See student introduction of Hannibal Buress, which ended with Ashley Komperda’s presentation of an award to Hannibal she and Alejandro Hernandez created: “In recognition for being the funniest and most successful alum to graduate from our school.”

Thanks a lot. I think Hugh Hefner would have something to say about that.

Excited to be here, even though you took some of my material. That’s what I was going to say: “Do anything if you get passionate. I had a 1.9 GPA.”

It’s good to be here. The school is way nicer than it was when I was here. It’s very nice. Way more people got scholarships. This is a better, this is a smarter class than my class. In my class there were two scholarships and both of them were to Wright College.

I remember the first day that I walked into this building. It was the day after I got kicked out of Whitney Young. They say, “You live in this area, you go to Steinmetz.” They sent a letter saying, “You go to Steinmetz.” I didn’t pick it. It’s a nice place. I enjoyed my time here.

I was honored when the students asked me and Mr. Ngo reached out about me doing the speech. And one of the first things he said was, “You know the situation with the Chicago Public Schools, so we won’t be able to pay you.” I said, “Don’t worry about it. I don’t want to be paid.” Even if I was paid, Rahm Emanuel would probably figure out a way to put it on my parents’ property taxes.

Side note: How’d he get a second term? How’d he get a second term? You know why he got a second term. Here’s my theory. (I’ll get back to the speech.) I think it’s cause the other guy’s name was Chuy. Chicago wasn’t ready to have a mayor named Chuy. You could go to Waukegan with a name Chuy. But I think Chicago wasn’t ready for a Chuy. I think he should have run on his real name, Jesus. His real name is Jesus. He should have been Jesus. I’d be Jesus over Chuy. Second term you say, “Hey guys, I’m gonna tell you something. My name is Chuy.” “Alright, cool, Chuy. You did a good job.”

All right. Listen. I’m not here to give like a… I’ll be sort of motivational and sort of real. I’m not gonna be like “You can do anything you want to do.” Ah. You can do most of the things you want to do. Keep it sort of realistic. Most of us aren’t gonna be in the NBA, you know. None of us are playing for the Bulls next season. So, keep it reasonable. You can start your own company, stuff like that. You can do most of the things. That “anything stuff” that’s unrealistic and I’m not here for that at all.

Hannibal Buress speaks to the Steinmetz geraduates on June 15, 2016. Star photos by Steven Nunez.

As he said, I had a 1.9 GPA, which I didn’t even know you could graduate with.  What is that? What is a 1.9? I think I was whatever the opposite of a valedictorian was, but a solid ACT score and we went from there, man.

But yeah. What do I want to say? Congratulations. Good luck with stuff. Just cause, I know some of you were probably horrible students like I was, doesn’t mean you’ll be horrible in life. Definitely find something you’re passionate about and have fun with it and try to work hard at it and enjoy life. I’ve been doing comedy for 14 years. When I first started some people said, “You are horrible at comedy. You shouldn’t do this.” And I was like “I’m still gonna do it,” and I had a lot of fun of doing it.

And so, go forth with whatever you’re gonna do, going to college or working at Whole Foods. Some of us are gonna work at Whole Foods. Some people have to work at Whole Foods. I don’t wanna go to an empty Whole Foods. Just do it and be passionate and have fun. Listen: Donald Trump is almost president. So, really anything is possible in this world.

Good luck and congratulations on this. There’s a lot of work to do. It’s gonna be weird; you’re gonna be kind of upset when you have to pay taxes and grown up stuff like that. So, enjoy this time and enjoy this moment. And thanks a lot for having me.

When Alejandro first told me about the idea of having Hannibal as a commencement speaker before the school year started, my first thought was, “Who the hell is Hannibal Buress?” I couldn’t put the name to his face, but when I looked him up on Google, I surprised to find out that I knew exactly who he was.

I had seen his specials before with my dad, and I had even seen him in his major film debut, “Neighbors.” I knew at that moment that having a Steinmetz alumnus of his stature and talent would provide a very memorable graduation indeed, so I emailed him. When he responded shortly after saying that he was interested, I knew that Ale would flip out when I told him, and that is exactly what he did.

Valedictorian Ashley Komperda invited comedian and Steinmetz graduate Hannibal Buress to speak at the Class of 2016’s graduation.

That was in late August, though, and since that time, Hannibal’s success has only grown , having done a world tour, released a new stand-up special exclusively on Netflix and having a role in half a dozen films that have been released since that time, including “Angry Birds,” “Neighbors 2,” and “Daddy’s Home.” 

However, before all of that, he was just a student sitting in the very seats you are all sitting in today. Let us give a quick thank you to Mr. Buress for taking time out of his schedule to come back where it all started for him.

By Alejandro Hernandez

As Ashley just stated, several years ago, Hannibal Buress walked the same hallways as we have for the last four years. Having the same Spanish teacher, Mr. Ochoa, as he had, I asked him about the type of student Hannibal was. Mr. Ochoa said that he was a very bright kid who hung around the wrong group of friends.

By Hannibal’s own admission in an interview with Chicago Magazine in 2014, he said that his friends were real screw-ups and trouble makers and that he barely graduated with a 1.9 GPA. However, none of that defines that who he is today, and in the same interview, he said he still had a focus on going to college.

Despite this, Hannibal’s story at Steinmetz should not be one that we should ignored despite the lack of traditional academic success. Instead, his story should be honored for the fact that he has been able to achieve such global success in notoriously tough career field despite national statistics saying that he shouldn’t be. His story should be an example to all of us that anything is possible.

No matter what type of student you were at Steinmetz, if you can find something you are passionate about and you can wholeheartedly apply yourself to that one thing, then you will be able to be welcomed into your definition of the good life. So without any further ado, it is with great honor that I present to you one of the funniest men alive and Steinmetz’s very own, Hannibal Buress.

Presentation of plaque

Ashley said, “Before he speaks we came up with an award for Hannibal. It is ‘In recognition for being the funniest and most successful alum to graduate from our school.’

Hannibal Buress responded: “I think Hugh Hefner would have something to say about that.”

See Hannibal Buress’ keynote address to graduates for a transcription of his remarks.

Star co-editor-in-chief Alejandro Hernandez conceived the idea to ask Steinmetz alumnus to speak.

Mr. Buress (33) is possibly the hottest rising star in comedy and one of Steinmetz’ most famous alumni.

He started his career as a writer on “Saturday Night Live” in the late 2000’s. He hosts his own show on Comedy Central called “Why? With Hannibal Buress,” an observational comedy show mixed up with sketches in the same vein as “The Chappelle Show.” What put Mr. Buress on the map was his supporting role on the show Broad City, which also airs on Comedy Central. He also co-hosts the Eric Andre Show.

He’s had several movie roles, including in Neighbors and Neighbors 2. He has several stand-up specials underneath his belt, and he regularly appears as a guest on late night shows such the Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Conan and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Netflix streams four of his performances, including the recent Hannibal Buress: Comedy Camisado.

The idea to invite him was conceived by Star editor Alejandro Hernandez, but it was Ashley who took the initiative to email him and follow up with him. Mr. Buress agreed only if he received the yearbooks he lost as compensation.

Mr. Buress grew up in the Austin neighborhood. After Steinmetz he went to Southern Illinois University.His memories about his days in the late 1990s at Steinmetz, quoted in a 2014 Chicago Magazine article, include:

“My group of friends at Steinmetz were real f___ups. They were real f___ups. They were cutting class, smoking weed, stealing, flipping the desk—a lot of crazy stuff. My last year of high school, I was on the debate team. Even while being a fuckup and doing goofy shit, I was still somewhat focused on going to college. I graduated with a 1.9 GPA.”

While everyone is eagerly anticipating the June 15 graduation speech, no one really knows what to expect.

Hannibal tweeted in late March about the event after the Chicago Tribune reported it: “I’m speaking at my high school’s graduation. This was a bad decision by all parties involved.”

On June 8, he responded to Star reporter McKenzie Lacefield’s Twitter message to him about his speech. “excited to do it,” he replied. “it’s gonna be weird.”