Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Comments
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor | movie | 2025 | Official Clip
JustWatch
Follow
4/30/2025
Comedy's biggest stars gather to toast and celebrate late-night legend Conan O'Brien as he accepts the Mark Twain Prize | dG1fWXI4cVBLVG84eUE
Category
🎥
Short film
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
This honor feels very different to me. I think accepting an award named after Mark Twain is a responsibility.
00:08
One cannot invoke Twain without understanding who he was and what he stood for.
00:16
Now, don't be distracted by the white suit and the cigar and the riverboat.
00:20
Twain is alive, vibrant, and vitally relevant today.
00:24
Yes, he is America's greatest humorist, but his enduring power springs from his core principles.
00:34
Principles that shaped his comedy and made him one of our greatest Americans.
00:40
First and foremost, Twain hated bullies.
00:44
He populated his works with abusers such as Huck Finn's alcoholic father, Tom Driscoll in Puddinand Wilson,
00:49
and he made his readers passionately hate those characters.
00:52
He punched up, not down, and he deeply, deeply empathized with the weak.
01:00
Twain was allergic to hypocrisy, and he loathed racism.
01:12
Twain wrote,
01:13
There are many humorous things in the world, among them the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages.
01:19
Twain empathized with the powerless in America, former slaves struggling in Reconstruction,
01:25
immigrant Chinese laborers in California, and European Jews fleeing anti-Semitism.
01:30
Twain's remedy for ignorance about the world around us was to travel at a time when travel was very long and very difficult.
01:39
Twain circled the globe, and he wrote,
01:41
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.
01:51
Twain...
01:52
Twain was suspicious of populism, jingoism, imperialism, the money-obsessed mania of the Gilded Age,
02:05
and any expression of mindless American might or self-importance.
02:09
Above all, Twain was a patriot in the best sense of the word.
02:13
He loved America, but knew it was deeply flawed.
02:18
Twain wrote,
02:19
Patriotism is supporting your country all of the time, and your government when it deserves it.
02:25
Now...
02:27
Some of you...
02:34
Some of you might be thinking, what does this have to do with comedy?
02:38
It has everything to do with comedy.
02:43
Everything.
02:45
The comedy...
02:47
I have loved all my life.
02:50
Comedy that is self-critical, deflating, and dedicated to the proposition
02:54
that we are all flawed, absurd, and wallowing in the mud together.
03:00
Twain is funny and important today
03:02
because his comedy is a hilarious celebration of our fears, our ineptitude,
03:08
and the glorious mess of being human.
03:12
When we celebrate Twain, truly,
03:16
see him for who he was,
03:18
we acknowledge our commonality,
03:20
and we move just a little closer together.
03:24
So I accept this award
03:26
in the spirit of humility,
03:31
stupidity, inanity,
03:33
irrelevance, fear,
03:34
self-doubt,
03:36
and profound, unceasing silliness.
03:40
I thank you.
03:41
It's the honor of a lifetime.
03:42
Thank you so much.
Recommended
1:44
|
Up next
Sport, mafia et corruption | show | 2012| S3 | Official Trailer
JustWatch
today
1:38
Chathuram | movie | 2022 | Official Teaser
JustWatch
today
1:14
Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor | Official Trailer - Netflix
80PoundMedia
4/29/2025
1:14
Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor - Official Trailer Netflix
FilmAffinity
4/29/2025
1:14
Conan O'Brien : The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor | Official Trailer | Netflix
NoPopCorn
4/29/2025
1:10
Conan O'Brien is being honoured with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
Bang Showbiz Extra
1/16/2025
1:26
Kevin Hart: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor - Official Trailer Netflix
FilmAffinity
5/6/2024
2:28
Jay Leno Pays Tribute to Onetime Rival David Letterman Ahead of Mark Twain Prize Ceremony | THR News
The Hollywood Reporter
10/20/2017
1:13
Conan O'Brien condemns 'bullies' as he receives Mark Twain Prize
Bang Showbiz
3/24/2025
0:30
Late Night with Conan O'Brien | show | 1993 | Official Trailer
JustWatch
10/28/2024
1:26
Kevin Hart The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize
Teaser Trailer
5/7/2024
1:51
Conan O'Brien decries 'bullies' while receiving Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize
The Manila Times
3/25/2025
1:32
Conan O’Brien Says Goodbye to Late-Night TV
NowThis
9/1/2021
1:59
Conan O'Brien Must Go
Teaser Trailer
3/27/2024
1:46
Conan O’Brien Hits the Road Again in Season 2!
FanReviews
4/20/2025
1:38
Conan O'Brien doesn't 'want to let America down' at the Oscars
Bang Showbiz Extra
2/19/2025
2:34
Conan O'Brien Can't Stop | movie | 2011 | Official Trailer
JustWatch
2/1/2023
1:16
Conan O'Brien reveals his Saturday Night Live 'regret'
Bang Showbiz Extra
11/6/2024
2:43
Conan O'Brien Says Goodbye to Late Night, Will Ferrell and Jack Black Join Series Finale | THR News
The Hollywood Reporter
6/25/2021
2:26
First Look at Max's Conan O'Brien Must Go
FanReviews
5/17/2023
1:10
Conan O’Brien says it feels “weird” to be replaced as a talk show host
Bang Showbiz Extra
4/10/2024
1:13
Jim Carrey hails 'comedy genius' Norm Macdonald
Bang Showbiz Extra
9/15/2021
1:16
Will Conan O’Brien and The Oscar Get Their Hollywood Ending?
FanReviews
2/23/2025
2:32
Apocalypse in the Tropics Documentary Movie
Teaser Trailer
yesterday
1:24
Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano
Teaser Trailer
yesterday