Bullseye’s 2023 Holiday Special: Lil Rel Howery, Henry Selick and more

Episode notes

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. 

Photo by Steve Dietl/2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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+. 

Image courtesy of Drag City Records

Gregg Turkington on the holiday song that changed his life

Gregg Turkington is a comedian – alongside Tim Heidecker, he co-hosts the long running series On Cinema, At The Cinema which is entering its 14th season. Gregg is probably best known for his character Neil Hamburger. 

Neil is a stand-up comedian. An entertainer in the tradition of Sammy Davis Jr, Rodney Dangerfield or Tony Clifton. His jokes are rarely real jokes and they’re almost never tasteful. Neil recorded his first ever holiday record called Seasonal Depression Suite. It’s an ensemble effort: singing alongside Neil is Bonnie Prince Billy, AJ Lambert, and Puddles Pity Party.

Gregg joins us to talk about “Holiday” by the Bee Gees. Which isn’t exactly a traditional holiday song, but why he thinks it should be considered thee holiday song for the season. 

Image courtesy of Disney, All Rights Reserved, Disney Entertainment, Disney Lifestyle

Director Henry Selick on thirty years of The Nightmare Before Christmas

It’s an absolute classic. The Nightmare Before Christmas centers around the pumpkin king Jack Skellington. He’s a resident of Halloween Town. Bored with the same annual routine of celebrating Halloween. The pumpkin king wants to do something nice for a change.

 Jack discovers a place called Christmas Town. He falls in love with the concept and decides he would like to give Santa Claus a break. With the help of Halloween Town residents they take over Christmas. What could go wrong? 

It’s not the kind of Christmas movie you picture when you think of Christmas movies. It’s stop motion, like the Burl Ives holiday cartoons, but shot more like an action movie. The cuts are quick, the camera moves swiftly. The characters – almost all residents of Halloween Town are scary!

In celebration of the movie’s 30th anniversary we’re thrilled to chat with the movie’s director Henry Selick. He talks about the film’s legacy and some of his holiday traditions.