So Sez Rick

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.

Christmas day 1972 I got the best gift I've ever gotten, a lesson about life from my dad.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Moving from the farm to Chicago to become an actor was culture shock but living in Little Italy is where I found my people.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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?

Laura and I have been in "the biz" since the mid 80's and we have plenty of stories. This episode we share a few like almost getting fired by Kiefer Sutherland or when Roger Daltry came over to record vocals in our little garage studio. Yep, true stories this episode.

Some of the episodes of So Sez Rick are about our daughter, Ruthie. In this episode she tells her version. Risky? Yep, but it turns out okay.

We're making Valentine's day last a little longer into the month of February with a new story I wrote about how my mom and dad met. Then we end the episode with a love song that Laura wrote.

This episode features my first guest storyteller, Fred Rubin. Fred has had a long career as a writer and producer on episodic TV shows including the show where we met, many years ago. In this episode, he tells us about the time they had a very special guest star on the hit show Different Strokes.

Well, if you've ever wondered how I got the nickname -Pigboy-, here you go. Disclaimer: There are some basic details about working at a meat packing plant. It's not too graphic. You can handle it.

In this episode Laura and I share a story and a song that speak to the times we are living in. Hopefully we can all find some middle ground to talk to each other. I have to say, I always knew Laura was a good songwriter but she sings the heck out of this song.

I just finished recording the audiobook of Phil Swann’s The Mozart Conspiracy. The prologue was a hoot to record. I’d like to share it with you. Enjoy.

Here’s the conclusion of the story we started last episode. I hope it puts you in the Christmas spirit. Enjoy.

This episode is the first of a two part series. It’s a story I wrote a few years ago about a live nativity scene and pageant that goes off the rails on Christmas eve at a small Baptist church. Even though it’s a fictional story, the characters are drawn from the people I knew growing up in my small farming town.

If you have ever wondered what a turkey is thinking around this time of year, you will find out in the episode as Rick reads The Turkey Memoirs.

Here are the last two chapters from my audiobook recording of Slice of Pie. Plus, for the first time, we have a guest on the show. I talk with film director, Tim Reischauer about what it was like to shoot the movie version of Slice of Pie.

Here are the last two chapters from my audiobook recording of Slice of Pie. Plus, for the first time, we have a guest on the show. I talk with film director, Tim Reischauer about what it was like to shoot the movie version of Slice of Pie.

Well, it’s time for the next chapter of Slice of Pie. If you didn’t catch chapters 1 and 2, you might want to take a few minutes and listen to Episode 11 first. FYI The conclusion of the story will be in episode 13.

This episode goes back to the archives. We share the first two chapters from Rick’s CD, Slice of Pie. The movie, Slice of Pie was based on the CD version.

In high school, I won an essay writing contest and got a trip to the state capital. If that wasn’t enough, I also ended up with a date to prom, a kiss while sitting on the bank of the Illinois River, and blue ribbon winning tomatoes.

In high school my buddies and I would hang out at the church youth center playing bumper pool, drinking soda, and getting crazy… at least we thought we were wild. Laura helps set the record straight in this episode.

I was working on my farm last week and have some sage advice about how to care for newborn calves. Plus, I get a little nostalgic about work boots. Yep, you heard me right, work boots.

This is a story from my one-man show, “Pigboy”. We’ve all had wise, sage people who’ve helped shape our lives. Sometimes that person is not a traditionally recognized source of philosophical advice. For me, it was the driver of the dead animal truck that came to our farm… yep, he’s a real guy.

This episode will introduce you to some of the basics of pig farming. My wife, Laura, is a city girl who will help clarify some of the more technical points of animal husbandry.

Nobody can really prepare you for the changes your body will experience as you age. You can trust me to give you the facts. I’ve played a doctor on TV.

In honor of my dad on Father’s day.

A very funny story I told recently at the Story Salon in North Hollywood. It’s about the first time I got acupuncture. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, including catching my back on fire. Yep, true story.

When you’re a dad to a couple of teenage girls, everything you do is embarrassing. You can’t win. But every now and then, you can be their hero.

My mom grew up during the depression so she learned to never throw out any food. No matter how old or moldy it was, she could resuscitate it and feed it to our family. She used to say Go ahead and eat it. It won't kill you. And she was right, I have eaten some amazing things in my lifetime and it has not killed me.