Thursday, May 11, 2023 – I’ll be honest- I podcast, alot. But I had never heard of Travis McElroy, and that made this keynote speaker EVEN BETTER.
Mr. McElroy started talking about a show they (his brothers) had at The Warfield in San Francisco (NOT to be misnamed as The Garfield as he pointed out). The whole idea behind all their events is just dumb fun, and I loved every minute of the craziness he found himself into. I thought, Middle Schoolers would latch onto this forever and high school students would never let go.
He elaborated on how they as a group of performing brothers have had to adapt a podcast to tv shows, to graphic novels, to an animated series– all certainly out of the realm of where they thought there would be going when starting comedic podcasts. In just this far into the key note, I saw how amazing adaptable and flexible opened doors, I felt the same could occur with librarians leading new paths where did not know they could be taken.
When asked about his memories of librarians and librarians, Mr. McElroy had some good ones.
He recalled summer reading and awards for doing this, also growing sunflowers from seeds as a library project, Finding a movie called The Twelve Chairs by Mel Brooks (when he thought he had seen all Mel Brooks movies and most people only knew of Young Frankenstein).
I do vaguely remember Mr. McElroy mentioning Star Wars, the father and Luke scene, and something to do with his father, but the exact details are a little fuzzy… 🙂
Travis went on talking about how amazed he was at the poetic way his daughter explained how the beast began to transform in Beauty and the Beast – and how it was a moment we all recognize what used to be children are astonishing in moments of their own.
It was interesting to hear his favorite book was a sci fi series – so much he ended up getting a second and third set because so many knew how much he liked this series! I cannot get the title correct of what that series was, so I am on a mission to find out what this series was – if you know, PLEASE share!
Also, the a first edition of a favorite Agatha Christie novel ranked in his favorites and he had been sucked in to reading geaphic novels and comics following the deaths of Ms. Marvel!
He made a hysterical point, that etiquette is really a guidebook for awkward people, and that etiquette should be brought back to be able to get out of things, lol. I can see this….
‘Til Death Do Us Blart – was discussed in the long series of things that often do not make a point, and something they ALWAYS had made, EVERY Thanksgiving, and something they vowed to do EVERY THANKSGIVING.
In talking about audiobooks, Mr. McElroy discussed that literacy did not just fall on books alone, audiobooks are reading too!
Skyline Chili- vs Cincinnati Chili! LOL let the feud begin- as Travis McElroy explained the difference between Skyline and Cincinnati Chili. “I try not to take it personally, but I do. An ugly baby is still someone’s kid.” that comment helps describe the hilarity of the topic that Travis McElroy brought up.
I loved the fact that Travis McElroy mentioned in their podcasts, they didn’t think they were right about topics, but that they just want people to feel that they want to do what they want!
One of the best parting pieces of advice he gave was this -Never stop learning, never be satisfied with thinking or saying, “This is the best person I’ll ever be”, and remember it is NEVER an excuse for trying to learn more or bettering yourself.
I truly loved the hysterical, young kid-like approach that Mr. McElroy exhibited, his energy was all over the place but solidified the idea of showing how so many types of media and expression can be united and turned into OTHER connections to even more types of literacy.
LOVED the raw energy Travis McElroy brought to this keynote!