MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories - Risky Business (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

Episode Date: August 19, 2026

Today, I'm going to share four stories about people who took big career risks in order to be as successful as possible. But, in each case, the risk did not pay off.   You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, I'm going to share four stories about people who took big career risks in order to be as successful as possible. But in each case, the risk did not pay off. But before we get into today's stories, if you're a fan of the strange, dark, and mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right place because that's all we do, and we upload two, three, even four times every week. So, if that's of interest to you, please give the follow button a beautiful red velvet cake. But don't tell them that the red in the cake is actually from ketchup. Okay, let's get into our first story called Lawyers' New Career. Around noon on May 29, 1975, a 26-year-old man named Homer B. Lawyer Jr. left the store where he worked as a shoe salesman in Miami, Florida

for his lunch break, and he walked down the street. He tried not to rush or look like he was in a hurry, but the truth was, he was extremely antsy as he walked along here. And the reason for that is he knew that soon he would either be rich or in jail. Because Homer was actually on his way to rob his very first bank. So Homer had decided that he was done being a shoe salesman. He didn't make nearly enough money, and it was just so boring. I mean, every single day felt the same, and again, there's like no money in it. And so for the last couple of weeks, Homer had been trying to think of a way to make lots of money really quickly

that might also be kind of exciting along the way. Hence how he landed on robbing a bank. And it just so happened there was a bank right around the corner from his work that he decided would be his first target. Now, Homer was aware that he was brand new to robbing banks here, so, you know, before he actually stepped out to go do this thing, he'd put a lot of thought into how to actually do it. He'd spent days preparing for this by mulling over and scribbling down ideas and plans, until he'd finally landed on what he felt was the best way to pull this thing off.

And so now, as he rounded the corner and he saw the bank up ahead, his stomach fluttered with nerves. But he took a breath and told himself that he had a solid plan in place. And the risk was definitely going to be worth the reward. Seconds later, Homer walked into the mostly empty bank with one hand in his pocket. He had a finger stretched out so that it looks like he had a weapon in his pocket again. gun. But he was not armed. He was just hoping to fool people into thinking he was armed. And so with his hand conspicuously located in his pocket, he headed over to the short line

where one other customer was at the counter being helped by the only bank teller on duty. And so Homer, you know, doing his best to stay calm, he waited his turn. And then when the other customer was done and had left the bank, Homer walked up to the teller and handed her a note that said he had a gun and he was robbing this bank. And now she just needed to give him all the cash in her register. Homer watched as the teller read this note and then got this terrified look on her face like it suddenly sunk in what was happening here. Then, as calmly as she could, because now she was really frightened and very on edge,

she set the note aside. And then with shaking hands, she unlocked a drawer and began pulling out all these stacks of bills from inside of it. And then when she was done pulling all this cash out, she put it into a bag and then slid the bag over to Homer. And for a second, Homer just stared at this bag. I mean, at first, he was just totally thrilled that his plan had even worked here. I mean, he was confident, but this is amazing. I can't believe this is going so well.

But he quickly snapped out of his, you know, elation here, and he realized that, you know, the bank robbery is far from over here. Like, right now he needs to take this money and get out of here as fast as he can. So he grabbed the bag with his free hand. You know, he still got the other hand in his pocket, you know, pretending there's a gun there. He grabs the bag, he turns, and he sprints out of the bank. And as soon as he was outside, he just kept on running until he was a few blocks away. And at that point, he stopped and he turned around to look and to listen. But amazingly, there weren't any police following him or he didn't see any.

And there weren't any sirens in the distance. And so Homer relaxed because he knew he was safe and that he'd been right to give robbing banks to try. I mean, he was a natural. And now there was no way he'd be going back to his boring shoe sales job ever again. The next day, when Homer woke up, I mean, he felt the best he had ever felt in his life. This successful robbery was like the best thing he had ever done. And so with a big grin on his face, he decided he would leave his house and he would head out and treat himself to a nice, expensive breakfast, and maybe then after that, go spend some more of that new hard-earned money on whatever he wanted, because he was rich now.

So with a pep in his step, he walked around the house, he got himself dressed and ready to go, and then he headed out the front door out onto the street. But as soon as he did, he found himself completely surrounded by a swarm of Miami police officers and FBI agents. So it would turn out, somewhat unbelievably, that Homer was not actually a natural at robbing banks. He had robbed a bank in broad daylight, close to his work, and without even wearing a mask or any sort of disguise. He had just sort of gone in there and done it. And while those are all things that could have gotten him caught and likely would have gotten him caught, the actual

reason he got caught so quickly after the robbery was because of one very avoidable and truly just completely idiotic mistake that he made. So when Homer fled the bank, He was so intent on getting out of there as fast as he could that he had forgotten to grab the note that he had given to the teller with him. He had left it on the counter. That note had been written on the back of some scrap paper that Homer had been using in the days prior to the robbery to scribble down all his ideas and thoughts about the robbery. And one of the things that Homer and all his thoroughness had written down on that

scrap piece of paper included his own extremely distinctive name. So, when the investigators arrived at the bank to take the teller's statement, the one who was actually robbed by Homer, and try to collect some evidence, the bank teller literally just handed them that note with the robber's full name on it and also clearly their intention to come and rob this bank. Like it was basically my name is Homer and I'm going to rob this bank, here's how I'm going to do it. Like that's what gave the teller in essence. And so using that note, the police located Homer pretty much immediately and arrested him. Our next story is called The Destiny Ring. On an afternoon in early June of 1938, a 21-year-old actor named Jack Dunn paced nervously around the lobby of a film studio in Los Angeles,

California, waiting to be called into the next room. Jack was incredibly anxious, and as he paced around. He kept stopping in front of this mirror to adjust his outfit and fiddle with the ring on his finger. So Jack was actually being considered for a lead role in a major motion picture. And he was about to do this one final audition. This one would be on camera to prove to the film's producers that he was the guy for the job and not the others. And this was a job that Jack not only wanted, but I mean he desperately needed it. Even though Jack was young, he had been trying to make it as an actor out of here in Hollywood for years. But everything he'd auditioned for or had actually been cast in had invariably fallen through.

So he hadn't actually been in a movie yet. And so he was starting to feel like if he didn't get a big break soon, he would literally just run out of money and then he'd have to go back to England where he was from. But if he got this part, the one he was auditioning for today, I mean, there was no question in his mind that it would launch him not just into a viable career. career out here in Hollywood, but perhaps superstardom. Because this film was a biopic about the life of this Italian actor, Rudolf Valentino, who was a massive movie star from the 1920s who'd had millions and millions of obsessive fans. And he was considered at the time to be like the biggest

sex symbol in Hollywood. Now, Rudolph had unfortunately died young and sort of unexpectedly at just 31 years old from this sudden illness. But his sudden passing had actually made him even more legendary and more beloved. So this was like a very iconic film to be involved with. Now, Jack had never met or gotten to know Rudolph. But from what he'd heard about him, they had a lot in common. They were both tall, dark, and handsome, and they were both immigrants and accomplished athletes. Jack had been an ice skater, and Rudolph had been a dancer. Now, Jack hoped the producers also could see these similarities as well. But he knew even if they did, that still wouldn't be enough to get him the part. Rudolph was singular and special, and so Jack really needed to

actually become him if he wanted a shot at this role. So today, for the screen test, Jack had dressed up like Rudolph and put on a very expensive, flashy outfit, since that's the kind of thing that Rudolph liked to wear. And Jack had even gone one step further and managed to to get a hold of this vintage ring that Rudolph himself had actually owned. It had this huge yellow stone and this really ornate platinum setting. And apparently at some point in the history of this ring, in part because Rudolph had owned it, it had gotten this sort of over-the-top nickname. It was called the Destiny Ring.

And now, Jack hoped that by wearing this destiny ring, that it would help him sort of get the role that he felt destined to play. And so now as he looked into the mirror for the umpteenth time and checked his hair and his outfit, he heard the door open and the producer's voice called out, asking if Jack was ready. Jack took one last deep breath and then silently told himself that once he walked out of this lobby, he was no longer Jack done. He was Rudolf Valentino. Then he straightened his shoulders, he adjusted his destiny ring, and followed the producer through the doorway. And wouldn't you know it? Just a few days later, almost every paper in Hollywood had a new headline.

Newcomer Jack Dunn has been cast as the icon, Rudolph Valentino. He got the part. At the end of June, so now about two weeks after Jack officially got the part, he was out in the California desert, less than 100 miles from Los Angeles, and he was carrying a rifle through some brush. So ever since Jack had been officially cast as Rudolph, His life had become a whirlwind. The movie was set to shoot in the fall, but he was already getting a ton of attention and lots of press about his casting. However, to Jack's surprise, a lot of this attention was pretty negative. The media seemed to think that Jack himself was just too inexperienced to handle playing someone as famous and iconic as Rudolph.

And also, Jack had received literally thousands of letters from Rudolph's fans who had been basically said the same thing, only more rudely. Now, Jack had always coveted the life of famous actors and actresses who were in the public eye, but he had never been in the public eye. And so this criticism had been really hard to hear, like he wasn't used to this. But the criticism had also made him want to prove the naysayers wrong here. So ever since getting cast, Jack had been working even harder on this role. Like, he had really tried to become Rudolph Valentino to really show that he could do this.

And so after being cast, he just kept on dressing like Rudolph. He'd used Rudolph's dance moves at clubs and actually invented a dance that he called the Valentino Rumba. He'd also started dating around, sort of seeing a bunch of women all the time, just like apparently Rudolph had. Like he was trying to really be this guy. And today, you know, sort of in keeping with this trend, Jack had come all the way out here to the desert to hunt, which had been a hobby of Rudolph's. And so Jack, he's trudging across the desert landscape, trying to act like this hardened hunter that he really wasn't. And at some point, he looked down at his hand. And he saw there was a tick

that was actually on his hand near where his destiny ring was. Now, the tick had not bit him yet, and so quickly Jack squeezed his hand and crushed it with his thumb against Rudolph's destiny ring. Fast forward a few days. Jack has now come back home. You know, he's back to fully pretending to be Rudolph and he's getting ready to shoot that fall. Like, he's doing all the things he's supposed to be doing. But he started to feel like he was having a hard time being able to focus. Like it was like every time he tried to work, it's like his mind would just wander. And he started to realize what was going on here is he was getting sick. He could sort of feel it coming on. And then, shortly after that, one of his eyes got really swollen, and his throat became raw,

and then he had this really bad fever. And then not long after that, he became completely delirious, like just out of his mind. And so it was around this time where it's like Jack is losing touch with reality that he knew, you know, his acting career really needed to be set aside. For now, he needed to go to the hospital. And so Jack, he goes to the hospital, and as soon as he is admitted, His condition only got worse. Like, no matter what they did, it's like they could not stop whatever was happening to him. And he declined really quickly to the point where it was clear Jack's body was shutting down. And then even though the doctors, the nurses, the staff did everything they could to try to save him,

about a week after being admitted to the hospital, he died. So when Jack was out hunting, doing his best Rudolph impersonation, well, that tick that he saw on his hand that he ultimately killed by crushing against the the destiny ring, well, he was smart to kill it because it was infected with this rare illness called Tulleremium. And it had not bit him yet. So it was like he saved himself by crushing this tick, right? Except later that day, like after he got back, he rubbed his eye with his fist and his destiny

ring and the guts of that tick and this disease were still on the ring. So he basically rubbed it directly into his eyeball, and then it got into his bloodstream, and that literally killed him. And so in a weird way, that destiny ring, which had become such a part of Jack's identity as he took on this persona as Rudolph, it's like the ring kind of is the reason he died. Like the ring is the mechanism by which he got this disease. But it actually goes much deeper. So the Destiny Ring was famous not just because Rudolf Valentino had at one time owned it,

but also because the Destiny Ring was said to be cursed, specifically that the owner of the ring, the possessor of this Destiny Ring, could potentially be killed. Basically, the curse could kill them. And so it's very likely that Rudolph Valentino was aware of the lore behind this ring because he was known to collect superstitious objects. He didn't believe in things like curses, but he really liked things that had sort of scary lore around them. And so he very likely bought this ring in part because it was cursed. But then he dies this sudden, tragic death when he's really young while wearing this ring.

And it only added to the lore of this ring. And then from there, the ring did not go directly to Jack Dunn. No, there were three people in the middle. There was a radio star, a singer, and a burglar. who all possessed this ring following Rudolph, and each of them, while wearing the ring, died sudden unexpected deaths. And then finally, the ring winds up on Jack Dunn's finger, who's playing the role of Rudolph Valentino,

and he too would die a sudden, unexpected, tragic death young while wearing the Destiny Ring. Since Jack Dunn's death, the Destiny Ring has seemingly disappeared, and nobody knows who has. has it now, or whether they know about the curse. Our next story is called Striking It Rich. One afternoon in the summer of 1909, a man named Andrew Dunn knelt inside of a wooden shack just outside the very remote town of Galganda, Canada, taking sticks of dynamite out

of a crate. And Andrew was really excited because he was about to use this dynamite to get at this huge deposit of silver that would make him and his team very rich. So, Andrew was a miner, and up until recently, he'd been living in this town called Cobalt, which was about 100 miles east of where they were right now, and was famous for its very lucrative silver mines. Andrew had made a ton of money there, but recently, Cobalt had been overrun by other miners also trying to get rich.

So Andrew and two of his friends from Cobalt had come out to this more remote area where they'd been able to find these new, untouched silver deposits. And this one that they had just found would be their biggest haul so far. And so very excitedly, Andrew continues pulling out all this dynamite until he has enough, at which point he scoops it all up, and he leaves the shack, and he walks over to where his partners are standing in front of all these huge rocks that they're going to blow up to get to the silver. And so he goes over and he hands out the dynamite and they place them strategically in the rocks and tether them all together to a single fuse.

And then when they're ready, they light the lead fuse that would burn into all the dynamite. So they have a little bit of a lead time here. They light the fuse and they all turn and they run over to the shack where they're gonna take cover. They get inside, they're behind the wall, they crouch down and they're waiting and they're waiting. And it's gonna be a minute before it explodes.

But as they're waiting, Andrew hears something outside the shack. And immediately it prompts him to just peek out the window just to see what it is, because he knows he's got a little bit of time before this detonates. Then he looks out the window, and specifically he looks down at what's right outside the window, and he can't believe what he's looking at. But it was already too late. So it would turn out, Andrew, despite being really excited about being in this new area, to get to this silver, that was all true.

But also Andrew was a big family man. And it was really hard for him to be so far away from his family. He would get homesick. And so to combat the homesickness for this trip, he had brought with him his beloved dog for company. And this dog was so loyal. It basically followed him everywhere. It kept things light at camp.

It was like this great dog. Everybody loved the dog. And on this day, after lighting the fuse and sort of putting the dynamite down, the lit dynamite, they run back over to the shack. And Andrew, he thinks his dog is with him, that the dog has run with them as he has in the past into the shack with him. But when he's crouched down in the shack, he realizes he can't see his dog. The dog's not in the shack.

He panics for a second. Then he thinks he hears the dog. He looks out the window. And there's his dog. And what has the dog done? It's begun to play its favorite game. Fetch. He saw Andrew put that stick of dynamite down after lighting it.

And the dog thought that was the beginning of a game of fetch. And so as soon as they had bolted it, ran back to the shed, the dog had scooped up one of those lit sticks of dynamite and ran it right back over and dropped it right outside the shack. And the dog's looking up at Andrew. Andrew looks out the window, sees the stick of dynamite, sees the dog. The dog stoked, turns and runs off, ready for his master to throw this stick to him. But after the dog ran off into the distance, there was nowhere for Andrew. or his partners to go, they were trapped, and so the dynamite exploded, ultimately killing

Andrew and horribly maiming his partners. And as for the dog, who had playfully run off, totally unharmed. The fourth and final story of today's episode is called Overworked. Around 7 a.m. on August 22nd, 1913, a 21-year-old businessman named Abraham Wells Boyd Jr., quietly got dressed in his bedroom in Chattanooga, Tennessee. on the bed just behind him was his wife and their two-year-old son, who were fast asleep. And as Abraham watched them, you know, the two things that he treasured most in the world, he couldn't help but feel unbearably sad, because these days he was never home when his family was actually awake. So Abraham was a part owner of an automobile racetrack that was currently under construction.

Now, this construction project was supposed to be a huge step forward in his career, and he was supposed to make a ton of money once the track was open again. But for right now, Abraham felt like this construction project was kind of like a nightmare. I mean, on the one hand, yeah, like in the future, this is going to make me a lot of money, but it was like the project is enormous, it's expensive, and it also means he's not earning money while he's putting money into doing the project. And then on top of all that, he had this huge issue with thieves. thieves were breaking into the construction site and stealing lumber.

And because of these thefts, in addition to all the costs Abraham was incurring just to do the construction, he had also had to hire a full-time security guard. But then last night, the security guard hadn't shown up on time, and so Abraham's the guy, the part owner of this place, who's stepping in as a security guard staying up all night, doing a job he has no idea how to do, like pretending to be a security guard. And now he's back home and he's exhausted and like he can't just go to bed.

He has to go back out to work. But before he could go to work, he had to take some equipment that he had accidentally taken with him from his shift as the security guard. He had brought something home he wasn't supposed to. He had to go drop that off. Then he had to go back to work. It's like his whole life is a mess right now. And all he wants is this stupid project to be over so we can start earning real money again

and can see his family in the daytime hours. but it just felt like that was eons away. So with one more glance over at his wife and kid, who he wished he could just crawl in bed with, Abraham sighed and began gathering up all the things he would need for work that day, his briefcase, some paperwork, and also that equipment that he had to return to the job site, and then also his coat and his hat.

And then at some point, as he was doing this, Abraham's wife woke up, which Abraham was very happy about. He wanted to talk to her, but he felt bad waking her up, and so she gets up, And they talked for a minute and she helps him finish getting ready. And then after staying by to her, Abraham went over to the bed to bend over and say good night to his son before he left. I mean, in some ways, his son was like the reason he was putting up with all of this.

Like it was to give he and his wife's child the best life he possibly could. And so he goes over and he bends over and he gives the kid a kiss. However, as he bent over to give his son a kiss, there was the sudden really last. loud noise coming from somewhere. It was like off to the side of Abraham, or at least it felt like it was over here. And it's so loud that Abraham actually jumped up. It startled him, and he noticed his son, who had been soundly sleeping, also is now awake and crying, like it's sort of madness in the room. But Abraham has no idea what this noise was or where it came from. Abraham's wife, who had sort of been off to the side of the room at this point, she rushes

over because obviously she's heard the sound, she sees the commotion, she's totally bewildered, and she's asking her husband, what's going on? And Abraham was about to reply to her that he had no idea, but all of a sudden he started feeling really dizzy and really hot. He took off his coat and he tried to balance himself against the dresser, but his vision started to get really blurry, and then his legs gave out, and the next thing he knew, he had crumpled to the ground and was lying on his back on the floor. So it would turn out that Abraham filling in for that security guard who missed his shift that night, you know, suddenly Abraham's up all night being the security guard. Even though that, that specific example only happened one time, it was like across this

whole construction project, there were always so many problems that seemed to all fall in Abraham's lap. And so he was constantly overextending himself and pulling overtime shifts and doing things, that he wasn't even getting paid to do. It was like his mind and his energy and everything was being spread across every single place in his life. He was just totally completely burned out. And for the most part, this really only affected Abraham. He just sort of felt really run down all the time. But on the night of the loud sound in the room, well, his overextension of himself, his total exhaustion, had put him and his whole family in danger. So the equipment that Abraham had accidentally taken home with him from having been a

fill-in security guard the night before, well, it was a gun because he had been a security guard, borrowing someone's gun in order to be the security guard, and then he had brought it home with him. And that warning, as Abraham is looking at his wife and son and just sort of run down, like he He was especially groggy, and he was not a gun owner himself. So he didn't have really any experience handling a loaded weapon. So even though he had put the gun in its holster, he hadn't actually fastened it in. So it's not locked in there, it's just sitting in the holster.

So when he bent down to give his son a kiss, the pistol had slipped out of the holster, hit the floor, and went off, firing a single round into Abraham's chest. Abraham, unfortunately, died of his injuries. A quick note about our stories. They are all based on true events. But we sometimes use pseudonyms to protect the people involved, and some details are fictionalized for dramatic purposes. The Mr. Ballin podcast, Strange, Dark, and Mysterious Stories,

is hosted and executive produced by me, Mr. Ballin. Our head of writing is Evan Allen, produced by Jeremy Bone and Cole Lacasio. This episode was written by Kate Murdoch and Kate Gallagher. Story editing by Evan Allen and by Luke Baratz. Research and fact-checking by Shelley Shoe, Samantha Van Hoose, Evan Beamer, Abigail Shumway, Camille Callahan, Alex Paul, Ben Fasiano. Research and fact-checking supervision by Stephen Ear. Audio editing and post-produced by Whitlocasio and Jordan Stidham. Production support by Antonio Manata and Delana Corley.

Artwork by Jessica Clogston Kiner, theme song Something Wicked by Ross Bugden.