On a night when half a dozen people made jokes about this being the last-ever Mark Twain Prize, Conan O’Brien made sure the ceremony at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts ended on a high note.
O’Brien accepted the award for lifetime achievement in comedy Sunday night while acknowledging the backstage turmoil that hangs over the future of the cultural center in Washington. O’Brien, 61, was named the 26th recipient of the Mark Twain Prize in mid-January, about three weeks before 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 replaced them with loyalists, who then elected him as chairman.
On Sunday, O’Brien specifically thanked Rubenstein and Rutter – drawing an extended round of applause – and also Kennedy Center staffers who, he said, were “worried about what the future might bring.”
He said the example of Mark Twain’s own life and career was particularly resonant at this moment in American history.
“Twain hated bullies. … He punched up, not down and he deeply empathised with the weak,” O’Brien said. “Twain loved America, but he knew it was deeply flawed.”
A Mark Twain impersonator then emerged from the audience. After a back-and-forth debate with O’Brien, he joined him on stage and the pair slow danced for a while. They were then joined by a dozen more Twain impersonators and previous Twain Prize recipient Adam Sandler for a raucous rendition of Neil Young’s “Rockin in the Free World.”
That musical ending capped off a night when the uncertain fate of the Kennedy Centre itself was woven through the multiple tributes and testimonials to O’Brien.
“I think it would be insane not to address the elephant in the room,” comic Nikki Glaser said on the red carpet before the ceremony. “It’s in the air tonight. This night is about Conan, but it can be both.” In the wake of Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, several artists, including the producers of “Hamilton” and actress and writer Issa Rae, announced they were canceling appearances at the venue.
Others have chosen to perform while making their sentiments known from the stage. Leftist comic W Kamau Bell directly addressed the controversy in his performance just days after the shake-up. Earlier this month, cellist Erin Murphy Snedecor ended her set with a performance of the Woody Guthrie protest anthem “All You Fascists Bound to Lose.”
Other comedians receiving the lifetime achievement award include both Letterman and Leno, along with George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett, Bill Murray and Dave Chappelle. The ceremony will be streamed on Netflix on May 4.