Elyse Willems

Canadian internet personality, comedian, and writer.Template:SHORTDESC:Canadian internet personality, comedian, and writer.

**Elyse Willems** (born May 3, 1986) is a Canadian internet personality, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her work as a cast member and producer at Funhaus, a division of Rooster Teeth Productions, since November 2015. Since then, Willems has appeared and been involved in numerous productions by Rooster Teeth.

Willems published her debut novel, *A Night in Halloween House*, which became a bestselling Halloween children's book on Amazon in October 2020.

## Biography

Willems was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario in a family of Polish descent. After graduating from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government, Willems relocated to Los Angeles in January 2012. She worked at Viacom as a production assistant on GameTrailers from August 2012, later becoming a segment producer at Defy Media in 2014, where she produced, wrote and hosted *Mandatory Update*, a weekly comedy news show that provided a satirical commentary of the video game industry.

In November 2015, Willems joined Rooster Teeth as a cast member of Funhaus. There, she has collaboratively produced and co-written numerous series, such as *Arizona Circle*, *Sex Swing*, and *Twits & Crits*, as well as producing and performing in gaming videos and podcasts. Willems has made several appearances at RTX conventions, including a Ladies of Rooster Teeth panel at RTX Sydney 2017 where she expressed her frustration at credit for things she has done being given to her male peers in the past, and on the series *Always Open*, hosted by fellow Canadian Rooster Teeth member and friend Barbara Dunkelman. In 2017, a shortened clip focusing primarily on Willems from one of Funhaus' videos went viral. The clip featured Funhaus members criticizing a female character for wearing a ponytail while Willems, who is wearing a ponytail in the clip, reacts in the background. The clip appeared in one of PewDiePie's videos, and garnered almost fifteen million views worldwide. Willems clarified that the intent was humorous and that her reaction was deliberately comedic.

In 2020, Willems served as the series creator and one of the participants in *Last Laugh*, a Rooster Teeth series centered around a social experiment where twelve contestants spent six hours in one room while trying to make each other laugh or smile. Willems also streams with her husband James in order to fundraise for various charities and causes, and is among the popular streamers who raised funds for The Jimmy Fund to support research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute on November 1, 2020.

Willems self-published her first novel, titled *A Night in Halloween House*, in October 2020. It was released on Amazon as both paperback and Kindle editions, and became the bestselling Halloween children's book. The novel received predominantly five star reviews on the novel's Amazon page and its Goodreads counterpart, with readers praising the sense of Halloween nostalgia that Willems set out to convey in the book. In 2021, she and James were credited as writers for IllFonic's *Arcadegeddon*.

## Personal life

Willems is married to fellow performer and Funhaus cast member James Willems, and they live in Los Angeles, California.

## Filmography

### Video games

 2021
 2022

## References

1. ↑ James Willems on Instagram. Instagram.
2. ↑ "Are Birds Evil?" and Other Tough Questions - The Funhaus Podcast. YouTube (Funhaus) (January 14, 2021).
3. ↑ Elyse Willems - LinkedIn.
4. ↑  *A Night in Halloween House: Willems, Elyse, McQuaig, Adam: 9781735982410: Amazon.com: Books*. ISBN 1735982415.
5. ↑ Elyse Willems.
6. ↑ TEEN VS \*\*\* - Google Trends Show - YouTube. YouTube (June 5, 2016). Retrieved on October 25, 2020.
7. ↑ RTX Sydney Interview with Elyse Willems - YouTube. YouTube (February 18, 2017).
8. ↑ RTX Sydney: I Didn't Die This Time. Kotaku (February 10, 2017).
9. ↑ RTX Austin 2018: 1 on 1 with RWBY's Barbara Dunkelman and Funhaus' Elyse Willems! - GameSpot. GameSpot.
10. ↑ Jesus Christ Bruce... - YouTube. YouTube (April 30, 2017).
11. ↑ YOU LAUGH, YOU DIE - YLYL #0020 - YouTube. YouTube (PewDiePie) (February 26, 2018).
12. ↑ James and Elyse on Reddit scandals, impressions and long distance relationships - YouTube. YouTube (July 21, 2017).
13. ↑ Rooster Teeth Debuts 'Last Laugh' Comedy Series – TenEighty – Internet culture in focus. TenEighty.
14. ↑ Popular Streamers Play Against Cancer for Jimmy Fund Let's Game. GamingLyfe (October 21, 2020).
15. ↑ Interview: Funhaus' Elyse Willems Talks About Her First Novel. Bleeding Cool (November 11, 2020).
16. ↑ Elyse Willems Wrote a Book (and Nick Read it) - We Have Cool Friends - YouTube. YouTube (Kinda Funny) (November 17, 2020).
17. ↑ A Night in Halloween House by Elyse Willems. Goodreads.
18. ↑ gerritzen on Twitter: "This really makes me smile. Thank you @ElyseWillems & @JamesWillems for being on this crazy ride!". Twitter.
19. ↑ For YouTube channel Funhaus, Being Funny (And Offensive) Is Just Part Of The Brand's Twisted Charm. *Forbes* (July 12, 2016).
20. ↑ Elyse Willems's Profile - Rooster Teeth.

## External links

* Official website
* Elyse Willems on Twitter
* Elyse Willems on IMDb
* Elyse Willems on Instagram