So Sez Rick
Rick’s stories take audiences on a journey, from his days as a boy growing up on the farm, to working as an improvisor at The Second City in Chicago, to being an actor in Los Angeles. But you can’t take the farm out of the boy. He still owns a farm back in central Illinois, so Rick's a storyteller who worries about the price of grain! All of his stories are true… well, mostly true. “Rick Hall’s storytelling is spellbinding” – The New York Times
Episodes
January 8, 2022 • 19 min
This episode features a fine storyteller, Sean Ewert. When I heard him tell this story about his dad a couple of weeks ago, I knew I wanted him on the show. Sean is not only a top notch story teller but he teaches storytelling and co-stars in a cooking show on youtube. As a bonus on this episode, Laura and I will make an official announcement about an upcoming life changing event for us.
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December 21, 2021 • 20 min
Christmas day 1972 I got the best gift I've ever gotten, a lesson about life from my dad.
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December 3, 2021 • 24 min
My buddy Ty Fance is the guest storyteller on this episode. I always enjoy the way he weaves his stories. His story is about when he was young and would steal tomatoes from the neighbor's garden. When you get caught, it can be a pain in the butt, literally.
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November 19, 2021 • 17 min
I thought getting a varsity letter on the official letterman jacket would magically make me one of the cool guys at my high school. It didn't quite work out that way.
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November 4, 2021 • 16 min
When I was fourteen, my Baptist church youth group went to an event in St. Louis and on the bus ride home I learned to French kiss. I saw glimpse of heaven. It was a profound religious experience.
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October 21, 2021 • 18 min
I remember when I first heard the story about the ghost in the MacMurray College Theater. I thought, what a bunch of baloney. But coming face to face with the ghost late one night made a believer out of me. Then, for an extra treat, after my story we close out the episode with a song Laura wrote about an abandon carnival. Happy Halloween everybody.
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October 7, 2021 • 17 min
When I went back to Chicago to do a play I thought it would be a walk down memory lane. It turns out the most memorable moment happened in the park on my walk to the theater one day.
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September 23, 2021 • 18 min
Moving from the farm to Chicago to become an actor was culture shock but living in Little Italy is where I found my people.
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August 26, 2021 • 13 min
Our band opened for Ronny Cox once and after the show a stranger from the audience and Ronny had a conversation that turned out to be a very special moment in time, a glimpse of grace. Every now and then you get to be in the right place at the right time.
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August 26, 2021 • 15 min
Laura is launching an online video class to teach musicians how to do what she does on Whose Line is it Anyway. We tell some stories about touring together with the Second City and then Laura will give us the scoop on her class, A Musician's Guide to Improv Comedy. There's nothing like this out there.
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August 12, 2021 • 14 min
I cut my teeth as a comic actor in 6th grade when I played the title role in Julius Caesar. My death scene was comic genius, although I'm not sure that was what Shakespeare had in mind when he wrote it.
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July 29, 2021 • 18 min
It's time to have Laura tell some stories through her music. We take a look at the trajectory of Laura's songwriting/band career and play some her songs. It's a fun episode.
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July 15, 2021 • 22 min
Storyteller, community organizer, and super mom, Suzanne Weerts, is our guest. She shares the story of when she was a kid and came close to thinning out the population on her block when she sold her homemade treats. Maybe she should have gone the traditional route and sold lemonade.
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July 1, 2021 • 21 min
I sat down with my friend Phil Swann who has written two of the books that I've narrated. We talk about the books, the music business, and stupid things we've done over the years. We had a good time.
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June 17, 2021 • 22 min
Last month, I spent 10 days working with my brother, Rob, on our farm in Illinois. One night, after a long day of work, I turned on the recorder and we just talked. My brother is 100 percent farmer but he's a good storyteller too. When we got done recording we realized we had created the father's day episode. Happy Father's day!
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June 3, 2021 • 15 min
In second grade, I thought I was quite the Romeo when I kissed Carla Chambers behind the equipment shed at recess. But when I was a teenager, it was a silverback gorilla at the St. Louis zoo that enlightened me about what girls really want in a guy.
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May 19, 2021 • 18 min
When I was young my mom dressed me in jeans for fat boys, aka, Huskies. At the time it was my burden to bear but it sure makes for good storytelling. Listen all the way to the end. Laura and I had a few bloopers that cracked us up. We thought we would share them with you all.
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May 5, 2021 • 18 min
Laura and I tell some of our favorite stories of our amazing moms. By the way, my amazing wife is also a darn good mom!
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April 22, 2021 • 18 min
We invited my old buddy, Michael Raysses, to tell a story he wrote for this episode. Michael and I had a blast talking about living in Chicago, the business, and colonoscopies. Listen all the way to the end. After you might think it's over, I will enlighten you.
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April 8, 2021 • 17 min
My family calls me Captain Friendly because I'll talk to anybody, anywhere. You can learn a lot about people when you get to know them just a little bit. Sometimes you learn something new about yourself. I certainly did in this episode. Who knew I would find enlightenment while standing in the median of a busy LA highway with two strangers?
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