Stavi’s World #152 – Ryan Sickler (October 27, 2025)

Main Theme & Episode Overview

In this laid-back and rambunctious Halloween special, Stavros Halkias welcomes comedian and Baltimore native Ryan Sickler to the couch. Clad in Winnie the Pooh onesies, they reminisce about Halloween traditions, white trash childhoods, haunted houses, epic fast food deals, and the perils and hilarity of growing up poor and mischievous in Maryland. Sickler also opens up about surviving a near-death medical experience and the two field calls from listeners about living in a murder house, drama with exes, co-parenting, and more. Lively, nostalgic, vulnerable, and laugh-out-loud funny, this episode is a celebration of surviving childhood, the demonic energy of Halloween, and the absurdities of adult life.

Costumes & Halloween Tone

• [03:23] Stav and crew are dressed as Winnie the Pooh characters, taking a “wholesome” angle on the Halloween episode, rebranding (jokingly) as a "born again Christian podcast."
• [03:56] Ryan: "This might be the first time I've done a podcast in socks."
• [04:36] Stav: "We are dressed as Winnie the Pooh. Wholesome characters against this satanic holiday of Halloween."

When Did Halloween Become Slutty? (Nostalgia & Cultural Change)

• [05:18] Stav: "It's almost become overplayed, how much it's about, you know, the slutty X. When did that occur? Was Halloween always slutty, or did it become sluttier in recent years?"
• [05:58] Ryan: “I feel like it’s been a couple decades—about the 2000s. If you’re a little older…it wasn’t like that. There was absolutely a shift. I can’t put my finger on the date.”
• Discussion of how adult Halloween parties and costumes shifted from kid-centric to provocative, with both blaming a “Y2K” cultural explosion.

Baltimore Halloween & White Trash Childhoods

Haunted Houses, Mischief & Vandalism

• [07:48] Ryan tells stories of Maryland’s haunted barns and being more of a “scare voyeur”—"I just liked watching other people get scared."
• [10:32] Stav remembers a Greek Orthodox church haunted house, getting terrified, and accidentally punching the actor in costume.

Mischief Nights and Vandalism

• [13:28] Ryan: “And just the vandalism on Halloween…my brother and a neighbor actually bashed in some monster pumpkins with a bat...”
• [14:54] Sweet details about being a fraternal twin, splitting up the family car, and exclusion from mischief (out of fear Ryan would "rat them out and get the car").
• [17:50] Ryan: “My brother was very sloppy…they’d vandalized the kid’s clothes and everything—with ketchup and Hershey’s syrup.”

Classic Bullying & Pranks

• [18:51] Classic snowball trick: “You throw one up, they look up, you drill them with the other.”
• [19:25] Modern times vs. the past—Stav: “Today you’ll get shot. But back then, we’d do that.”

Small Town Hijinks: Jumping Bridges, Snakes & Neighborhood Legend

• [20:00–23:00] Liberty Lake: Local lore about jumping off 100-ft bridges into manmade lakes, dangerous even with school clothes on. Stories of minor genital injuries and needing friends in the water as spotters.

  • Ryan: "A girl tore her vagina... she didn’t have her feet together.” (25:07)
  • Brothers competing to flip off the bridge: “He’s spitting up blood... That’s just your guys’ fun little after school hangout and your brother’s got internal bleeding.” (32:12)

• [33:04] Snake story: “A water moccasin is coming for my brother... Jeff Wagner skips a rock, cuts the snake in half mid-swim.” (34:54)

• [35:46] Local Maryland "folk hero" stories—Jeff was the kid with the golden throwing arm, winning overstuffed bears at King’s Dominion, "white trash legend" style.

Growing Up Poor: McDonald's Sheets & Fast Food Economics

• [41:44] Stichler’s “white trash nostalgia” podcast and how poverty trickled down to having McDonald's–themed curtains and bed sheets as a child: “Matching McDonald’s bed sheets and curtains. That’s what we have.”

• [44:00] Fast food loyalties—McDonald’s as a childhood treat, but Stav evolves into a "Popeyes household." The glory of the Domino’s 555 deal: "Some of the best days of my life are like, mom’s gone, me and the fellas, AC blasting...each ordering our own pizza…”

• [45:54] White trash money-saving schemes:

  • Ryan: “We’d order the [pizza deal], eat one, then call and say there’s hair all over this pizza…they’d send out another with the deal. That’s six pizzas for the price of three. But you can only burn that once.”
  • Stav: “Now customer service is totally out the door...” (47:46)

Tragedy, Survival & Attitude

Ryan’s Near-Death Hospital Story

• [49:03] Stav: "We just didn't talk about how you almost died!"
• [53:01] Ryan shares his medical ordeal: "Went in for a simple back surgery—routine, 3 hours. Ended up being three weeks in the hospital, about to die from pulmonary embolisms."
  • [58:21] "I, like, Fred Sanford, grabbed my chest and I said, I'm clotting...I collapse...I don't see anything after this."
  • [59:32] "They tell me I have massive pulmonary embolisms, my heart is twice its size. They tell me: these next 48 hours are touch and go and you should call some people."
  • “My one surgeon cried. He came in crying for me. I was like, this ain’t good.” (60:39)
• [61:34] Legal aftermath: No lawsuit since “doctors will never go against each other.”

Surreal Phantom Experience

• [57:46] Ryan describes a vision: "A black figure is touching my big toe... just a blob, and it shook my toe..." Wonders if he’s cursed by a mysterious “Red feather lady” encounter at a haunted LA bar ([63:23]).

CALL-IN ADVICE SEGMENT

1. Buying a “Murder House” ([64:24]–[78:20])

Caller: Young couple, only way to afford a house was to buy one famous for a brutal murder ("11 shots, husband buried in concrete in the basement").

• Advice:
  • Stav: “If there’s real evil…maybe I skip that one. If it’s a crime of passion, and the dude was a piece of shit, I’d consider it.”
  • Stav: "The economy has gotten so bad that people need shelter so much...energy, mystical vibes, all that’s out the door. Now it’s: I don’t give a **** how many people died here."
  • Eldis: “For the right price, I think I would [live there], but I’d want to know all the details.”
  • Ryan: “She [the killer] might be like my mom, dragging a grown man down the steps...That’s my mom’s size.”
  • Memorable moment: Ryan tells a shocking similar story about delivering packages while a double murder was being covered up in the basement three houses down. ([66:58]–[69:49])
  • Quote: “You need a gruesome murder where it involves the foundation of your home...That doesn’t even knock 20K off the price anymore.” – Stav ([66:13])

2. Should I Pull Out of a Boring Group Trip? ([79:16]–[88:09])

Caller: Planning a 7hr Halloween road trip with friends, fears it’ll just be more “hanging out in the apartment doing nothing” in LA.

• Stav & Ryan’s advice:
  • “Do you like your friends? Sometimes just chilling is great. But seven hours is a lot. If you want wilder plans, you bring them.”
  • Ryan: “LA kicks ass for Halloween...the haunted hayride at the LA Zoo was a blast (except for the actual creep who snuck in the event one time).”
  • Bring your own plans: “Pick up drinks, research stuff to do, don’t rely on others if you want something specific.”

3. Psycho Ex Still Living Downstairs ([88:25]–[95:12])

Caller: Breaking up with girlfriend who lives below him in a duplex. She’s stalking, sharing Ring cam videos of his comings/goings and new partners, and poisoning their mutual friend group.

• Advice:
  • Stav: “Move. The only sense of normalcy will be when you or she leaves. You are roommates in all but name.”
  • Eldis: “Can he ignore his way out?” – Not really, because of the daily proximity and shared space.
  • Ryan: [strategizing] “What if you put out word you’re moving and see if she bails first?”
  • Overall: All hosts agree that escaping the physical proximity is the only way to truly break the toxic feedback loop.

4. Navigating Co-Parenting with a New Fiance & Ex ([95:12]–[106:57])

Caller: Has a 5-year-old son with ex who now lives 6hrs away, child chose to stay with him and new fiancée. Fiancée resents/blocks contact with ex, though she is “not a bad person, just can't get it together.”

• Advice:
  • Ryan: “Always do what’s best for the kid. You don’t need to be buddies with the ex, but don’t cut her off from her child. Makes no sense to alienate.”
  • Stav: “There has to be room for the biological mother to be part of the kid’s life—even if it’s supervised or at a distance. Your new partner is amazing for stepping up, but you owe it to your kid to make the possibility of a relationship with his mom open.”
  • Both: Keep boundaries clear, don’t let jealousy or past relationship drama poison the kid’s emotional future.

5. A Light Closer: “We want more Stav dressed as a bear!” ([107:26]–[109:01])

Caller requests Stav wear plush animal costumes more often, saying it brings him nonsexual joy—“though it could be sexual for others.”

• Stav, amused: “I do feel great in one of these. If I had a giant woman come pick me up and swaddle me and put me in a crib—now we’re talking...”

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Ryan: "My mom's six foot. She can back me down in the post. Even as a shrinking old lady, she's taller than me at 70." ([16:06])
• Stavros: "The economy has gotten so bad, you need Epstein-esque child murder to get a 20k discount on a house." ([72:01])
• Ryan (near-death experience): “When I wake up, they tell me I have massive pulmonary embolisms...and my surgeon is crying for me.” ([59:31])
• Stav: “If you don’t leave that living situation, that’s a feedback loop entering hell. I don’t care if you ‘have two floors’—your ex has the Ring cam below you.”
• Eldis: “Every man has his price...for the right price, I might live in a murder house.”
• Ryan: "You don't have to be bros with your baby mama. Put the onus on her—'You can talk to your son, you can see your son.' Don't alienate the kid's mom."
• Stav: “Some of the best days of my life are: Mom’s gone, me and the fellas, AC blasting, Domino’s 555 deal, each ordering our own pizza, watching Yu-Gi-Oh...”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [04:36] – Halloween costumes, setting the wholesome Halloween/religion jokes
• [05:18] – "When did Halloween get slutty?" nostalgia segment
• [07:48] – Haunted barn & scare stories
• [13:28] – Halloween vandalism
• [20:00] – Liberty Lake bridge-jumping lore
• [25:07] – "A girl tore her vagina" bridge-jump/childhood injury stories
• [34:54] – Water moccasin beheading
• [41:44] – White trash McDonald's nostalgia
• [45:54] – Pizza fraud pro tip (white trash survival)
• [49:03] & [59:31] – Ryan’s near-death medical saga & hospital incompetence
• [64:24] – Murder house dilemma caller
• [79:16] – Road trip–Halloween plans caller
• [88:25] – Psycho ex–duplex stalker caller
• [95:12] – Co-parenting vs. jealous fiancée caller
• [107:26] – Fan request: Stav as a bear more frequently

Episode Tone

• Casual, nostalgic, irreverently wholesome, loaded with working-class and regional jokes
• Unfiltered, blue-collar Baltimore Greek and Irish energy
• Direct, confident, but vulnerable responses to serious life questions

Closing

• Watch Ryan Sickler’s special, “Live and Alive” on YouTube.
• Keep an eye out for Stavros’s upcoming Dreamboat tour and his appearance in the Emma Stone/Jesse Plemons film "Begonia."
• Look forward to future Stavi’s World holiday episodes—more costumes promised!
• Concluding riff: “Maybe next year, McDonald's Halloween.” ([111:06])