Jill Twiss is an American writer best known for her work on the HBO show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. [1] [2] She is a senior writer on the show and she portrays its "Janice from Accounting" character. [3] She authored a children's book called A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo about a fictional day in the life of Marlon Bundo (Vice President Mike Pence's pet rabbit), as part of a Last Week Tonight sketch, which went on to be a best seller.
She was born in Redmond, Oregon, and grew up in six different U.S. states due to her father's reassignments as part of the U.S. Forest Service. [4] While Twiss was studying public policy and music in the College of William & Mary, her parents moved to Custer, South Dakota, and there she got interested in theater. [5] [6] After graduating in 1998, [7] Twiss performed at the Black Hills Playhouse during the 1999 and 2000 seasons. After graduating, Twiss got accepted into a law school in New York City, but instead joined a touring children's theater troupe, and only moved to New York in 2001 with hopes of furthering her acting career. [5] [6]
While doing acting and stand-up comedy gigs in New York, Twiss sought writing jobs. As she learned about HBO preparing Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and recruiting writers through blind auditions, Twiss sent them sample segments, which in turn led to a demand for a second batch, and after an interview with John Oliver himself she was hired. [4] [8]
As a member of the writing staff for Last Week Tonight, Twiss has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series multiple times.
In March 2018, as a writer on Last Week Tonight, Twiss authored a children's book called A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo about a fictional day in the life of Marlon Bundo, the real-life pet rabbit of the Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence. The story details the same-sex romance between Marlon Bundo and another rabbit named Wesley. It was written in response to Pence's staunch opposition to same-sex marriage and support of conversion therapy advocate James Dobson. [9]
Twiss conceptualized the book as a loose parody of Marlon Bundo's: A Day in the Life of the Vice President , written by Charlotte Pence and illustrated by Karen Pence (Mike Pence's daughter and wife, respectively). Their book also tells about a fictionalized day of the Pence family's pet rabbit, but without the LGBT themes. [10] Rather than a straight-up parody of the Pences' book, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo is an actual children's story about marriage equality and democracy. [11] [12] [13] It nevertheless contains some stabs at Mike Pence. [10] [14]
On the day of release, John Oliver promoted the book on Last Week Tonight at the conclusion of an episode mainly dedicated to Pence and his positions on LGBT issues; it became a bestseller and the #1 book and e-book on Amazon the following day, receiving notable praise and selling much better than the crew of Last Week Tonight had expected. All profits from the book are being donated to The Trevor Project and AIDS United. [15] [16]
Twiss authored The Someone New, which was subsequently published in June 2018. The story revolves around Jitterbug, a chipmunk fearful of change. When a snail named Pudding moves into the woods, Jitterbug learns to overcome her fear with the help of her animal-friends. [17]
As part of the books premise of practicing kindness for strangers, Twiss partnered with the charity KIND (Kids in Need of Defense) on her book, and both she and her publisher, HarperCollins made donations to the charity. [18]
Twiss and the book's illustrator EG Keller have a forthcoming second book through the publisher HarperCollins called "Everyone Gets a Say." It will be released in June 2020 and will be about voting. [19]
Year | Award | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | Peabody Award [20] | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Won |
2015 | 67th Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series [21] | Nominated | |
Writers Guild of America Awards 2014: Comedy/Variety (including Talk) - Series [22] | Won | ||
2016 | 68th Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series [21] | Won | |
2017 | 69th Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series [21] | Won | |
Writers Guild of America Awards 2016: Comedy/Variety (including Talk) - Series [23] | Won | ||
2018 | Writers Guild of America Awards 2017: Comedy/Variety - Talk Series [24] | Won |
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A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo is a 2018 children's book written by Jill Twiss and illustrated by EG Keller. The book is about a fictional day in the life of Marlon Bundo, the real-life pet rabbit of then-Vice President of the United States Mike Pence, and details the same-sex romance between Marlon Bundo and another rabbit named Wesley. It is a loose parody of Marlon Bundo's A Day in the Life of the Vice President, another children's book featuring Marlon Bundo written by Charlotte Pence and illustrated by Karen Pence.
Marlon Bundo's A Day in the Life of the Vice President is a 2018 children's book by Charlotte Pence as author and Karen Pence as illustrator. It details a fictional day in the life of Marlon Bundo, pet rabbit of Vice President of the United States Mike Pence, father of Charlotte and husband of Karen. It received lukewarm reviews from professional critics, who praised the illustrations but found fault with the prose.
Charlotte Pence Bond is an American writer who is the second child and elder daughter of former Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence and former Second Lady of the United States, Karen Pence.
Marlon Bundo, also known as Bunny of the United States (BOTUS), was a rabbit belonging to the family of Mike Pence, the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Gerald Kelley is an American children's book illustrator. He works in an elaborate style with water color and precise detail. Kelley is known for his work on James Bowen's Bob the Cat series and A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, a best-selling children's book written by Jill Twiss.
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