Milton Howrey, known professionally as Lil Rel Howery, was born in Chicago, IL, and took an interest with the city's thriving standup comedy subculture from an early age. Howery made his debut alongside other up-and-coming comedians on the special "The Big Black Comedy Show, Vol. 3" (2005), following this up with an appearance on "Last Comic Standing" (NBC 2003-2010, 2014-15) in 2007. Despite his inclination toward humor, Howrey made his acting debut in the dramatic film "I Used to Love Her" (2008), though went on to render this more serious turn an anomaly among his pursuits. He costarred in the comedy film "Get a Job" (2010) and appeared on TV specials and series including "Russell Simmons Presents: Stand-Up at the El Rey" (Comedy Central 2010), "Chelsea Lately" (E! 2007-2014), and "The Arsenio Hall Show" (Syndication/TBS 1989-1994, 2013-14). Returning to acting, Howrey starred simultaneously on the animated series "Lucas Bros. Moving Co." (Fox 2013-), voicing a variety of characters, and the sketch comedy show "Friends of the People" (TruTV 2014). Howrey worked with Jerrod Carmichael on the former series, and went on to collaborate with him on his eponymous sitcom, "The Carmichael Show" (NBC 2015-). On the series, Howrey played star Carmichael's brother Bobby. While on the sitcom, Howrey performed his first televised hour-long comedy special, titled "RELevant" (Comedy Central 2015).