Conan O’Brien was honored with the 2025 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor throughout a ceremony held on the Kennedy Middle in Washington D.C. on Sunday night time. The ceremony marked the primary main occasion on the Kennedy Middle since Donald Trump appointed himself chairman of its board and started overhauling its programming, and lots of the comedians in attendance used the event to take lampoon him.
“It’s an honor to be right here on the Kennedy Middle, or as it will likely be recognized subsequent week, the ‘Roy Cohn Pavilion for Huge, Robust Males Who Love Cats,’” joked John Mulaney, referencing Trump’s need to stage “non-woke musicals” reminiscent of Cats on the Kennedy Middle.
As she serenaded O’Brien, Sarah Silverman quipped, “I simply actually miss the times whenever you have been America’s solely orange asshole.” Referencing the Masturbating Bear, a reoccurring character on O’Brien’s late-night present, Kumail Nanjiani commented that it was a “becoming introduction to America. Nothing represents America higher than an unbelievably highly effective predator pleasuring himself on tv.”
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Ever within the astute observer, Invoice Burr identified, “Nothing says comedy just like the free-flowing inventive vibes of the District of Columbia. I don’t know what it’s. There’s one thing about beginning and prolonging wars whereas crushing the working man on your personal self curiosity that actually conjures up all who collect on this crew.”
Nevertheless it was O’Brien himself who delivered maybe essentially the most biting and profound commentary of the night. Accepting the Mark Twain Prize, the comic famous how the award’s namesake was somebody who “hated Bullies. He punched up, not down, and he deeply, deeply empathized with the weak.” He was additionally “allergic to hypocrisy and he loathed racism.”
“Twain was suspicious of populism, jingoism, imperialism, the cash extra of the Gilded Age and any expression of senseless American may or self-importance,” O’Brien continued. “Above all, Twain was a patriot in the perfect sense of the phrase. He liked America however knew it was deeply flawed. Twain wrote, ‘Patriotism is supporting your nation on a regular basis, and your authorities when it deserves it.’ Now, a few of you, a few of you could be pondering, ‘What does this must do with comedy?’ Twain is humorous and necessary at this time as a result of his comedy is a hilarious celebration of our fears, our ineptitude, and the fantastic mess of being human.”
After concluding his remarks, O’Brien was joined by Adam Sandler and a gaggle of males dressed as Mark Twains for a rousing efficiency of Neil Younger’s “Rockin’ within the Free World.”