On Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m., Bob Odenkirk visited the Robert Frost Auditorium to give a Live Talk about his children’s book, Zilot and Other Important Rhymes. Odenkirk is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer, best known for his role in television shows such as “Better Call Saul”, “Breaking Bad”, “Saturday Night Live”, and “Seinfeld”.
During the presentation, which was organized by Live Talks LA, Bob was joined by his daughter, Erin Odenkirk, who worked with him to illustrate the children’s book. Another guest speaker was Rhea Seehorn, who was his co-star on the hit television show, “Better Call Saul.”
Bob and Erin shared the story behind the inspiration for their book, which they started to write together when Erin was only four years old and her brother was six. As a family, they would read stories before bedtime and then write their own silly poems. Zilot and Other Important Rhymes took inspiration from the works of Silverstein and Seuss, a source of nostalgia for the Odenkirks as they reflect on their fondest familial memories. Some of the poems that can be currently found in their collection were written decades ago, during these comical writing sessions.
“Transitioning from walking around the house as Bob’s daughter and walking around the house while working together was not too different because he is always kind of in work mode and kind of in play mode,” said Erin Odenkirk.
The Live Talk was both sentimental and comedic, as the speakers balanced discussing serious topics and reading amusing excerpts of poems from their collection. Some of these included “Grandma’s Skin”, “Lollygagging”, and “Dog Poop”. Although it was an adult audience, listeners laughed out loud and clapped at the punch-line of each joke.
Bob explained that the purpose of the book is to inspire young readers to embrace the English language and believe that they can be artists and writers of their own stories– just like he taught his own children. He aims to empower kids to use big vocabulary, conveying to them that it’s okay to misuse a word and make mistakes.
“We took a lot of pictures and videos of our kids, but nothing takes me back to being in that room with those little kids better than reading these poems and that is like an amazing trip through time,” said Bob Odenkirk.
For information about more Live Talks in Los Angeles, visit https://livetalksla.org/.
