Born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Darrell found his way into comedy at a very young age. He credits his older brother, Ken, for introducing him to the gift of making people laugh, a gift that would continuously lift Darrell throughout his childhood. Growing up in the projects of Tuscaloosa presented a unique set of both challenges and opportunities. Despite the drugs, crime, poverty, and violence that swept through his neighborhood, Darrell always managed to keep everyone laughing. In a lot of ways, that laughter was his gift to his family and friends. No matter how difficult the circumstances, Darrell was always able to crack a joke or tell a funny story that would cut through the tension.

     Darrell understood that laughter had the power to heal, connect and uplift people and he always enjoyed making people laugh. As a child, his favorite comedians were Martin Lawrence and Richard Pryor. Darrell would watch both comedians for hours and hours, mimicking their styles and coming up with his own schemes and jokes. We would take his “act” to school which ended up getting him labeled as the class clown and earned him the nickname, Relly-Rell. While his friends and classmates found him funny, his teachers never quite seemed to get the punchline. Eventually, they found a role for him that would put his charisma and huge personality on full display, as the high school mascot. Darrell relished in his new role through his senior year. It was clear that Darrell had a love and a gift for entertaining.

After high school, Darrell attended Shelton State Community College and the University of West Alabama (UWA). As a student, Darrell traded his mascot uniform for sweats and a whistle. Darrell worked as a student assistant basketball coach at both Shelton State and UWA and also did one on- one basketball coaching with elementary school children. However, in 2011, Darrell found himself out of a job and dealing with the death of one his closest friends. Darrell lost his direction and was struggling to find his passion. After a few years of doing odd jobs and whatever else he could to survive, comedy found its way back into Darrell’s life. During a family function, Darrell noticed that the mood was solemn, which was unusual for his family. Naturally, Relly-Rell rose to meet the occasion and before he knew it, he was up, moving around telling stories and jokes, making everyone laugh again. At that moment, Darrell felt that same feeling that had carried him through his childhood. Though people had told him throughout his life that he should take a shot at being a comedian, this was the first time that he seriously began to consider pursuing comedy professionally. Darrell reached out to his uncle, Mo Williams, who had been doing stand-up for years, and told him that he wanted to pursue a career in comedy. Under his guidance, Darrell honed his craft, starting performing stand-up and has never looked back.