I’m not only from St. Louis, I live here.
I was bouncing back between New York and L.A. for around 15 years. And then, during COVID, I came back here to be with my family and hunker down while it blew over, and then I didn’t want to leave. I’m so glad that the circumstances of 2020 brought me back, because it’s been the best decision of my life.
In St. Louis, you’re going to have as much fun as in any of the big cities, but you’re not going to wait in line as long, you’re not going to wait for a table, and you’re not going to encounter rude people. And it’s just a quick flight to either coast—we’re right in the center of everything. As someone who works in show business, my career has never been better, and I’ve been able to do it all from St. Louis.
There’s something special about St. Louis, because it really does inspire a lot of talent. There are a lot of comedians from St. Louis: Cedric the Entertainer, Kathleen Madigan, me, Greg Warren...We have the best celebrities: Jon Hamm, Karlie Kloss, Ellie Kemper, Sterling K. Brown, Andy Cohen, Jenna Fischer... I always get asked, “What’s in the water there?” I was free to be myself in St. Louis and experience different cultures and people. That enriched my sense of adventure and my imagination.
I recently shot a TV show in St. Louis, and people from L.A. and New York flew in during an eight-week period. By the end of it, they were flying their spouses out to look at property here because they loved it so much. In fact, I met Jason Reitman, who directed Up in the Air in St. Louis with George Clooney, and he told me he brings his daughter here to visit the City Museum.
Forget Disneyland—bring your kid to the City Museum. There’s a 10-story slide. You can get a palm reading. You can learn how to be a circus performer. It’s a museum you literally can get lost in. There’s nothing like it. If you have kids and you don’t take them to the City Museum, you are failing as a parent. It is the coolest place.
St. Louis is a family place, for sure. I had the greatest childhood in St. Louis. Being a kid in St. Louis is heaven, because there’s so much to do: Six Flags, The Magic House, the museums, The Saint Louis Zoo, baseball games—it’s a paradise for kids.
And the Arch? It is the coolest structure you’ll ever see. When TV shows highlight things from different places in the country, the Arch is always the one that stands out the most. You need to go up in the Arch.
St. Louis is a city full of hidden gems and not-so-hidden ones. St. Louis is home to a park bigger than Central Park. Do you hear me? Bigger than Central Park. I live next to Forest Park and run there every day, and I still haven’t seen the whole thing.
If you like the outdoors—I mean, I don’t—but people who love the outdoors love St. Louis. There are amazing hikes and outdoor adventures. We have tons of rivers and Big Muddy Adventures. If you like biking, we have the Katy Trail. You just go 20 miles away, and you’re out in the middle of nowhere. It’s beautiful any time of year.
And we have so many beautiful and cool venues to go see live entertainment. We are opening new restaurants and creating new spaces to hang out and have fun. There are great shops, great food, cool people. In my neighborhood, the Central West End, it’s very pet-friendly. I’ve lived in SoHo, Hollywood, Silver Lake—the hipster version of L.A. And the Central West End is one of the greatest areas I’ve ever lived. I’m just excited to wake up every morning and walk my dog around the area. There’s always a new place to go. I’ve lived here off and on for 35 years, and I still haven’t seen it all.
So come get lost in St. Louis. But honestly, if you go to City Museum, you literally might get lost.
