“Live From New York, it’s Saturday Night.” If you’ve been conscious and living on this planet for any of the four previous decades you’ve no doubt heard this introduction, and, at least once, taken in the hour and a half of late night satirical comedy that followed. For me, like so many others, watching Saturday Night Live was a weekly ritual enacted with no less than ten of my closest friends; it was the very centerpiece of my weekend around which all other events revolved.  And while each generation can lay claim to the SNL cast members of their day, mine was blessed to see the show from its inception, with…well, the original cast.  Taking nothing away from the brilliance of the performers that followed in their wake, to me Saturday Night Live will always mean John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Garret Morris, Jane Curtin, and last, but not least, the woman whose “Valley Girl” would be widely imitated but never improved upon, Laraine Newman.

While Laraine is most known for the characters she performed on SNL, her life as an artist and entertainer began years before at The Groundlings, the premier improvisational group of Los Angeles, of which she was a founding member.  It was in that very theater company that Laraine wrote the outrageous and funny monologues for the diverse group of characters she created – some, like the Valley Girl, that would accompany her to the bright lights of television production in the Big Apple.     

Today, Laraine still keeps a hand in the performance side of her career, doing voice over work for animated characters that can be heard all over television and film. But like many improvisational actors, Laraine is not just an actress.  Her primary emphasis now is, in fact, her writing.  To this end, Laraine credits a class that she took recently, a workshop taught by Claudette Sutherland, that has shaped her natural gifts as a writer. “Claudette’s class was a long needed breath of fresh air for me.” says Laraine. “She’s process oriented and I discovered in her class ways to root my writing in the moment.”

Ms. Sutherland’s work is based on the belief that the two careers of acting and writing are built on similar principles of language and structure brought alive by scrupulous attention to detail.  Her Creative Writing Program is based on writing exercises and constructive critiquing designed to keep the writer connected with the practice of their work.

Thanks to Claudette’s instruction, Laraine felt more than up to the task when Amy Ephron came calling in search of a contributing editor for her website, One For the Table, which celebrates great food and great writing with must-read essays that are as wonderfully unique and creative as the recipes they introduce.  If you love food and great writing, check out One For the Table and Laraine’s contributions like “The Wagon Train,” a hilarious discourse on the pleasures and tortures of cooking for her children. Wouldn’t you love to have a seat at that dinner table?

Search for Creative Writing classes on Two Smart Dogs.  GO!