This Much Is True - Chicago's Most Intimate Storytelling Event
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​2nd Thursday of Every Month

Mrs. Murphy & Sons
Irish Bistro 

 3905 N Lincoln Ave., Chicago


7:30 PM (Doors at 7:00) 
​FREE



We will be following all current health and safety guidelines. At this time, vaccination status will not be checked and masks are not required, but welcomed.



This Much Is True is the longest running monthly storytelling show in Chicago, IL. (Since 2008). Every month, we come together for an evening of true personal stories from some of Chicago's most fascinating people. An all new cast takes the stage each month to let you in on the heartbreaking, the hilarious, and everything in between. 

Past guests have included writers, actors, chefs, theologians, SNL alums, musicians, bloggers, activists, professional storytellers, comedians, and more from our city and around the world. We hope that you can join us.


September 8th Cast

Margaret Daley

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 Margaret Daly is a cellist, and has no other marketable skills. She has played in a lot of towns and a lot of orchestras, quartets, trios and the like in many countries. Just ask her. She is trying to hone her verbal skills.


Rhiannon Koehler

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Rhiannon Koehler is an actor, writer, storyteller, and director of content strategy for a creative agency in Chicago. She is thrilled to be back for the second time with This Much is True, having performed before with 10x9,  Is This a Thing?, and Pour One Out. In her free time she hangs with her dog Pippa and searches for mid-2000s rom-coms and disaster movies she hasn't yet seen.


Michael McCarty

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My mother read and told me stories. I began formerly telling stories in high school in the 60’s when I discovered amazing stories of Black history and culture that weren’t taught in schools. In 1992 I discovered the world of professional storytelling, and I’ve been telling stories and teaching storytelling around the country and around the world ever since. I specialize in stories of African and African-American history and culture, multi-cultural stories, etc. Since 2014 I’ve worked in California prisons as part of the Arts In Corrections program teaching inmates how to find, develop and tell their stories. My life has been one heaven of a story: Student activist, Black Panther, US Army martial arts instructor, acupuncturist, world traveler, spiritual seeker, construction worker, storyteller, husband, father, crazy friend. Never a dull moment! I LOVE my life;-)



Connie Shirakawa

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Connie Shirakawa is a native Chicagoan who tells stories all around town about growing up on the west side. Her solo show, WOMEN WARRIORS, will be live at Lifeline Theatre in mid-January if you want to hear her whole account of the strong and fierce women in her family.


Ali Siddiqui

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Born into a household of over 16 family and extended family members, Ali has grown to love sharing stories across a (very long) dinner table. These family members and the diverse community Ali grew up with on the North Side of Chicago continue to inspire many of his stories today. After graduating from Loyola University, Ali served as a Teach For America corps member where he taught high school Chemistry on Chicago's South Side. Despite his amazing adventures teaching, Ali decided to turn over his snow boots for some sunglasses by moving to California to work on a project for the Gates Foundation. Now, after a one-year-turned-five-year trip to California, Ali is back in Chicago and working remotely as a Learning Design Consultant. He's reconnecting with his Chicago roots and taking on a slew of new projects which including running a nonprofit organization, starting a cheesecake business with his four siblings, and trying to teach his father how to use the remote.


Scott Whitehair

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Host/producer of This Much Is True

Scott Whitehair is a storyteller, teacher, and producer living in Chicago, IL. He is the producer of 
This Much Is True,  creator of Story Lab Chicago, which has put 700+ new storytellers on stage since 2011, and director of Do Not Submit, a grassroots network of open mics across the city bringing people together to connect with each other. Scott tells anywhere someone will listen, including The National Storytelling Festival Exchange Place, Steppenwolf Theater, the historic Green Mill, and on NPR, the Risk podcast, and Siruis XM. He is a frequent guest instructor at the city's top universities, and his personal narrative class has been selling out every month since 2012. Scott is in demand as a coach and trainer, spending his days helping individuals, companies, and non-profits develop their voices as storytellers.