‘Twain hated bullies.’ Conan O’Brien receives Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center

It was a night of silliness, scatological humor, cutting political satire, and poignancy as Conan O’Brien received the 26th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Among those celebrating O’Brien were his longtime comedy peers Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Stephen Colbert, Tracy Morgan, and Bill Burr, along with others who had been influenced by his work, including John Mulaney and Kumail Nanjiani.

O’Brien was announced as this year’s Twain Prize winner in mid-January. A month later, President Trump ousted the Kennedy Center’s president, board chair and Democratically appointed board members. In response, artists resigned from leadership roles and canceled gigs.

Accepting the prize on Sunday night, O’Brien pointedly thanked former board chair David Rubenstein and former president Deborah Rutter. “They’re the reason I’m here,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t know why they aren’t here tonight.”

Here are three takeaways from the evening: 

1. Comedians zeroed in on the tension

Before the show, standup comedian Nikki Glaser said she was “saddened about the state of things right now,” but that comedians thrive on tension. “There’s a lot at stake. And so that’s good for comedy,” she said.

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the cigar-smoking hound puppet performed by writer-comedian Robert Smigel zeroed in on the ambivalence some people have about going to the Kennedy Center right now. “Thank you all for coming, and shame on you for being here,” Triumph told the audience.

After introducing himself, John Mulaney said, “It’s an honor to be here at the Kennedy Center or, as it will be known next week, ‘the Roy Cohn Pavilion for Big, Strong Men Who Love Cats,'” a reference to Donald Trump’s association with the notoriously ruthless lawyer Roy Cohn and his recent comment that he’d like to see Cats come to the Kennedy Center.

Toward the end of the evening, David Letterman, himself a Mark Twain Prize winner, called the evening “the most entertaining gathering of the resistance ever.”

2. ‘Genuine’ and ‘generous’ – comedy love for Conan runs deep

O’Brien is a five-time Emmy winner who wrote for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons (though Nanjiani did a funny bit pointing out that O’Brien really only wrote three episodes of The Simpsons). He received high marks for his recent hosting of the Oscars. But what stood out during the Mark Twain Prize was O’Brien’s reputation as a team player who lifts up other comics.

“Even after I lost my first and only job in show business, Conan kept having me on, like, all the time,” said Sarah Silverman. “And each time, it was just such a magical experience, you know, it’s like a first date with someone who’s so funny and so charming that you kind of trick yourself into thinking they’re hot,” she joked.

Adam Sandler told O’Brien, “You’re faster than all of us, you’re nicer than all of us… you bring out the best of us.”

3. ‘First and foremost, Twain hated bullies’

O’Brien has appeared in several past Mark Twain Prize events. He told reporters his decision to accept the prize this year was partly influenced by the people at the Kennedy Center: “They work hard to promote the arts. And so I want to be here in that spirit.”

Accepting an award named after Mark Twain was “a responsibility” because of the satirist’s “core principles,” he told the audience.

“First and foremost, Twain hated bullies,” O’Brien said emphatically, “He punched up, not down. And he deeply, deeply empathized with the weak.”

O’Brien continued, “Twain is funny and important today because his comedy is a hilarious celebration of our fears, our ineptitude, and the glorious mess of being human.”

The audience gave him a standing ovation. To end the night, O’Brien joined Adam Sandler – and a bunch of dancing Mark Twain impersonators dressed in white suits – in a rendition of “Rockin’ In The Free World.“