WASHINGTON — On an evening when half a dozen folks made jokes about this being the last-ever Mark Twain Prize, Conan O’Brien made positive the ceremony on the John F. Kennedy Middle for the Performing Arts ended on a excessive notice.
O’Brien accepted the award for lifetime achievement in comedy Sunday night time whereas acknowledging the backstage turmoil that hangs over the way forward for the cultural middle in Washington.
O’Brien, 61, was named the twenty sixth recipient of the Mark Twain Prize in mid-January, about three weeks earlier than President Donald Trump upended the Kennedy Center by ousting longtime president Deborah Rutter and board chairman David Rubenstein. Trump dismissed the board of trustees and changed them with loyalists, who then elected him as chairman.
On Sunday, O’Brien particularly thanked Rubenstein and Rutter – drawing an prolonged spherical of applause – and in addition Kennedy Center staffers who, he mentioned, had been “anxious about what the long run may convey.”
He mentioned the instance of Mark Twain’s personal life and profession was significantly resonant at this second in American historical past.
“Twain hated bullies. … He punched up, not down, and he deeply empathized with the weak,” O’Brien mentioned. “Twain liked America, however he knew it was deeply flawed.”
A Mark Twain impersonator then emerged from the viewers. After a back-and-forth debate with O’Brien, he joined him on stage and the pair gradual danced for some time. They had been then joined by a dozen extra Twain impersonators and former Twain Prize recipient Adam Sandler for a raucous rendition of Neil Younger’s “Rockin within the Free World.”
That musical ending capped off an evening when the unsure destiny of the Kennedy Center itself was woven by means of the a number of tributes and testimonials to O’Brien.
“I believe it could be insane to not deal with the elephant within the room,” comedian Nikki Glaser mentioned on the crimson carpet earlier than the ceremony. “It’s within the air tonight. This night time is about Conan, however it may be each.”
As soon as the festivities started, Stephen Colbert joked that the Kennedy Center had introduced two new board members: Bashar Assad, the ousted president of Syria, and Skeletor, a fictional supervillain.
John Mulaney quipped that the complete constructing would quickly be renamed “the Roy Cohn Pavilion” after considered one of Trump’s mentors. And Sarah Silverman made a number of Trump jokes that had been too vulgar to print.
Trump, in saying the Kennedy Center adjustments, posted on social media that those that had been dismissed “don’t share our Imaginative and prescient for a Golden Age in Arts and Tradition.”
How that imaginative and prescient takes form stays to be seen, however Trump has spoken about desirous to ebook extra Broadway reveals there and floated the thought of granting Kennedy Center Honors standing to actor Sylvester Stallone and singer-songwriter Paul Anka.
Into this maelstrom stepped O’Brien, whose comedic persona has by no means been significantly political. The comedian has at all times tended extra towards goofiness and self-deprecation. However he has additionally leaned into delicate societal points at occasions. In 2011, O’Brien officiated a homosexual wedding ceremony dwell on his present, overseeing the wedding of his longtime costume designer Scott Cronick and his companion David Gorshein.
O’Brien vaulted into the highlight from near-total obscurity in 1993 when he was chosen to exchange David Letterman as host of “Late Evening” regardless of no important on-camera expertise. The previous Harvard Lampoon editor had spent the earlier years as a author for “Saturday Evening Reside” and “The Simpsons,” showing on digital camera solely as an occasional background additional in “SNL” skits.
He went on to host “Late Evening” for 16 years, longer than every other host. O’Brien was later tapped to exchange Jay Leno as host of “The Tonight Present,” however that experiment resulted in public failure. After seven months of declining rankings, NBC executives introduced Leno again for a brand new present that will bump “The Tonight Present” again. O’Brien refused to simply accept the transfer, resulting in a public spat that ended with a multimillion-dollar payout for O’Brien and his workers to exit the community in early 2010.
O’Brien went on to host one other discuss present on the cable station TBS, whereas launching profitable podcasts and journey reveals. He’s at present on a late-career elder statesman sizzling streak. His journey sequence, “Conan O’Brien Should Go,” drew fashionable and important acclaim, with a second season coming. His current gig internet hosting the Academy Awards was so effectively obtained that the producers introduced they’re bringing him again subsequent yr.
Within the wake of Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, a number of artists, together with the producers of “Hamilton” and actress and author Issa Rae, introduced they had been canceling appearances on the venue.
Others have chosen to carry out whereas making their sentiments identified from the stage. Leftist comedian W. Kamau Bell straight addressed the controversy in his efficiency simply days after the shake-up. Earlier this month, cellist Erin Murphy Snedecor ended her set with a efficiency of the Woody Guthrie protest anthem “All You Fascists Sure to Lose.”
Different comedians receiving the lifetime achievement award embody each Letterman and Leno, together with George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett, Invoice Murray and Dave Chappelle.
The ceremony will likely be streamed on Netflix on Could 4.
