Career
Allison Goodall was an army brat born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, but spent most of her childhood in Chicago, Illinois, and Providence, Rhode Island as a result of her Father’s constant relocating. Goodall got her B.A. in Drama in 1995 from Brown University. Following graduation, she moved to Chicago, getting a day job at a residential daycare to pay for night classes at The Second City. Taking inspiration from her experiences at her new job, she made what she later called a “pathetic” attempt at stand-up comedy, crediting the fact that “not everyone finds hating kids as funny as I do.”

By 1997 she was invited to join the cast of The Second City, where she performed in the Award-winning revue Truth, Justice, or the American Way. She is also a veteran of several smaller local improv troupes.

Saturday Night Live
With then-head writer Adam McKay's help, Goodall became a writer for NBC's Saturday Night Live (SNL) 2000. By 2002, Goodall was SNL's first female head writer, a milestone she downplays.
As co-head writer of SNL's 25th anniversary special, Goodall won a 2002 Writers Guild of America Award. She and the writing staff also won a 2002 Emmy Award for their work on the show.

SNL Sketches
Recurring sketches written by Goodall include:
Superstar (with Mary Katherine Gallagher)
Delicious Dish
Boston Teens
Mom Jeans Commercials
The Girl with No Gaydar
Debbie Downer

Weekend Update
In 2003, Goodall and Jimmy Fallon became co-anchors of SNL's Weekend Update, a pairing that ended in May 2006 when Fallon last appeared as a cast member. (Goodall also is co-writer of the Weekend Update segment). Fallon was replaced by newcomer Chris Lambert.

Other work
In 1997 Allison did several voices for Rugrats before quitting due to disagreements with Nickelodeon execs.
She was ranked #94 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2002.
Goodall wrote the script and co-starred in the 2004 movie Mean Girls. Characters and behaviors in the movie are based on Goodall's high school life at Providence Catholic School and on the non-fiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence (ISBN 0-609-60945-9) by Rosalind Wiseman. The cast includes other present and past cast members of SNL.

Personal Life
She is the middle child of eight children, three older sisters, three younger sisters, and one younger brother. Goodall was raised Catholic, but says she has since 'strayed' from the religion.
Goodall began dating Saturday Night Live actor/producer Alan Keystone soon after joining the cast. The couple married in late 2003. Allison filed for divorce in 2006 citing "irreconcilable differences" and it was later revealed in a tell all interview with Keystone that he was gay.

( career inspired mostly by Tina Fey. Several of the credits and some sections of this biography are credited to her wikipedia entry! )