by Len Lear

When Luke Sand, 25, was growing up in Laverock, “five minutes from Rita’s Water Ice on Willow Grove Avenue,” he expected to eventually pursue a career as a doctor or lawyer, but when he was a student at Germantown Friends School, he was a class clown kind of guy — “not in a mean way, but I was trying to make people laugh.”

When I asked Luke if any teachers at GFS left a lasting impression on him, he quickly reeled off a list of 15 teachers’ names, too many to list here. “All of them were amazing and helped mold me into a the man I am today … Everyone left lasting impressions!”

After graduating from GFS in 2008, Luke went to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he graduated in 2012 with a major in Writing Seminars with a concentration on fiction and poetry. At the same time, though, he did some stand-up comedy, and “as I got more interested in comedy and in writing, I started researching how people went about starting a career in it and tried to figure out how I could do it.”

You might say that the Sands of time filtered through the hourglass and moved in the direction of a comedy career. The summer after he graduated from Johns Hopkins, Luke started taking a bus from Philly to New York City two or three times a week to take improvisation and sketch writing classes at The Upright Citizens Brigade, an improv theater and training center founded by comedians such as former Saturday Night Live star, Amy Poehler.

In the fall of 2012, Luke got a non-comedy job with a company called College Glasses (AKA Pop Promos) in Philadelphia, doing sales, while still taking the bus to New York as often as he could.

In May of 2013, Luke started the NBCUniversal Page Program in New York, which he did for one year. “That was amazing,” he recalled. “I had assignments with Saturday Night Live (SNL) and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as it transitioned into The Tonight Show, and I gave a ton of tours of 30 Rock’s studios.”

Luke progressed to NBC’s “Integration Services,” a part of their Studio Operations for the summer of 2014, and was then hired as an SNL Writers’ Assistant before the beginning of their 40th season in September of 2014. How did Luke pull that off?

He had met some people at SNL through his work in the page program and knew the writers’ assistant job was going to be opening at the end of that summer (2014). “So I applied, e-mailed everyone I had met, updating them on what I had been doing and that I was honored just to apply for the job. Then I was interviewed, and I got it. I’m still not sure what they were thinking.”

Since Luke has gotten to know some of the stars we are all so familiar with, some of whom have gone to movie careers, who were Luke’s favorite cast members? “I can’t say I’ve got any one favorite,” he replied, “but I have a lot of love for Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Kenan Thompson and so many others.”

According to Sand, anywhere from one to four writers will work on a sketch, but once it gets picked by the show, all of the other writers help re-write it. It’s a team effort, in other words.

What were Luke’s favorite sketches among those he worked on? “I work on all the sketches in different ways but not in a creative way. We have almost 40 combined writers and cast members, and I am the one writers’ assistant, so they need someone to help with their scheduling and legal notes and the little stuff more than they need another writer.”

What was the hardest thing Luke ever had to do? “My life hasn’t been too hard! Probably moving out of Philadelphia away from my family and friends was the hardest thing.”

What is the best advice Luke ever received? “Just be yourself. Don’t wear jeans!”

Which talent that Luke does not have would he most like to have? “I wish I was a better swimmer. I always loved being in the water but was never a great swimmer.”

What is Luke’s most treasured possession? “My dad gave me a watch when I graduated high school that I love so much I can’t even wear it.”

If Luke could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? “New York City, a nicer apartment in the East Village.”

Luke, who likes to go to the movies in his spare time, insists that his most impressive characteristic is “my beard, probably.”

If he could meet and spend time with anyone on earth, who would it be?

“Noah Goodman, one of my oldest friends from GFS. He’d pick me up from the train station, and we’d go get a big lunch. He’d make me pick up the tab, but it’d be worth it.”

For more information, email Lukeysand@gmail.com.