On this day in comedy on December 17, 1979, Comedian, Actor, Writer, Milton “Lil Rel” Howery was born.
A native of the West Side of Chicago, The Lion’s Den in East Chicago gave birth to the stand-up comedy career of Howery. He was soon proficient enough to expand his horizons and competed in NBC’s Last Comic Standing in 2007. Turns out he liked TV and more importantly TV liked him. Howery’s next televised break came on the FOX reboot of the ‘90’s hit sketch star maker, In Living Color. The revival lasted less time than you could spell the word, but Howery didn’t go unnoticed.
Lil Rel landed a gig at truTV on another sketch comedy show. He wrote, produced and co-starred in Friends of the People in 2012. Several years later he got the breakout part he’d been looking for thanks to another young comedian.
Jerrod Carmichael was also making some noise on the comedy circuit. So much so that NBC greenlit a self-titled sitcom, The Carmichael Show featuring Loretta Devine and David Alan Grier as the star’s parents. Howery got the part of his recently divorced brother, Robert; more affectionately known as Bobby. His ex-wife was played by another comedy sensation – Tiffany Haddish.
In 2016 he performed on his own stand-up special on Netflix. Kevin Hart Presents: Lil Rel: RELevent streamed nationwide and exposed Howery to yet another medium. Next was film as he played the friend and eventual hero in Jordan Peele’s surprise hit of 2017 – Get Out. The role of TSA officer, Rod Williams earned Howery the MTV Movie & TV Award for “Best Comedic Performance”.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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