on the digital media service of your choosing. ...and SUBSCRIBE TO BREAKFAST QUEST ON iTUNES!
November 10, 2016 / Colin hosts this week's addendum with guest panelists Jill Twiss and Brendan Kenny. Episode scoring music by Patrick Cortes, Ramiro Marquez and Blue Dot Sessions. #undisclosed #UDaddendum #justiceforjoey Support the show.
Jill Twiss is a theater actress and stand-up comedian who according to her website is “creating world peace through stand-up comedy.” In this episode we talk a bit about her work as both a performer in theater and comedy. You can find her website at jilltwiss.blogspot.com, where there are videos of some of her performances. […]
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
