If This Is True with Chris Hall

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 NBC Late Night Writers Workshop, Baldwin Wallace University, a co-founder of Sea Tea Improv in Hartford, CT, and a proud returned Peace Corps volunteer. We discussed our favorite saints, why Northeast Ohio is a gem of an area and the importance of learning from failure. 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 control of his life. His new book, Healing With Humor: Mental Illness To Mental Health One Laugh, One Joke, One Inspiring Story At A Time, tells the stories of people who have taken his classes. His book, OMG That's Me! Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks And More is one of the best selling bipolar disorder books according to BookDNA.com. Get inspired by 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 broad and diverse range of sources. He considers himself very lucky and privileged to have studied with Keith Johnstone, at the Annoyance, iO Theater, Loose Moose, the Pack theater and many more (yet he learns the most from his students). We discussed leaving and coming back to improv and the community he built, what it takes to be a good coach and so much more. Don't miss this! 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 do what they do. For more of this content and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 to have an inflection like another comedian. We also discussed what it takes to be a good working comedian in this marketplace. You can check Danny out in August at SideSplitters Wesley Chapel in Tampa FL. Go to www.dannyjohnson.com for more info! 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 scenes and other forms. We also talked about having characters that you want the audience to root for, even if they are terrible people. 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 many past lives (military, martial artist, firefighter, engineer, adventurist, spiritual seeker, community activist), she bring lived experience to stories about reinvention and what happens when broken people find belonging in one of the most intense environments on earth. The novel explores second chances, radical acceptance, and the crucible of transformation that is the playa. 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Comedy Network, teaches and performs at several international improv festivals as well as locally. Through her performances and teaching, Yuehan strives to create a fun, connected atmosphere and is passionate about spreading the joy and freedom that improvisation brings. Yuehan brings joy to everything she does. 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Women in the Arts & Media Award for Solo Show Scripts and just finished a successful European tour. We talked about parenting with night time jobs, handling hecklers and so much more. Give this a listen! For more information, go to ophiraeisenberg.com. 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 rural provinces. Some of these stories demonstrate the moral disaster of eugenics, while others tell of courage and love and that indomitable magic of the human spirit that refuses to be silenced in the face of unspeakable crimes. This sweeping tale is a warning to us, as well, that what we might think is unimaginable needs only apathy and inattention to arise. We discussed writing, music and so much more. Don't be a blockhead! Listen to this! 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 road and in Chicago, struggling with the Harold and succeeding with its structure, and so much more. Don't miss this one! John will be performing in 2SQUARE with Peter Grosz at Del Close Marathon (DCM) 26, Sunday, June 14, at 7:30 PM at the Theater for the New City, Stage Two. For tickets, go to https://ucbcomedy.com/dcm. 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. She founded Alexandra Beller/Dances in 2002, creating more than forty dance-theater works across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Her theater credits include Off-Broadway productions of Sense and Sensibility (Folger Shakespeare, A.R.T., Portland Center Stage; Helen Hayes Award, Lortel nomination), How to Transcend a Happy Marriage (Lincoln Center Theater), and The Mad Ones , as well as regional work with Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, La MaMa, La Jolla Playhouse, Milwaukee Rep, and The Goodman Theatre. Her directing credits include Macbeth (Theater Row) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (92Y). She has taught at institutions including Barnard, SUNY Purchase, Rutgers, UC Santa Barbara, the University of Michigan, The New School, and Princeton University, where she taught for seven years. Alexandra currently serves on faculty at the Laban Institute for Movement Studies and Gibney Dance Center and teach internationally through residencies and master classes. Her forthcoming books are The Embodied Conductor: A Somatic Approach with Laban and Bartenieff (Meredith Music, 2025) and The Anatomy of Art: Unlocking the Creative Process for Theater and Dance (Bloomsbury, 2026). You can get her books at alexandrabellerdances.org. This was an inspired episode. Give it a listen! 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Dr. Cotton has done a gazillion interesting things, and we only had time for half that in this episode! Check it out! 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 of If This Is True, brings forth what drives creatives to do what they do. For more of this content and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 peacekeeping life — Irish jokes told over Turkish coffee, UN bureaucracy that would make Kafka blush — but beneath the laughter sits something serious—the idea that belief and integrity still matter. This was a spirited conversation! Don't miss it! 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 This Is True, brings forth what drives creatives to do what they do. For more of this content and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 books – Born in Space and Space Vault -- have been praised heavily for their mesmerizing world-building, high-impact action, deep character development, philosophical explorations, and most of all, a realistic portrayal of what life in space could look like from the detailed eye of a reporter who has covered war zones, natural disasters, and economic crises. Clift has lived in China, Egypt, Great Britain, India, France, Philippines, Washington DC, and elsewhere. From his international experiences he was able to imagine universal struggles out in deep space. SOOOOO Interesting! 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 learned she is stronger than she realized and capable of anything she sets her mind to. Teri graduated from UNC Greensboro with a multitude of degrees – majors in Elementary Education and Psychology and minors in Math and Sociology – she just couldn’t settle on one thing! While homeschooling her four children, she began her writing career by focusing on small businesses, writing articles, blog posts, and website content. Upon winning the First Annual Anita Bloom Ornoff Award for Inspirational Short Story for a piece about her grandfather, she began writing in earnest, and published her debut novel in 2022, Sunflowers Beneath the Snow, a historical fiction set in Ukraine. Her second novel published in 2023, An Enemy Like Me, takes place during WWII. Her latest novel, Daughters of Green Mountain Gap, a generational story about Appalachian healers came out in January 2024. In June 2024, her short story, The Youngest Lighthouse Keeper, came out in the anthology Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women. Her latest book, 10 Little Rules for a Double-Butted Adventure (Feb 2025), My first children's picture book, Little Lola and Her Big Dream, came out in April of last year. Teri is a delight. Listen to this!! 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 pushing boundaries, experimenting with form, and ultimately creating something that is both meaningful and entertaining. This was a spirited convo covering what artists should do, loneliness, taking risks and so much more. Don't miss it!! 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 and interaction, you can also go to my substack, coolmite25.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.