Senior Damian Weaver has spent the past two years on Grady’s speech and forensics team participating in very “debate-y” events including public forum and Lincoln- Douglas. During his senior year, he tried humorous interpretation, an event completely different from what he had done before, and he has been laughing to the awards podium ever since.
Weaver’s accomplishments in humorous interpretation are a far cry from his time participating in Public Forum, where he never broke to final rounds. His successes in humorous interpretation include 3rd place at Carrollton High School’s tournament, fifth place at George Mason University’s national competition, and breaking the semi-final round at Emory University’s national competition.
Weaver said that it was his debate coach, Mario Herrera, that encouraged him to make the switch to humorous interpretation.
“I was at Emory, and I was doing public forum at the time, and Mario was like ‘I want to try you as Humorous Interp.’ So I thought I would give it a try. He picked out a book for me, and I cut it and edited it all on my own,” Weaver said.
Humorous interp consists of a comedic portrayal of a published piece of work, edited down to 10 minutes. Weaver’s piece, an excerpt from Paul Beatty’s novel The White Boy Shuffle, tells the story of Gunnar Kaufman, a preppy, socially unaware, black kid living in Santa Monica who moves to an inner city area in Los Angeles and experiences a culture shock. Gunnar finds that the best way to be accepted in his new urban culture is through basketball. Weaver said Herrera chose this piece for him because like Gunnar, Weaver skateboards, so it seemed to be a good fit.
“A coach friend of mine recommended it years ago to me and I thought it was hysterical,” Herrera said. “When I found out about Damian’s ‘skater side,’ I looked a little bit more into the story and recommended it to Damian. He took it from there.”
Weaver’s similarities to Gunnar go beyond skateboarding.
“I definitely can relate to the person who comes from a background who isn’t really exposed to ghetto people and the way they act and talk and their expectations,” Weaver said. “I experienced that in elementary and middle school.”
Sophomore Tate Lancaster, who also competes in humorous interp, raves of Weaver’s performance. “His piece is absolutely hilarious and really fits him,” Lancaster said. “I was surprised he was able to cut a whole book and and make it into such a great HI.”
Weaver recently competed at George Mason University’s National Speech and Debate Competition and placed fifth in the final round. “I was most nervous when I found out I broke the semi finals, because I felt at that point that I had a chance of winning,” Weaver said. “ When I broke to finals, I didn’t really have emotion, I didn’t really know how to feel. Everyone else was really excited, but I wasn’t even really excited for myself. Maybe it was because I was nervous.”
Lancaster, however, was exceedingly enthusiastic about Weavers success. “I think he has had so much success because of his personality,” Lancaster said, “It just fits HI. He is so engaging, and you just want to listen to what he has to say. Not to mention he is just a hilarious guy.”
Along with Lancaster, Herrera believes the root of Weaver’s success is his personality.
“A good interpretation piece can happen often, but a great one is only great because of the love and dedication of the student,” Herrera said, “Damian works tirelessly on his selection. He practices and practices. He is successful because of his talent and dedication.”
Despite Weaver’s new- found place in humorous interpretation, he does not want to continue with speech and debate in college but will continue with public speaking.
