Laraine Newman – May You Live In Interesting Times

Laraine Newman, original cast member of SNL discusses her life in comedy and her experiences on SNL in her new audiobook/memoir – May You Live In Interesting Times

Listen in as festival co-founder, Marni Freedman talks with Laraine Newman, one of the original cast members of SNL, about her sometimes wild, often groundbreaking life in comedy, her experiences on SNL, and her new audiobook/memoir – May You Live In  Interesting Times. 

May You Live in Interesting Times is a warm, funny, heartfelt snapshot of 1970s New York City and SNL’s unexpected rocket to success, with all the giddy headiness it entailed. Along with famous cast members John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtain, Garret Morris, and Gilda Radner, Laraine was part of the show that changed TV—and comedy—forever. But it wasn’t all yuks and glamour. Laraine struggled with demons; she arrived in New York City with an attraction to drugs that started as a vice, but grew to be an all-consuming addiction even as she skyrocketed to fame via her memorable characters on SNL. 

Event Sponsor: Valerie Sussman, author of Diary of an Ex-Mad Ex-Desperate Ex-Housewife

Meet The Speakers

Laraine Newman

From growing up in Los Angeles with movie star neighbors, bearing witness to the music scene in the 1960s and seeing the rise of comedy in the early 70s, to studying mime in Paris under the tutelage of Marcel Marceau to becoming a founding member of the seminal comedy troupe The Groundlings, it’s no wonder that Lorne Michaels offered Laraine Newman a spot in the original cast of Saturday Night Live. 

There, along with famous cast members John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garret Morris, and Gilda Radner—Bill Murray was passed over at first and joined in a later season—Laraine was part of the show that changed TV—and comedy—forever. 

But it isn’t all yuks and glamor. Laraine struggled with demons.

Arriving in New York City with an attraction to drugs that started as a vice and grew to be an all-consuming addiction even as she sky-rocketed to fame via her memorable characters on SNL.

May You Live in Interesting Times is a warm, funny, heartfelt snapshot of 1970s New York City and SNL‘s unexpected rocket to success, with all the giddy headiness that that entailed.

After 5 seasons, Laraine left SNL, worked in movies and television, while having adventures and relationships in Hollywood that, in her words, “should have gotten me killed.” 

Now with long term sobriety, she became a parent and reinvented herself as a voice-over actor and has a thriving career working on such animated favorites including Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., Despicable Me, Inside Out, Shrek, and Minions.

Marni Freedman (BFA, LMFT) is a screenwriter, playwright, award-winning author, writing coach, and co-founder of the San Diego Writers Festival. After graduating from USC film school, Marni began her career bringing her play, “Two Goldsteins on Acid” to the stage, after which it was made into the film, “Playing Mona Lisa,” produced by Disney. She co-authored the play, A Jewish Joke, about a 1950s comedy writer facing the Hollywood Blacklist, which won the NY Solo Show for best drama, critics’ choice for the San Diego Union-Tribune, and was recently produced Off-Broadway. Marni leads the Memoir Certificate Program for San Diego Writers, Ink, produces the San Diego Memoir Writers Association’s theatrical Memoir Showcase, and is an editor of Shaking the Tree: short. brazen. memoir. She is also a writing coach and a therapist for artists and writers. Her first book, 7 Essential Writing Tools: That Will Absolutely Make Your Writing Better (And Enliven Your Soul) is an Amazon Bestseller. Her second award-winning book is Permission to Roar: For Female Thought Leaders Ready to Write their Book. You can find Marni at www.marnifreedman.com, a writing hub to help writers find their authentic voice.