Jill Twiss is an American writer best known for her work on the HBO show ''

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' (often abridged as ''Last Week Tonight'') is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by comedian John Oliver. The half-hour-long show premiered in April 2014 on HBO. ''Last ...

.'' She is a senior writer on the show and she portrays its "Janice from Accounting" character. 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 Marlon Bundo (2012/2013 – January 15, 2022), 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. Bundo was initially adopted fo ...

(Vice President

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...

's pet rabbit), as part of a ''Last Week Tonight'' sketch, which went on to be a best seller.

Early life

She was born in

Redmond, Oregon Redmond is a city in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. Incorporated on July 6, 1910, the city is on the eastern side of Oregon's Cascade Range, in the High Desert in Central Oregon. From Redmond there is access to recreational opportuni ...

and grew up in six different

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

s due to her father's reassignments as part of the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

. While Twiss was studying public policy and music in the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...

, her parents moved to

Custer, South Dakota Custer is a city in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,919 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Custer County. History Custer is the oldest town established by European Americans in the Black Hills. Gold ...

, and there she got interested in theater. After graduating in 1998, 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.

Career

While doing acting and stand-up comedy gigs in New York, Twiss sought writing jobs. As she learned about HBO preparing ''

'' 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. 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 The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series debuted in 1966, and has been annually awarded most years since the mid-1960s. It has had a large number of name changes, mostly involving the addition or subtraction of the wo ...

multiple times.

''A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo''

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

, the real-life pet rabbit of the

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...

. 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 Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

and support of

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and clin ...

advocate

James Dobson James Clayton Dobson Jr. (born April 21, 1936) is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family (FOTF), which he led from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influentia ...

. 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 Charlotte Pence Bond (born Charlotte Rose Pence; June 25, 1993) 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. ...

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. 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. It nevertheless contains some stabs at Mike Pence. 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 A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, co ...

and the #1 book and

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

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 The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. Focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning ( LGBTQ) youth, they offer a toll-free telephone number ...

and AIDS United.

''The Someone New''

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. As part of the books premise of practicing kindness for strangers, Twiss partnered with the charit
KIND
(Kids in Need of Defense) on her book, and both she and her publisher, HarperCollins made donations to the charity. 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.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twiss, Jill Living people People from Redmond, Oregon Actresses from Oregon 1976 births Writers from Oregon Comedians from Oregon Last Week Tonight with John Oliver American children's writers American women children's writers College of William & Mary alumni People from Custer, South Dakota 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American women