Ali Barthwell | |
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Born | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Education | Wellesley College (BA) |
Occupation | Writer |
Years active | 2016–present |
Notable work | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (staff writer) |
Awards | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series (2021; 2022) |
Ali Barthwell is an American writer. She reviews television for Vulture and is a staff writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver , for which she won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series.
Barthwell was born and raised in Chicago. [1] Both of her parents are physicians. She received her bachelor's degree from Wellesley College in 2010, where she was the co-president of the improv group Dead Serious. [2] Shortly after graduating she won a scholarship to train in improv and sketch comedy at Second City. [3] She was inspired to apply after seeing Amber Ruffin perform on the Second City Mainstage. [2]
She has written television recaps and reviews for Vulture since 2016. [4] She has recapped programs including Empire , How to Get Away with Murder , and productions from The Bachelor franchise. [5]
Along with her two brothers and two friends, Barthwell organized the inaugural WakandaCon in Chicago in August 2018, inspired by the release of Black Panther . [1] The event was received positively and drew approximately 2,500 attendees. [6] Barthwell connected the event to afrofuturism and described WakandaCon as "a space for Black people to look past the present and into our future." [6]
She joined the writing staff of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in 2020. [2] Barthwell won successive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series in 2021 and 2022 for her work. [7]
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
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2021 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Won | [7] |
2022 | Won | [8] | |||
2023 | Pending | ||||
2021 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Comedy/Variety Talk Series | Nominated | [9] | |
2022 | Nominated | [10] | |||
2023 | Won | [11] |