Milton "Lil Rel" Howery Jr. (born December 17, 1979) is an American actor and comedian. Howery is known for playing Robert Carmichael in

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

's television comedy series ''

The Carmichael Show ''The Carmichael Show'' is an American sitcom television series created by Nicholas Stoller, Jerrod Carmichael, Ari Katcher, and Willie Hunter that premiered on August 26, 2015, on NBC and concluded on August 9, 2017, after three seasons and 32 ...

'' (2015–2017) and

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

(TSA) officer Rod Williams in the horror film ''

Get Out ''Get Out'' is a 2017 American psychological horror film written, co-produced, and directed by Jordan Peele in his directorial debut. It stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, LaKeith Stanfield, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landr ...

'' (2017). He also starred in the TV series ''

Rel Rel or REL may mean: __NOTOC__ Science and technology * REL, a human gene * the rel descriptor of stereochemistry, see Relative configuration *REL (''Rassemblement Européen pour la Liberté''), European Rally for Liberty, a defunct French far-ri ...

'' (2018–2019), which he also created and co-produced, lasting only one season.

Early life

Milton Howery Jr. grew up on the

West Side West Side or Westside may refer to: Places Canada * West Side, a neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario * West Side, a neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia United Kingdom * West Side, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Westside, Birmingham E ...

of Chicago, the son of Nancy and Milton. He attended

Providence St. Mel School Providence St. Mel School (PSM) is a private, coeducational Preschool-12th Grade school in East Garfield Park, Chicago, Illinois. History The school was created in 1969 with the merger of two schools, Providence High School and St. Mel High S ...

from fifth grade to ninth. He then transferred to Crane High School. At Crane, Howery wrote jokes and created a script in a senior talent show, after which he decided to pursue comedy professionally. Playing high school basketball, he reminded people of his older cousin Darrel, and was nicknamed Lil Rel."Storytelling like a good uncle is stand-up comic's best weapon". ''The Plain Dealer''. (Cleveland, Ohio). September 11, 2015. p. T20.

Career

Howery began performing

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

on Chicago's East Side at the Lion's Den.LilRel Howery bio
. ''IMDb''. Retrieved September 18, 2015. He made his television debut in January 2007 on the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

competition ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...

''.Zwecker, Bill (April 4, 2012). "Local Light". ''Chicago Sun-Times''.Howery, Lil Rel
Last Comic Standing
. ''MySpace''. Retrieved September 19, 2015. The same year, he was on ''P. Diddy Presents: The Bad Boys of Comedy'' on HBO. In 2009, he was part of America's National Night Out Against Crime in Chicago. In 2012, Howery and five other comedians starred in

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's revival of the 1990s sketch program ''

In Living Color ''In Living Color'' is an American sketch comedy television series that originally ran on Fox from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Keenen Ivory Wayans created, wrote and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in a ...

''. The show was canceled in 2013. Howery went on to work as a writer, producer, and one of the regular cast members of the

truTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows. The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that focu ...

sketch comedy series ''

Friends of the People ''Friends of the People'' is an American sketch comedy television series. It was slated to premiere on TruTV in summer 2014, but was pushed to October 28, 2014, as part of the network's shift in their programming direction. Many of the cast mem ...

''.Bernhardt, Ross (September 4, 2015).
Lil Rel Howery: The Comedy King of Chicago
. ''Paste Magazine''. Retrieved September 18, 2015. In 2015, he began co-starring as Bobby Carmichael on the

sitcom ''

'' alongside the show's creator, Jerrod Carmichael.The Carmichael Show: About: Lil Rel Howery
. ''NBC''. Retrieved September 18, 2015. In early 2016, Netflix added Howery's first exclusive solo stand-up special, ''Kevin Hart Presents: Lil Rel: ,'' for streaming in the United States. Howery won the 2017 "Best Comedic Performance"

MTV Movie & TV Award The MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The first MTV Movie Awards were presented in 1992. The ceremony was renamed the MTV Movie & TV Awards for its 26th editi ...

for his performance in Jordan Peele's satirical horror film ''

''.Romero, Ariana (May 7, 2017).
Lil Rel Deserved So Much Better For His Big MTV Movie & TV Awards Win
. ''Refinery29''. On May 10, 2018,

picked up ''

'', a sitcom starring Howery in the lead role and Jerrod Carmichael and

Mike Scully Michael C. Scully (born October 2, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, M ...

serving as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

s. Howery said the show is loosely based on his own life, including being a divorced father. The series premiered September 9, 2018. Howery starred alongside

Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over billion. He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...

in the comedy film ''

Free Guy ''Free Guy'' is a 2021 American science fiction action comedy film directed and produced by Shawn Levy from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, and a story by Lieberman. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utkars ...

''. He played Buddy, a security guard. Since 2019, Howery has played the character Bishop on the

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

sitcom '' South Side''. In 2019,

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

released Howery's second stand-up special, ''Lil Rel Howery: Live in Crenshaw.'' His third special, ''I said it. Y'all thinking it.'' was filmed in his hometown of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and released in 2022.

Personal life

Howery married Verina Robinson on November 24, 2008. They have two children. The couple divorced in 2017. In June 2016, Howery was a passenger in a vehicle that struck another car in

University Village, Chicago Little Italy, sometimes combined with University Village into one neighborhood, is on the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. The current boundaries of Little Italy are Ashland Avenue on the west and Interstate 90/94 on ...

. The driver in the other car argued with Howery and called

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency nu ...

, claiming that Howery had punched him in the face."Celebrity File". ''Daily Post'' (Palo Alto, California). June 21, 2016. p. 26. The driver of the car in which Howery was riding drove away without him. Police officers arrested Howery on a charge of

misdemeanor battery Battery is a criminal Offence (law), offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault which is the act of creating apprehension of such contact. Battery is a specific common law offense, although the term is used more general ...

, but he was found not guilty.Swartz, Tracy (September 8, 2018). "Lil Rel Howery's TV success comes amid real-life drama". ''Chicago Tribune''. The driver sued Howery for injuries suffered during the fight.

Filmography

Film

{, class="wikitable sortable" , - ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" , Notes , - , 2017 , ''

'' , Rod Williams , , - , rowspan=3, 2018 , '' Tag'' , Reggie , , - , ''

Uncle Drew ''Uncle Drew'' is a 2018 American sports comedy film directed by Charles Stone III and written by Jay Longino. It stars Kyrie Irving as the title character from his Pepsi Max advertisements that began airing in 2012, along with former NBA playe ...

'' , Dax Winslow , , - , '' Bird Box'' , Charlie , , - , rowspan=3, 2019 , ''

Brittany Runs a Marathon ''Brittany Runs a Marathon'' is a 2019 American comedy film written and directed by Paul Downs Colaizzo, in his directorial debut. It stars Jillian Bell, Michaela Watkins, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Lil Rel Howery, and Micah Stock. The film follows an ...

'' , Demetrius , , - , ''

Good Boys Good Boys may refer to: * " Good Boys (song)", a 2003 song by Blondie * ''Good Boys'' (film), a 2019 American film * ''The Good Boys'', a 1997 Indian Malayalam film * Goodboys Goodboys are an English house music group consisting of Joshua Gr ...

'' , Lucas's Dad , , - , ''

The Angry Birds Movie 2 ''The Angry Birds Movie 2'' is a 2019 computer-animated action comedy film based on Rovio Entertainment's '' Angry Birds'' video game series, produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, and Rovio Animation, and distributed by Sony Pi ...

'' , Alex (voice) , , - , rowspan=3, 2020 , '' The Photograph'' , Kyle , , - , ''

Clouds In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may com ...

'' , Milton Weaver , , - , ''

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

'' , Jayden , Also executive producer , - , rowspan=8 , 2021 , ''

Judas and the Black Messiah ''Judas and the Black Messiah'' is a 2021 biographical crime drama film about the betrayal of Fred Hampton (played by Daniel Kaluuya), chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party in late-1960s Chicago, by William O'Neal (played ...

'' , Wayne , , - , ''

Tom & Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

'' , Tom's shoulder devil and angel (voice) , , - , ''

Bad Trip A bad trip (also known as challenging experiences, acute intoxication from hallucinogens, psychedelic crisis, or emergence phenomenon) is an acute adverse psychological reaction to classic hallucinogens. With proper screening, preparation, and su ...

'' , Bud Malone , , - , ''

Fatherhood A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

'' , Jordan , , - , '' Space Jam: A New Legacy'' , Himself (Game Announcer) , Cameo , - , ''

'' , Buddy , , - , ''

Vacation Friends ''Vacation Friends'' is a 2021 American buddy comedy film directed by Clay Tarver, who co-wrote the film with Tom Mullen, Tim Mullen, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. It stars Lil Rel Howery, John Cena, Yvonne Orji, Meredith Hagner, R ...

'' , Marcus Parker , , - , ''

National Champions National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but als ...

'' , Coach Ronnie Dunn , , - , rowspan=5 , 2022 , ''

I Love My Dad ''I Love My Dad'' is a 2022 American comedy film written and directed by James Morosini, inspired by actual events in his life. It stars Patton Oswalt, Morosini, and Claudia Sulewski. The film premiered at South by Southwest on March 12, 2022, ...

'' , Jimmy , , - , '' Spin Me Round'' , Paul , , - , '' Deep Water'' , Grant , , - , ''

Luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

'' , Marv (voice) , , - , ''

Bromates The bromate anion, BrO, is a bromine-based oxoanion. A bromate is a chemical compound that contains this ion. Examples of bromates include sodium bromate, (), and potassium bromate, (). Bromates are formed many different ways in municipal drinki ...

'' , Jonesie , , - , rowspan=2, 2023 , '' The Out-Laws'' , Tyree , Post-production , - , ''

Harold and the Purple Crayon ''Harold and the Purple Crayon'' is a 1955 children's book by Crockett Johnson. Published by Harper Collins Publishers, it is Johnson's most popular book, and has led to a series of other books, as well as many adaptations. Plot The protagonist, ...

'' , , Post-production , - , , ''

Reunion Reunion may refer to: * Class reunion * Family reunion Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to: Places * Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean * Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, U ...

'' , Ray , Post-production; Also producer , -

Television

{, class="wikitable sortable" , - ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" , Notes , - , 2014 , ''

'' , Various , Writer, producer, cast , - , 2015 , ''Kevin Hart Presents: Lil Rel: RELevent'' , Himself , Standup special , - , 2015–17 , ''

'' , Bobby Carmichael , Starring role , - , rowspan="2", 2017 , '' Insecure'' , Quentin , 5 episodes , - , ''

Drop the Mic ''Drop the Mic'' is an American musical reality competition television series that premiered on October 24, 2017, airing on TBS for its first two seasons before moving to TNT for its third season on January 23, 2019. The show is based on a recu ...

'' , rowspan="2", Himself , Episode: "

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Scherzinger (; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente, June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the best-selling g ...

vs. Lil Rel Howery /

Charlie Puth Charles Otto Puth Jr. (; born December 2, 1991) is an American singer and songwriter. His initial exposure came through the viral success of his song videos uploaded to YouTube. Puth initially signed with the record label eleveneleven after pe ...

vs.

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. Lou Pearlman formed the group in 1993 in Orlando, Florida. The gr ...

" , - , 2018 , ''

Lip Sync Battle ''Lip Sync Battle'' is an American musical reality competition television series that premiered on April 2, 2015, on the American cable network Spike, later known as Paramount Network. The show is based on an idea by Stephen Merchant and John K ...

'' , Episode: "Lil Rel Howery vs.

Naya Rivera Naya Marie Rivera (; January 12, 1987July 8, 2020) was an American actress, singer, and model. Recognized for her work on the popular musical comedy-drama series ''Glee'', she received various awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and ...

" , - , 2018–19 , ''

'' , Rel , Main role , - , rowspan="2", 2018 , ''

The Comedy Central Roast ''Comedy Central Roast'' is a series of celebrity roast (comedy), roast television special, specials that air on the American television channel Comedy Central. The first official ''Comedy Central Roast'' premiered on August 10, 2003. On average o ...

'' , Himself , Episode: "

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

" , - , ''The Bobby Brown Story'' , Brian Irvine , 2 episodes , - , rowspan="6" , 2019 , ''

Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure ''Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure'' (known as ''Tangled: The Series'' during its first season) is an American animated television series developed by Chris Sonnenburg and Shane Prigmore, and produced by Disney Television Animation. It premiered on D ...

'' , Virtuous St. Goodberry (voice) , Episode: "The Eye of Pincosta" , - , '' The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle'' , Chuckles (voice) , Episode: "If You Can't Beat 'em, Totem! or It's Raining Gems!" , - , '' South Side'' , Bishop , 3 episodes , - , ''Sherman’s Showcase'' , Himself , Episode: “The Ladies of Showcase” , - , '' A Black Lady Sketch Show'' , Fake Manager , Episode: "Born at Night, But Not Last Night" , - , ''Lil Rel Howery: Live in Crenshaw'' , Himself , Standup special , - , 2019–present , ''

Craig of the Creek ''Craig of the Creek'' is an American animated television series created by Matt Burnett and Ben Levin for Cartoon Network. The show's pilot episode debuted directly on the official app on December 1, 2017. The series premiered online on February ...

'' , Darnell (voice) , 3 episodes , - , 2020 , ''

The Chi ''The Chi'' ( ) is an American drama television series created by Lena Waithe about life in a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. The pilot was directed by Rick Famuyiwa. It premiered on Showtime on January 7, 2018. In August 2021, afte ...

'' , Zeke Remnick , 2 episodes , - , rowspan="2", 2021 , ''

Nailed It! ''Nailed It!'' is an American reality television series that premiered on March 9, 2018 on Netflix. The series is a bake-off competition in the style of reality television, where three amateur bakers compete to replicate complicated cakes and conf ...

'' , Himself , Episode: "We're Gonna Need a Bigger Cake" , - , '' Small Fortune'' , Host , Also executive producer , - , rowspan="2" , 2022 , '' Eureka!'' , Rollo (voice) , Main role , - , ''I said it. Y'all thinking it.'' , Himself , Standup special

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Howery, Lil Rel Living people African-American stand-up comedians American stand-up comedians American male television actors Male actors from Chicago 21st-century American male actors American male comedians Comedians from Illinois 1979 births 21st-century American comedians 21st-century African-American people