Laura Hall

About Laura Hall

Laura Hall is an American musician. She began her musical career in Chicago, where she worked as pianist for various theater and improvisational companies, including The Second City and the Improv Institute. Hall is best known for her role as band leader / pianist on the improvisational comedy television show Whose Line Is It Anyway? Beyond this role, Hall has also recorded a number of children's records, as well as Christian rock worship music. Hall has also participated in Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, and Drew Carey And The Improv Allstars. She is married to former Second City mainstage actor Rick Hall. They have two children.

Many of the sketches on Whose Line Is It Anyway? include music, and there have been a number of musicians during the run of the show. On the original BBC Radio series, the music was provided by Colin Sell, but when the show migrated to Channel 4 Richard Vranch took over the job. Richard Vranch did not move with the show to the U.S., in fact during the final series of the UK show which was filmed in America, Hall made her first appearance on the show. Hall continued as musician in the first season of the U.S. show on her own, but in the second season onwards other musicians were added to attempt to "jazz up" that section of the show. Often joining Hall was multi-talented musician Linda Taylor, and on occasion other musicians were added such as Anna Wanselius, Cece Worral-Rubin, Anne King, and Candy Girard. The sketches "Greatest Hits", "Hoedown", and "Song Styles" are amongst the most popular, and rely heavily on music. Hall and her fellow musicians have a task as challenging as the actors. In the games "Greatest Hits" and "Song Styles", for instance, they must come up with different song styles on the spot, and they must also work with the other musicians and the actors to make the scene work. The skits involving music are also challenging for the participants, because they have to keep up with the music while simultaneously making something up off the top of their heads. Film Segments featuring Hall's music include: