Hey there, friends! It’s me, Count Vacula, with a fresh No Filter just for you!I’m really happy because this week you get to meet Lauren Ashley Smith. She’s a television writer and producer, and in fact, Lauren was the first-ever female African American head writer of a sketch comedy TV show! She’s smart and funny, and best of all, she’s very kind.When you’re trying to make a new friend, it’s helpful to ask them questions about themselves and then really listen to what they tell you. I asked Lauren a lot of questions, and she answered them all! She told me about her dogs, Jelly and Rowdy, and about her sisters, and about her new robot vampire vacuum cleaner (hi, Florida!), and about how writers can make the actors on their shows say all kinds of silly stuff! One thing we have in common is that we both host audio shows—even though mine is a podcast and hers is on the radio. We also both love to tell funny stories and joke around. Lauren told me a hilarious knock-knock joke, and a really great made-up story about how our shoes decide how tall we are, and then we made ourselves LOL all over the place pretending that we didn’t know each other. It was really fun!You know, I used to be really nervous about meeting new people, but now every time I practice making friends I end up having a great time! I think you’ll have a great time getting to know Lauren, too!Have you made any new friends lately? Or is there someone you want to make friends with, but you’ve been feeling shy? Tell me about it and maybe we can come up with some things you can do to get to know them better. In the meantime, I’m really glad that you’re my friend, and I’m really glad that we got to spend some time together today!Talk to you again soon!Your pal, Vac