Lil Rel Howery, Henry Selick and more : Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

This week: It’s the Bullseye Holiday Special! We’ve got Lil Rel Howery on what it was like to play Santa Claus in Dashing Through the Snow. Gregg Turkington of Neil Hamburger fame on the holiday song that changed his life. Plus, director Henry Selick on the legacy of The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Lil Rel in Dashing Through the Snow

Steve Dietl/2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Lil Rel Howery on his role as Santa in Dashing Through the Snow

Lil Rel Howery is a stand-up comedian, born and raised in Chicago. He started performing at comedy clubs in the early 2000s. Since then, Rel’s done most of the big things on every comedian’s checklist: he’s gone on tour, released a handful of stand-up specials, and worked with some of the biggest names in comedy. He’s definitely a veteran in the comedy game. But on the big screen, he’s just getting started.

Back in 2017, Rel got his big break in Get Out, the smash hit horror movie by Jordan Peele. He’s gone on to have his own sitcom, more new specials and dozens of parts in movies. His latest is Dashing Through the Snow.

The film stars Chris “Ludacris” Bridges as Eddie Garrick, a social worker and father who dreads the holidays. Rel plays Nick, a jolly old man in a big red suit who may or may not be Santa Claus. When the two are forced to spend Christmas Eve together, the night gets a little complicated.

Rel stops by to chat about his role in Dashing Through the Snow and what it was like to wear a Santa suit in sweltering Atlanta heat. He also tells us about his time as an up-and-coming comic in Chicago and how he learned to handle hecklers.

Dashing Through the Snow is now available to stream on Disney+.