In one of the most prominent speaker events the school has ever hosted, stand-up comedian and actor Chris Rock visited the school on Friday in an event hosted by the Art and Business Club.
Sitting in front of a packed crowd in Rugby Auditorium, Rock answered questions with club leader Alexander Hudlin ’26 about his rise to stardom and experience in the show business and entertainment industry. In a prior club event, Hudlin brought Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden to speak.
Rock discussed his experience on the set of Saturday Night Live and the making of his autobiographical sitcom “Everybody Hates Chris”. And while alternating between quips and genuine advice, he directed some of his words toward the student-filled audience.
“You guys are the most privileged kids in the history of the earth,” Rock said. “You have resources that some people have never had, and could only dream of. You’re not normal kids, even the slowest kid here is faster than the fastest kid in a public school.”
Head of Upper School Beth Slattery said she enjoyed Rock’s ability to simultaneously engage the crowd and give meaningful insight.
“I thought the questions from the audience were really thoughtful, and it felt like really good life advice,” Slattery said. “That’s one of the things that’s been a little bit different. Sometimes, some of the speakers are just lecturing, whereas this style felt like it was more tailored to our audience.”
Rock’s comedic sketches typically make humor of topics such as racism, inequality and politics. He said his sketches try to highlight important societal issues in a light-hearted manner.
“When I’m picking controversial issues,” I just try to saw them down to the simplest form. I don’t think people are really interested in politics, per se. They’re interested in how the politics affect people. I don’t want to divide the world, but I try to get it to its most human form.”
Hudlin said he saw Rock as the perfect guest speaker to inspire both the club and the broader community.
“I founded the Art and Business Club to share impactful and important messages from some of the most successful and creative minds in the entertainment and art world. So when the opportunity to interview Chris Rock arose, I knew he would be an excellent speaker, not only for my club but for the entire community.”
Hudlin said Rock’s ability to establish a powerful brand made him an ideal speaker to discuss the importance of branding in achieving success.
“Chris Rock is not only incredible at what he does, but he has also built an outstanding personal brand. I wanted to understand how he achieved this because, at the end of the day, branding plays a crucial role in success.”
Hudlin said he hopes students walked away with the knowledge that success is not a straight path but a journey filled with challenges and growth.
“I hope students took away many valuable lessons from the event, but above all, I hope they left with the understanding that there are many paths to success. It’s not a single, uniform journey, it comes with ups and downs and it’s a long, challenging process.”
Club leader Charlie Sive ’26 said the most exciting part of bringing Rock to speak was giving students a chance to engage and recognize their privilege.
“The most exciting thing about bringing Chris Rock to speak was giving students the opportunity to hear important, but sometimes uncomfortable truths about society and themselves,” Sive said. “Through his speech, he was able to help students realize the opportunity that we are given and deepen our social awareness to allow us to grow as people.”
Club leader Carter Comolli ’26 said lessons from the Walden’s event helped shape decisions for Rock’s visit, from securing a larger venue to small logistical details that enhanced the experience.
“Given the Dana Walden experience, which we consider overall a really big success and was an incredible first event, there were a few things that we learned to carry into this event, particularly just logistical things,” Comolli said. “Given the popularity of Chris Rock, we thought the bigger theater was better suited to that audience. It was just all the little things that made it such a fantastic event. The music as people were walking in, having pre-prepared questions to make sure everything goes smoothly so we could really maximize our time with him. Those were the things that maximized the experience of the event and the incredible opportunity brought to our school.”
