Emmy Laybourne is a novelist, screenwriter, lyricist and actress. Her first novel, Monument 14, will be published by Feiwel and Friends, a division of Macmillan, in the spring of 2012. Emmy has written for the children’s television programs “Bubble Guppies” and “The Assistants;” and also co-wrote the feature “Kung Fu Magoo,” with her brother Sam Laybourne.
As an actress, Emmy appeared in films opposite Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon, Michael Douglas, Albert Brooks and John Travolta; co-starred in a TV series with David Allen Greer and Delta Burke; and improvised with groups like Chicago City Limits and the Upright Citizens Brigade.
Emmy is currently a participant in the prestigious BMI Music Theater workshop and is working on a musical comedy with composer Lauren Cregor Devine about a mystical Greek Chorus that helps New Yorkers resolve their personal problems.
Emmy Laybourne
Emmy recently sold her first book series, Monument 14, to Feiwel and Friends, a division of Macmillan. Monument 14 Book One: We Don’t Die will be published in the Spring of 2012. It’s a post-apocalyptic Young Adult novel about a group of kids and teenagers who are trapped in a superstore while civilization collapses outside the gates.
Click on the "Monument 14" tab to download a FREE pdf of Chapter One of Monument 14 Book One!
Click to download chapter 1 for free.
This material is copyrighted by Emmy Laybourne. Any re-transcription or reproduction is prohibited and illegal.
Is it true you wrote a book and it’s actually getting published?
Yes! I wrote a YA post-apocalyptic series called Monument 14. Book One is called: "We Don’t Die". Book Two is: "We Split Up".
We Spit Up? What, it’s about a bunch of babies?
No, it’s We Split Up. Like a break up. Split. Not spit.
What’s it about, anyway?
Well, why don’t you read a sample chapter. Click here to download the PDF for FREE!
Okay, I liked it. When can I buy the book? Where can I buy it, etc, etc…
Monument 14 Book One: We Don’t Die will hit the bookstores in the Spring of 2012. If you’d like to sign up to be on my mailing list, I will let you know about book signings and readings.
You can sign up for my mailing list here.
Do you write other stuff or just YA fiction?
I also write musical theater and screenplays and you can click around on my website to learn more.
Do they just let like anybody write books?
Well, yes, they do. Anyone can write a book. If you have the dream of being a writer you should write a book. Absolutely.
I meant that like a diss. I wasn’t, like, looking for your advice.
Oh. Sorry. Good one.
The first play Emmy Laybourne wrote and performed was called, "The Miss Alphabet City Beauty Pageant and Spelling Bee". The New York Post said it, “restores faith in our country’s comedic future.” The Daily News called it, “hilariously clever.”
Emmy is currently a Lyricist in her second year in the prestigious BMI Musical Theater Workshop. She is working on a full-length musical comedy about a mystical Greek Chorus that roams around Manhattan helping New Yorkers solve their problems.
Click on the CLIPS tab to listen to an MP3 of the first ten minutes of the musical.
Emmy Laybourne
I didn’t know you write musical theater.
Yes, I do.
Since when?
The first play I wrote was a musical called, “The Miss Alphabet City Beauty Pageant and Spelling Bee.” We performed it at Catch A Rising Star in NY and at the HBO Workspace in LA.
But throughout my career I’ve written comedy song lyrics. You can see a couple of songs I wrote and performed on Comedy Central by clicking on the Clips tab above.
Okay, but those things were like a long time ago. What are you doing now?
In the Fall of 2009 I got into an amazing program called the BMI Musical Theater Workshop. It’s essentially a free MFA in writing musical theater and it’s launched shows like Next To Normal and Avenue Q.
I wrote the book and lyrics for a ten-minute musical called, “The Chorus.” It’s a great little piece and you can listen to it sort of like a radio play. Lauren Cregor Devine and I are now making it into a full-length play. Check it out (on the Clips tab above).
Ew. Why are you all like, “Check it out here?” Why do you have to be so pushy and whatever?
Shoot, I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m really excited about the piece. Jennifer Blood and Matt Dellapina play the leads. The chorus is Patrick Gallagher, Lucy Avery Brooke, Kevn Hammonds, Beverly Ward and Ladonna Burns.
Okay. Wow. I just listened to it and I love it so much!
See? I told you.
Are you going forward with it? What are you going to do with it? You have to do more with it!
Thank you! Like I said, Lauren and I are currently collaborating on a full length musical that expands it into a play following the adventures of the Chorus.
Will you let me know when I can see it? I will totally fly to NY to see it, if necessary, although if you could bring it to Valparaiso, Indiana, that would be much more convenient…
If you sign up for my Mailing List on the Contact Me form, I will keep you updated on all the happenings in my career: performances, book signings, screenings, etc.
What? You sign books?
Um, yes... Click on the word Novelist on my home page to learn all about it.
Emmy Laybourne got her start as an actress and comedian in the outrageous comedy scene of the lower east side during the 1990s, performing at Surf Reality, Catch A Rising Star and Luna with many people who are now really, really famous.
After Lorne Michaels walked up four flights of stairs to see Emmy in her one woman show, Smorgasbourne, Emmy was cast as best friend to Molly Shannon’s Catholic Schoolgirl character in the Paramount feature film, “Superstar.”
Emmy went on to have featured roles in the films “Nancy Drew,” “The In-Laws,” and “Lucky Numbers.” She was a season regular on the NBC sitcom “DAG,” and performed original comedy on Comedy Central, MTV, and VH1.
Emmy has improvised with the Upright Citizens Brigade, Freestyle Repertory Theater, Chicago City Limits and the Heartless Floozies. She has performed original comedy material throughout LA and New York. But her very best gig of all was performing with her brother, Sam. For Comedy Central they sang a song they wrote together called, “We Can’t Make Love Because We’re Related.”
Here are some select clips from stuff I did over the years. Enjoy!
Emmy Laybourne
What was it like to perform a song with your brother about incest?
It was great. The funny thing about that song is that our biggest fan was our Mom. When it came out she played it for every guest who walked into her house.
You can watch the song by clicking on the "Clips" tab above if you like..
I haven’t seen you in anything in so long. Why did you stop acting?
In a word: auditioning. I LOVED acting but I HATED auditioning. I never got good at it and it was always excruciating. But I tell you what, if you would like to cast me in your movie or TV series, I will come out of retirement and be funny as hell in it. As long as I don’t have to audition.
What’s your advice for me if I want to be an actor?
Improv! Take a good improv class. Get involved with an improv company. You’ll improve your timing, learn how to listen (a big part of acting), and most important of all – get lots of stage time practicing. The best companies I worked with are IO West, UCB, and Freestyle Repertory Theater. I also worked with the Heartless Floozies, but they hard to track down these days. They are truly under the radar, but man, oh, man, they are funny.
Didn’t you used to be the actress who played Molly Shannon’s best friend in Superstar?
Yes. I went on to do some more acting jobs after that one, but Superstar was probably my biggest role.
Are Molly Shannon and Will Ferrell nice?
Molly is a lovely, deeply creative and outrageously funny person. Will Ferrell is unbelievably nice. He is a dreamy guy and deserves every bit of the success that has come his way.
What about Albert Brooks? Didn’t you work with him in The In-Laws?
Yes I did. I loved working with him. Albert is just as kind, funny and perfectionistically detail-oriented as the characters he plays.
What about Andy Fleming? Was he nice?
Andy Fleming? The director of The In Laws and the pilot I did called Paranormal Girl?... well, yes, I love Andy. He’s funny and smart and is loyal to the people he works with, which is a great quality.
What else did you like about Andy Fleming?
Wait a minute. Andy? Is that you?
Come on. What else did you like about Andy Fleming?
Well, one time I had an idea to do a variation on a line and I was worried it would take too much time. Andy said, “The only thing I’m worried about is making this movie as funny as it can possibly be.” I thought that was really cool. We shot the variation and it made it into the film.
Was Andy the best director you ever worked with?
Come on, Andy…
No, like really, was he?
I worked with some great directors including Nora Ephron, John Fortenberry and Bruce McCullough. Don’t make me choose a favorite.
But if someone, like, had a gun to the head of daughter’s pet hamster…
Then it would be Andrew Fleming. You can find more information about him at this link to IMDB. (Happy now, Fleming?)
Emmy graduated from UCLA with an MFA in screenwriting in June of 2006. While at UCLA Emmy won the Eleanor Perry Award for Excellence in Screenwriting from Women in Film for her screenplay, “Tulum.” She wrote the animated feature “Kung Fu Magoo” with her brother Sam for Classic Pictures and has written for The N show The Assistants and the Nick Jr. show “Bubble Guppies.”