Local writer wins another Emmy

By: 
Charley Najacht
If you looked closely in the audience at last Sunday’s Emmy Award presentations at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, you may have spotted Jill Twiss from Custer. You can be sure her parents, John and Jackie did.
Jill and the other “Late Week Tonight with John Oliver” HBO show writers won their fourth consecutive Emmy  in the “Writing For A Variety Series” category.
Finalists for the award were Saturday Night Live, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and Documentary Now.
Jill graduated from  Oakton High School in Virginia in 1994 and graduated from William and Mary College in Virginia.
In 1995, the family moved to Custer where her father was Black Hills National Forest supervisor. She waited tables at the old Wrangler and Chief restaurants in Custer.
Jill performed for several seasons at the Black Hills Playhouse and performed with the Fennell boys in “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.”
Jill was accepted at law school, but decided to take a year off to try her hand at acting in New York City (NYC). After many failed acting tryouts, she became a stand-up comedian. To make ends meet, she also tutored students on how to improve their scores on the SAT test.
Her big break came five  years ago when she was invited to submit material for a new show, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” to be produced in NYC. She and seven other writers were hired. Four of the original eight are still writing for the show.
She has also written two  children’s books and has a third children’s book coming out next year.
 

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