Responding to the off-color humor of Monday’s second International Festival speaker, Principal Scott Laurence addressed the student body today, appearing on In Focus during fourth period to make a statement.
“His style of humor was not appropriate in the context of what we try to do at Paly on a daily basis,” said Laurence. “I am responsible for the messages that are presented at the school and felt that this was not something that fit in with what we talk about or value.”
Comedian Daniel Nainan is the speaker who has caused such a stir. Nainan was set up to perform as the second speaker during Monday’s International Festival assembly. Nainan was expected to make jokes about different cultures, touching on his mixed heritage of an Indian father and a Japanese mother.
Nainan’s jokes proved more controversial than expected, making jokes about the speech patterns of foreigners attempting to speak English, and Japanese people working at the KKK.
“The international festival was not the right place for a guy like that to perform,” senior Kolby Dauler said. “But I still thought he was funny.”
