If This Is True with Chris Hall

Jenny Hagel is an Emmy nominated TV writer and comedy performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers, where she created the recurring segment "Jokes Seth Can't Tell"--which New York Magazine called "the best segment in late night."

Jenny also served as head writer/executive producer of the Amber Ruffin Show. Other writing credits include the Golden Globe Awards, Impractical Jokers, and the Big Gay Sketch Show. She has been nominated for two GLAAD Awards for her work addressing LGBTQ issues on TV. Her debut essay collection, "Advice No One Asked For," is available wherever books...

Stacey is a powerhouse performer, director, and educator with over a decade of experience. Known for her explosive shows, relentless positivity, and unmatched work ethic, she previously served as Artistic Director and Director of Education at the legendary Boom Chicago Theater in Amsterdam, where she was also a mainstage cast member.

Originally from Long Island, New York, Stacey grew up steeped in music and musical theater before studying theater, speech, and music at university. She moved to Chicago to pursue comedy, where she trained at The Second City, iO, and The Annoyance, landing her first full-time...

Rosie Tran is a New Orleans-born, Los Angeles-based stand-up comic whose credits include Last Comic Standing, Netflix Is a Joke, a Peacock half-hour special, and international touring. She’s also the creator and host of Rosie Tran Presents, a comedy showcase series now streaming on Tubi and Amazon that celebrates female and diverse voices in stand-up comedy.

We discussed being green and getting on the stage to learn what works and what doesn't. We also talked about the types of shows she prefers and how we can come together as a country with the help of th...

Scotty Watson recently appeared in a very popular series of commercials for the New York TV market. Off-Broadway Scotty was seen as the disembodied head of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton in the Off-Broadway musical Walmartopia! He is an alumnus of The Second City Canadian National Touring Company and served as an alternate for, “Bebe,” in Cirque du Soleil's Mystere. He’s a graduate of UCB and an active member of The Magnet community.

Scotty has dressed up as David Crosby, a human heart, and Carmen Miranda… but with dignity. He has done feature films with Ed Asner, Er...

Well, they keep it more like 150. As in 150 episodes? I thought I’d catch up with old friends to discuss a myriad variety of topics, like being empty nesters. Cross country dating. What it’s like to be in the upcoming movie Durango Seems Like A Great Place To Die., and so much more.

Susan and John are two of the best people when it comes to learning from them and having them as your best cheerleaders. Their positivity knows no bounds. Even when the subject matter is bleak. To recommit in doing the hard things in l...

Steven Morgan is an improvisation theatre practitioner who has been playing for over ten years, and since has played, performed and taught all over the world.

He is Steven Morgan is a former cast member, performer & teacher with Amsterdam’s easylaughs from 2019 to 2023. While at easylaughs, he held the role of Chief of Learning, responsible for the teaching methods and course content for the school.

In 2023 & 2024 he auditioned for a place on the Dutch cast of the renowned improv festival Impro Amsterdam for the first time, where he was successful in his endeavour. He...

Russell Van Brocklen is a New York State Senate-funded dyslexia researcher and the founder of DyslexiaClasses.com. His work focuses on helping struggling learners build reading and writing skills by beginning with their strongest abilities rather than repeatedly drilling their weakest ones. His inaugural program moved college-bound students from a middle-school writing level to the average range of entering graduate students on the GRE Analytical Writing Assessment in one school year, for less than $900 per student. Every participant later graduated from college with a GPA between 2.5 and 3.6, without accommodations. Russell now works to give parents and educators a practical...

Kate Sidley is a WGA Award and Peabody Award-winning, Emmy-nominated comedy writer and performer who wrote for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Her first book, How to Be a Saint, is out now. 

Beyond television, her work can be found in The New Yorker, McSweeney's, Reductress, and Someecards. She also wrote for the 69th Emmy Awards.

She holds a M.A. in Theatre History and Criticism from Brooklyn College and a third of a Ph.D. (so just the P) in Theatre from CUNY Graduate Center. She is also an alum of the...

Dave Mowry is a stand up Comedian who teaches the art to people with mental illness. His comedy has been described as smart, inspirational and laugh out loud funny. He lives with bipolar disorder and severe anxiety. Dave was a successful businessman until he lost it all due to his mental illness and becoming homeless with his family for 18 months.

After 14 lost years, he took a stand up comedy class for people with mental illness that changed everything. Dave went from mental illness having control over him to finding the humor in his experiences and regaining...

Terje Brevik is an improv teacher and performer from Oslo, Norway.

Terje took his first improv class in 2012, quit his IT Engineering job and never looked back. He then backpacked across Asia and got a degree as a drama teacher. 

He is the founder the Impro Neuf community in Oslo in 2015. He also founded Tøyen Impro, an improv school for everyone, and the Short Notice Improv Festival, a week long international comedy festival complete with workshops, shows and a Big Day Out!

His ideas, style and preferences come from a...

Traveling, performing and teaching improv, Laurette is a french improviser now living in the Pacific Ocean (New Caledonia, a small archipelago near Australia). She is also a doctor, working in the war torn area of New Caledonia.

She has been playing, learning and teaching in various countries for several years and is always happy to share.

We talked about joy in improv and in her journey. She is a real inspiration! Don't miss this one!

This episode, like all episodes of If This Is True, brings forth what drives creatives to...

David Gillespie is a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, who found a new chapter in writing childrens' books with a heroine and her story based on his family members and adventures. Floo Flocky Doo to the Rescue is a great story of a girl who knows what to do in strange situations. We had a great conversation about writing what you know and telling stories.

Don't miss this one!

This episode, like all episodes of If This Is True, brings forth what drives creatives to do what they do. For more of this content...

Danny Johnson delivers clean stand-up with "Northeast sarcasm and Southern charm," making him a favorite for theaters, corporate events, churches, and community audiences nationwide. A Dry Bar Comedy featured comedian (Apple TV, Amazon & Peacock), he has appeared on Comedy Central, NateLand Live at Zanies, and shared stages with Howie Mandel, Bob Saget, and many others. A Carnival Cruise Line Comedy Challenge winner and 15-year headliner, Danny blends sharp observations, expressive physical comedy, and relatable stories into a show audiences trust and event planners rebook.

We talked about joke and storytelling styles and why it's not ok...

Simone is a theatre practitioner from Malta with experience in acting, directing and scriptwriting. She has an MFA in Staging Shakespeare from the University of Exeter and a strong background in scripted theatre. She is a member of the improv troupes Playing Dead Theatre, Sabir, the online troupe Close Distance and is one half of the duos Invisible Women, Pairentheses and Bold Curls. She was a founding member of the Brussels-based troupe The Ghost Sheep. 

Simone has taught and performed all over Europe. She loves a good duo and we talked about the importance of relationships in duo scene...

The debut of ‘Playa Dust in My Soul’ made Sarah Marshall a newly minted author late in the seventh decade of her life. The shortcomings of her first draft initiated a writer’s journey that took over twenty years to learn how to carve a story from a mountain of information.

As a Burning Man village leader for over twenty years, Sarah has witnessed firsthand how temporary communities catalyze permanent transformation. As a trans woman she had the experience of the event's grace in welcoming her in from outsider to enthusiastic participant. As a business professional with ma...

Yuehan is a designer by day and an improv nerd by evening. Originally from Shanghai, China, and now based in Stockholm, Sweden. 

She is the founder of English improv community - Fika Improv Group in Stockholm, where she's committed to connecting improvisers and sharing our passion for improv in a welcoming space. Graduated from Second City, she has also been training with teachers from different schools around the world like Jay Sukow, Liz Allen, Susan Messing, Aretha Sills and Billy Merritt. Yuehan is half of the Scandinavian Asian duo "Herring & Chopsticks", is a performer at BIT Co...

Ophira Eisenberg is a standup comedian, writer, and podcast host (NPR, CBS, CNN, The Moth, HBO, Comedy Central, iHeart) who headlines theaters and comedy venues across the world, tours regularly with the Moth Mainstage, and hosts the weekly parenting-comedy podcast Parenting is a Joke (Webby Finalist for Best Host). 

She also hosted NPR’s trivia comedy show Ask Me Another for 9 years. 

Her breakout memoir Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy (Seal Press) has been optioned for a television series, and her solo show Leaving A Mark: A Comedy About Scars won Wome...

Monte Schulz received his M.A. in American Studies from University of California, Santa Barbara. He published his first novel, Down by the River, in 1990, and spent the next twelve years writing a novel about the Jazz Age. His most recent novel, award winning Metropolis, was published in 2022. His father is the late cartoonist Charles M. Schulz.

Building on the world Schulz created in his highly successful book Metropolis, Undercity collects the voices of brave survivors, of those who’ve refused to submit to the indignities of eugenical persecution, the horror of gas chambers, and relentless warfare in r...

John Lutz is an actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is best known for playing J. D. Lutz on the sitcom 30 Rock, and for his work as a writer on the NBC series Saturday Night Live for seven seasons. In 2014, he joined the writing staff of the NBC late-night talk show Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Lutz began his professional career as a writer-performer with Chicago's ImprovOlympic and The Second City theaters. He was hired at Saturday Night Live in February 2004 after spending three years touring with Second City.

We discussed life on the...

Alexandra is an artist, educator, and somatic guide working with movement as a way to access creative authority, embodied clarity, and deep personal voice. Her work supports artists, teachers, activists, facilitators, and guides to strengthen their inner compass while leading, creating, and communicating. She is fascinated by how decision-making lives in the body: how gesture holds belief, habit becomes pedagogy, and intuition is a fluent language.

She is a choreographer, director, and educator working at the intersection of dance, theater, and somatics and was a member of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company from 1995–2001. Sh...

Meet Dr. Peter B. Cotton, a renowned gastroenterologist and professor with a five-decades-long career, who has touched the lives of thousands, including royalty and celebrities. In his second act, he has become an award-winning children’s book author, captivating young minds with his tales.

His latest book, “What Fred The Snake And Friends’ Learn About The Chinese Zodiac – And The Great Race,” introduces young readers to the Chinese Zodiac, blending education and entertainment. This book is part of a beloved series featuring Fred the Snake, inspired by the flexible instruments Dr. Cotton used in his medical procedures...

Brad Elder is an award-winning author and attorney, living in Texas. Prior to writing his action thriller, Recoil of Justice, his writing credits 

Included millions of emails and text messages, and a couple of dozen witty social media posts.

When not poking fun at himself, Brad spends his days in Lubbock, TX, with his wife, Ashton, and his two children, Lauren and Jake.

We talked about the hero's journey of his protagonist, Ryan Wolfe, and how he wrote his first novel. Don't miss it!

This episode, like all episodes o...

Michael is a retired New York City detective who somehow found his way from Manhattan to the Balkans. After his time with the NYPD, Michael spent two decades working internationally for the U.S. Department of State, the United Nations, and the Department of Justice; He’s seen the best and worst of human behavior — often in the same afternoon.

Michael has written Land of Broken Toys: Kosovo, a work of fiction based on real events. The novel is part crime thriller, part dark comedy, and part fish-out-of-water story. There’s humor in the absurdities of peacek...

Alex Mann is an improviser, actor, comedian and author. His book, the Law of Improv came out in paperback in 2025. He has performed in several plays, shows, commercials, and TV shows, based out of the Boston area.

He is also been a sheriff for 28 years, and uses that experience to explore how improvisational principles can help first responders communicate and strengthen leadership. The Law of Improv provides a framework for that practice. 

You ought to be arrested if you don't listen to this one!

This episode, like all episodes of If Th...

The future of space may be shaped by a coming scramble for off-world resources, the rise of humans born and raised beyond Earth, and the disruptive power of AI and robotics. Genetic engineering will redefine not only crops but humanity itself, transforming survival in stark new ways. And in time, contact with alien species could spark conflicts or alliances that alter our destiny. These are some of the elements explored in a new science-fiction series set just 40–80 years from now, written by Jeremy Clift, a former journalist with two decades of global reporting experience.

His boo...

Born in Athens, Greece as an Air Force brat, Teri M Brown came into this world with an imagination full of stories to tell. She now calls the North Carolina coast home, and the peaceful nature of the sea has been a great source of inspiration for her creativity.

Not letting 2020 get the best of her, Teri chose to go on an adventure that changed her outlook on life. She and her husband, Bruce, rode a tandem bicycle across the United States from Astoria, Oregon to Washington DC, successfully raising money for Toys for Tots. She...

Over the years, Cameron Smith has used comedy, music and film as ways to process life and connect with people in a real, unpolished way. 

His latest project, The Loneliest Boy on Earth, came out of that impulse — part experiment, part personal confession, and part attempt to make sense of love and identity in the modern world. 

He has learned that vulnerability, when shared honestly, can be both healing and entertaining (also provocative and dangerous).

Across all mediums — whether film, music, or live conversation — my work is about pus...

Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke is an award-winning author whose Jake Fortina series has captivated readers with its razor-sharp realism, fast-paced storytelling, and unforgettable characters. With three acclaimed novels already on shelves—and a fourth installment, Vital Mission, launching this August—Steinke has established himself as a fresh, authoritative voice in the military thriller genre.

Readers praise his novels for their vivid detail, believable dialogue, and storylines that feel startlingly real. From international flashpoints to complex characters operating under extreme pressure, Vital Mission continues the gripping tradition of a series that feels both timeless and timely.

You can...

John Fugelsang is an actor, comedian, talk show host, and former VH1 VJ, but did you know he is also a best selling author?

His book, Separation of Church and Hate is a guide for navigating conversations with fake Christians and your relatives who attend the megachurch, but don’t live by Jesus’ example. It’s a NYT best seller!

You can hear him on Tell Me Everything, part of the programming on SiriusXM Progress, channel 127.

Listen to this one. It will change your life.

This episode, like all ep...

Drawn to a career in the arts, multi-hyphenate (actor, director, playwright, comedian) Chris Ferretti acted in several theatrical productions that no one ever saw.

Ferretti studied theatre and marketing at the University of Rhode Island, which is as good of a recipe as any to become a bartender in Connecticut.

Working several jobs and bartending nights, Ferretti continued to perform in several productions, which ultimately led him to studying acting, directing and playwriting at the Actors Studio, where he received his MFA and once shook hands with Bradley Cooper.

An...

Kevin Allison is the creator and host of the hit podcast, RISK!, where people tell true stories they never thought they’d dare to share. Since its 2009, RISK! has produced nearly 1000 episodes. Slate once called RISK! “Hilarious, jaw-dropping and just plain touching.” Kevin is also the founder and lead instructor of The Story Studio, a storytelling school which offers classes and corporate workshops around the world and online. He is also the editor of the book adaptation of RISK!, published by Hachette Books in 2018.

As an actor, writer and comedian, Kevin began his career as a founding membe...

Since 2014, Anthony LaMarca has served as the multi-instrumentalist in The War On Drugs. He has also released five albums as The Building. He also engineers and produces albums for other artists at his Youngstown, Ohio studio, Peppermint Productions. Along with his partners Dean Anshutz and Peppermint founder Gary Rhamy, they also archive and reissue recordings from the studio's more than fifty year history.

We talked about his love of polka music and why Youngstown, Ohio is special. Don't miss this one!

This episode, like all episodes of If This Is True, brings forth wha...

Award-winning author Jane Rubin’s powerful new novel Over There—the final installment in her best-selling Gilded City trilogy—illuminates a little-known chapter of Jewish-American history with striking relevance for today. Set during World War I, Over There follows a family of Jewish doctors and nurses who serve with courage and compassion amid the horrors of trench warfare, advancing medicine while grappling with displacement, rising antisemitism, and questions of identity in a country they were still learning to call home.

“More than 250,000 Jewish Americans answered the call to serve in 1917,” says Rubin. “Their stories deserve to be remembered—not...

A proudly queer comedian and artist, Louie Pearlman has been fueling the NYC comedy scene since 2002.

His original sketches starring the Sesame Street Muppets are featured at Sesame Street Learn and Play in the American Dream Mall, NJ. As a writer for The Sesame Street Podcast and the Webby Award winning Ready Set Ride with Elmo, he engages young audiences with humor and creativity. 

An esteemed instructor at The Second City NYC and Improv for Life, Louie nurtures future performers, with his classes featured on People.com. 

He also produces, directs, pe...

Bethany Hall is Creative Director of Comedy Initiatives at the Center for Media & Social Impact. Additionally, she serves as the Co-Creator and Executive Producer of GoodLaugh at CMSI where she leads the Comedy ThinkTanks and is the comedy architect for creative comedy initiatives. Hall is also proud to be the Creative Director of the Yes, And...Laughter Lab. She is a writer, producer, and comedian who spent years as a cast member on ‘The Chris Gethard Show’ on TruTV. She co-created and EP’d the series, ‘Thanksgiving’ now on Amazon Prime. In 2023 Hall made her staged works directorial debut at the Kenn...

A native Rhode Islander, Amy is a mild-mannered health data analyst by day, shamelessly bold improviser by night Her educational background includes a bachelor's degree in Mathematics, a Master of Library and Information Science, and a multitude of classes and workshops with Groundlings School, Impro Theatre, Freestyle Love Supreme Academy, and numerous other instructors from London to Los Angeles. Currently, she can be found coaching and performing at Kismet Improv in Pawtucket, playing on stage in the fast-paced high energy games of The Bit Players in Newport, and taking tarot-inspired improv to various festival stages with Whatever Fate Decides.

For the past 15 years, George has served as the Dean of the Orthodox Church in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Earlier in his career he was senior engineer at the National Research Nuclear University and a manager in the research laboratory for Russia Research Institute of Information Technologies, in Moscow.

How does a scientist become a man of the cloth? You can find out through this episode!  Atomic Shepherd is his newest book, his 20th. He has had nine novels and 11 books on theology published. He is a member of the Writer’s Union of Russia, and...

Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Laura King. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s.[1] The band is known for its energetic, high-velocity style and strong do-it-yourself ethic.

McCaughan and Ballance founded the successful independent record label Merge Records in 1989 as a way to release music from Superchunk and music created by friends, which has expanded to include artists from around the world and records reaching th...

Whatever stormed through the ‘90s and early 2000s with a relentless barrage of punk rock anthems fueled by disillusionment, isolation, and raw fury. Now, nearly 25 years later, original members Ben Wrecked (vocals/guitar)and Matt Fish (drums) are back, louder and sharper than ever, joined by Brett Moore (guitar) and Peter Woodward (bass/vocals) to resurrect one of the Midwest’s most fierce punk acts.

Their latest album, Into Darker Days, marks the band’s first full-length release since 1997’s Youngsters (DSR 69), delivering 12 new tracks that hit with the same melodic urgency and unapologetic edge fans have...

Katherine Davis-Gibbon is an award-winning children’s book author, publisher, certified yoga and Pilates teacher, and mother of two Generation Alpha kids. She founded Riverlet Press in 2021, as a platform for books that illuminate and enrich the child’s inner life. Her debut book, My Old Friend, Then, received praise from critics, teachers, therapists, and parents, as well as the following awards recognition: Distinguished Favorite in the 2022 New York City Big Book Awards; Finalist in the 2022 American Book Fest’s Best Book Awards; and Distinguished Favorite in the 2023 Independent Press Awards. 

Her forthcoming book, Words, is already...