Jon Stewart Receives the Mark Twain Award In Star-Filled Event at Kennedy Center

Ignore any worries about comedy39s future in the wake of Will Smith39s slap the beloved former host of The Daily Show said quotIt39s not the fragility of audiences it39s the fragility of leadersquot he declared quotIt39s not the Fresh Prince it39s the crown princequotReceiving the Twain award which he called quotthis man39s decapitated visagequot is he said quota reminder that what we have here is fragile and preciousquotAnd it was one to be relished as he did in a special box alongside his family heartily laughing at the gibes of his famous friends on stage The best part of his 35year career which continues with his current Apple TV show The Problem with Jon Stewart quotis the journey with the greatest possible friends I could ever makequotIt made for an interesting crowd Stewart was preceded on the red carpet by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and trailed by White House Spokeswoman Jen Psaki and Transportation Secretary Pete ButtigiegJason Jones a former Daily Show correspondent and husband of Samantha Bee sat alongside historian Jon Meacham in a box that also included SNL comic Pete Davidson and his glamorous date Kim KardashianThe evening taped for a PBS broadcast in June began with a hardcharging version of the Beatles39 quotCome Togetherquot with no less than fellow New Jerseyan Bruce Springsteen joining Gary Clark Jr and his band Springsteen a longtime idol of the honoree would return later to do a solo acoustic reading of his Jersey anthem quotBorn to Runquot calling out to the comedian quotTramps like us broquotMostly it was about comedy occasional sincere praise for Stewart leveled by the kind of jibes suited for a roast coming from a remarkable array of stars that have come out of The Daily Show including Steve Carell Samantha Bee Ed Helms and via video Stephen Colbert and John OliverIt was the first Twain Prize given since 2019 when Stewart took part in praising that year39s honoree Dave Chappelle who was back on hand to salute his palThe pandemic had put the event on ice for a couple of years Stewart was perfect for its return Kennedy Center board chairman David Rubenstein said since his humor came with a serious intent well suited for a postpandemic time with a war breaking out across the globeAttendees were masked That39s an odd thing for the performers Stewart noted quotYou can perform but you can39t see their mouthsquot And Colbert was there via video only because of his own bout with COVID that caused the abrupt cancellation Thursday of his Late Show which since moved to planned reruns Appearing live the host of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee told the welldressed audience quotit39s an honor being infected with COVID with youquotBee said Stewart whom she called quotThe godfather of righteous outragequot taught her a lot in 12 seasons quotNot enough to host his showquot she added wryly quotbut enough to host my own showquotAs a former winner Chappelle said he knew exactly how Stewart was feeling quotIt39s like getting a preview to your own funeralquot he explainedOliver went a step further insisting on tape that Stewart must be dead as he would never agree to sit for hours to hear praiseCarell hilariously recounted an early assignment on The Daily Show involving a venom research facility in Nebraska that turned out to be quota mobile home full of snakesquotEd Helms dressed in oldtime baseball garb to lead the crowd in quotTake Me Out to the Ballgamequot leading up to showing an embarrassing first pitch Stewart attempted before a Mets gameWho can even remember the few months Olivia Munn was a Daily Show correspondent She was in 16 episodes from 2010 to 2011 Nevertheless she thanked Stewart for plucking her from a video game network to be a correspondentMunn noted that Stewart kept his Emmys in a cardboard box behind the door of his messy office quotI can39t wait to see what filthy box you39ll dump this award inquot she saidMore than one performer noted that Stewart had left his highprofile Daily Show gig just before the Trump era which Jimmy Kimmel likened to quotleaving Woodstock after ShaNaNaquotquotWe missed you very muchquot Chappelle saidBut his influence worldwide was noted in one of the several clip packages of Stewart39s work in the show Paying homage in person was Bassem Yousssef a former surgeon in Cairo Egypt who was so inspired after seeing Stewart39s political satire he attempted a similar show in Egypt quotYou don39t understand the impact he39s had outside the United Statesquot said Youssef whose own show of political satire was popular briefly during the Arab Spring before he was brought in for questioning and had to leave the countryDavidson a fellow New Jerseyan was the youngest comic on stage praising Stewart as a highly respectable mentor quotThe most controversial thing he39s done is become friends with mequot he said And friendship he added quotisn39t something he halfasses like acting or gives up easily like directingquotMeacham alone took a serious take at the comedian and activist who has been a vigorous voice for veterans and first responders quotMost comics make jokesquot he said quotYou do more You make a differencequotJon Stewart The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize will be broadcast on PBS June 21 at 9 pm check local listingsClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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Jon Stewart Receives the Mark Twain Award In Star-Filled Event at Kennedy Center

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