Most comical commencement speech ever? Will Ferrell’s hilarious delivery at the 2017 USC graduation ceremony

When universities hand out honorary doctorates, they usually get a thoughtful speech, a few life lessons and perhaps a quote or two for Instagram. Just think of inspiration provided by Admiral McRaven, the prophetic words of Matt Damon or the tough truth from Harrison Ford.

But when USC invited Will Ferrell to address its graduating class in 2017, it got something closer to a live Anchorman sequel.

The actor behind Ron Burgundy, Buddy the Elf, Ricky Bobby and countless other wonderfully ridiculous characters spent nearly 25 minutes turning commencement season into comedy season. And somehow, amid all the planned chaos, he delivered a message that graduates could actually use. Even if you’re not a fan, you’ll struggle not to see the genius.

“Maybe I was funny... it was enough to give myself permission to be silly and weird.”

Will Ferrell

Is Will Ferrell a real doctor?

Freshly awarded an honorary doctorate, Ferrell immediately informed the audience that his wife and children would now have to call him “Dr. Ferrell” at all times. He joked that the degree legally qualified him to perform surgery from a windowless van parked near the Coliseum and claimed he was ready to deliver babies on commercial flights.

The speech never really slowed down. But would you expect anything less?

Ferrell compared himself to fellow honorary recipients, including Dame Helen Mirren, by listing his own achievements: running naked through the streets in Old School, wearing brightly colored tights and eating gum off the ground in Elf, and playing the world’s most famous cowbell enthusiast on Saturday Night Live.

He also took aim at Trump University, joking that not only had he never been paid for speaking there, but that he somehow owed them money instead. There’s always room for a little politics.

“My fear of failure never approached in magnitude my fear of ‘what if?’ What if I never tried at all?”

Will Ferrell

Ferrell comedy from own failures

Long before Hollywood success, Ferrell was a USC student studying Sports Information, a major so obscure that the university eventually discontinued it. After graduation he moved back home to Irvine, spent years trying to make it as a comedian and survived periods with little money and plenty of uncertainty.

One of the speech’s best stories involved Ferrell sneaking into a professor’s class dressed as a janitor sent to clean up vomit. Instead of being reprimanded, he was invited back because the professor found it hilarious. That encouragement, Ferrell said, helped convince him that maybe being “silly and weird” was worth pursuing.

“Trust your gut. Keep throwing darts at the dartboard.”

Will Ferrell

Beneath all the jokes sat a surprisingly simple message.

“Trust your gut. Keep throwing darts at the dartboard. Don’t listen to the critics and you will figure it out,” he told graduates.

Coming from a man whose early reviews called him annoying, whose movies were repeatedly rejected, and who once lived on spaghetti topped with mustard, it carried a little extra weight.

Then, because it was Will Ferrell, he finished by singing Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” to thousands of graduates.

You need to hear it to believe it.

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