Lil Rel Howery is an example of what can happen when you live out your dreams. His role as “Rod Williams, TSA Agent” in the film Get Out made him a household name and he has since taken Hollywood by storm.
Howery spoke with rolling out about his career, being discovered at a comedy festival and starting his own, the What’s Funny Comedy Festival.
Why was it important to launch the What’s Funny Comedy Festival?
I’m a big fan of festivals and what festivals do for your career. The Just For Laughs Festival is a huge part of me being seen by agents and cast, and directors and executives. The Just For Laughs Comedy Festival came to Chicago for a couple of years. It was kind of like a pass-by type thing. I think Chicago creates the best stand-up comics. I think it’s a mecca of comedy in general. I think Chicago’s probably one of the most under-appreciated comedy cities. People talk about L.A. and New York all the time, but Chicago has grown some of the best cast members we’ve seen on Saturday Night Live. Chicago has grown countless stand-up comics who are successful stand-up comics, actors, writers and producers.
Chicago is a melting pot of great talent. I just felt like it was time to bring something back home. This is where I’m from, and I love my city, and to do it from an executive perspective, too, because, you know, they do these festivals. They do these shows, do all this stuff and they’ll cast us or book us, but they don’t have anybody on as a person that is making decisions. That’s what I love about collaborating with Knowledge Beckom. As soon as Knowledge told me about this, right away I was like, “Man I’ve got to be a part of this. I want to help you build this out.” This partnership has been amazing, and what we’ve pulled off so far, and just for year one, we started really planning this in like June and what we’ve been able to pull off has been beautiful. We’re looking to do this for years to come. It’s starting out with just stand-up, some panels and discussions. But, the ideas are bubbling every single day and the buzz is crazy and we’re going bring more and more things to Chicago through this festival.
What makes Chicago comics stand out?
Segregation. I mean, it’s just it’s so segregated right? And we talk about like, not just Black, White, Latino, Asian. Let’s talk about Black people. We have different types of Black people here. So what you learn right away is, I have to make so many different types of people laugh.The only way to really do that is being honest. Chicago always had this honesty about our city, blue collar and hard work. You match segregation with just good old hard work. You gotta be very diverse to make people laugh in the city.
What can people expect from the What’s Funny Comedy Festival in terms of talent and experience?
A lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of laughs. We have hysterical comedians. It’s not easy to make me laugh, and it’s not easy for me to be impressed. We watched the tapes of everybody doing this festival. We know who they are. We handpicked them. I feel like I’m giving Hollywood an alley-oop to look at a lot of talent they just don’t know. I believe by year two, all the executives, studios, cast directors, agents and managers will all want to come to find talent.
You’ll be recording your most recent comedy special at the historic DuSable Museum. What made you choose the DuSable and how does this tie into this journey that you’re talking about?
The DuSable Museum is one of the first places I had a headline. I want to bring that back full circle. It’s just a beautiful moment. I’m excited, I feel like I take my foot off the gas a lot of times because of the respect and love I have for comedy and other comics. But this special is me telling everybody I should be in a conversation as one of the best ever.
The What’s Funny Comedy Festival is running from Sept. 16-22. Howery will record his stand-up special on Sept. 22 at the historic DuSable museum. Grab your tickets here.
