The multi-talented actor, writer, producer, and former Obama staffer shares his first book, You Can’t Be Serious. This refreshingly candid memoir follows Penn’s surprising journey from smoking fake weed with a fake President in Harold & Kumar to serving the country and advising a real one. In conversation with Valerie Jarrett (Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward). The conversation will be follow by an audience Q&A.
View the House Program Here
There are a limited number of companion tickets available, these tickets are $20 and do not include a book. To purchase a companion ticket, add a standard ticket and a companion ticket to your cart. The companion ticket will be discounted at checkout. Note that companion tickets are only available to purchase with a full-price ticket and don't include a copy of the book. All other tickets, excluding livestream, come with a copy of You Can’t Be Serious from our friends at Strand Bookstore.
Please note, while Kal Penn has pre-signed books, there will not be signing line at this event.
Kal Penn has played leading roles in some of the world’s most-watched television shows, including How I Met Your Mother, 24, Designated Survivor, House, and more. He currently stars in the CBS series Clarice, a sequel to Silence of the Lambs, and the Disney Junior animated series Mira, Royal Detective. He was also the cocreator and star of the NBC/Universal comedy Sunnyside, and host, cocreator, and executive producer of a six-episode series in October 2020 for Disney’s Freeform Channel called Kal Penn Approves This Message, aimed at entertaining and informing young voters. On the big screen, Kal has starred in movies that have collectively grossed more than a billion dollars, including the Harold and Kumar franchise, National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, Superman Returns, The Namesake, and many other critically acclaimed blockbuster titles. He has also served as an Adjunct Lecturer in Sociology and Film Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and in Sociology and Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. Kal has worked at the very highest levels of politics, as an Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, where he was President Obama’s Liaison to Young Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the Arts communities in America. He was born and raised in New Jersey.
Valerie Jarrett is the President of the Barack Obama Foundation and a Senior Distinguished Fellow at The University of Chicago Law School. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward, published in April 2019. She serves as Board Chairman of Civic Nation, Co-Chair of The United State of Women, senior advisor to Attn, and is a One Million Black Women Advisory Board member. Jarrett also serves on the boards of Walgreens Boot Alliance, Inc., Ralph Lauren Corporation, Lyft, Inc., 2U, Inc., Ariel Investments, The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, The Innocence Project, Sesame Street Workshop and the Economic Club of Chicago.
Ms. Jarrett was the Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama from 2009-2017 making her the longest serving senior advisor in history. She oversaw the Offices of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs and Chaired the White House Council on Women and Girls. Ms. Jarrett worked throughout her tenure at the White House to mobilize elected officials, business and community leaders, and diverse groups of advocates. She led the Obama Administration’s efforts to expand and strengthen access to the middle class, and boost American businesses and our economy. She championed the creation of equality and opportunity for all Americans, and economically and politically empowering women in the United States and around the world. She oversaw the Administration’s advocacy for workplace policies that empower working families, including equal pay, raising the minimum wage, paid leave, paid sick days, workplace flexibility, and affordable childcare, and led the campaigns to reform our criminal justice system, end sexual assault, and reduce gun violence.
Ms. Jarrett has a background in both the public and private sectors. She served as the Chief Executive Officer of The Habitat Company in Chicago, the Commissioner of Planning and Development for the city of Chicago, Deputy Chief of Staff for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and practiced law for ten years in the private and public sector. She also served as the director of numerous corporate and not-for-profit boards including leadership positions as Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Stock Exchange, Chairman of the University of Chicago Medical Center Board of Trustees, Vice Chairman of the University of Chicago Board of Trustees,
Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Chair of Chicago Transit Board. Ms. Jarrett has also received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including TIME’s “100 Most Influential People” Award.
Jarrett received her B.A. from Stanford University in 1978 and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981.
At the Thalia Book Club, readers and writers meet for intimate conversations about compelling new books and favorite classics in fiction, essay, biography and more. Evenings include an actor performing an excerpt, an interview, and a conversation with the audience.
Group discounts are available for groups of fifteen people or more. Please contact the Box Office.
Read Less
