The Kennedy Center created the Mark Twain Award in 1998 as an offshoot of its annual Kennedy Center Honors, specifically to highlight and celebrate the greatest contributors to American comedy.
The first two winners, Richard Pryor and Jonathan Winters, were honored on Comedy Central. For many years, the event was televised on PBS, until last year it moved to CNN. Netflix had previously acquired/licensed the 2019 event honoring Dave Chappelle, but is now fully involved starting with this year's Kevin Hart celebration.
Director: Marcus Raboy
Stars: Kevin Hart, Wayne Brown, Dave Burd
Available to toast, but especially roast Hart: Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Tiffany Haddish, J.B. Smoove, Jimmy Fallon, Chelsea Handler, Regina Hall, The Plastic Cup Boyz (Hart's opening acts and John Clausell's entourage, Ron “Boss” Everline, Wayne Brown, Will “Spank” Horton, Na'im Lynn, Harry Ratchford, Joey Wells), Nick Cannon, Keith Robinson and Dave “Lil Dicky” Burd.
The first comedian he talked about on stage was Seinfeld, who set the tone by implying that he was only there as a favor, and that's all show business, and the camera cuts to Chappelle backstage afterwards commenting on the "flexibility" of having Seinfeld and Rock at the event, while describing his own presence there as "a fucking miracle."
After joking that the leather jacket she was wearing was inherited from Hart, Tiffany Haddish expressed her theory that while Hart may have been her guardian angel in real life, she suspects he's actually an elf?
Then the barbecue began really in earnest.
Jimmy Fallon performed a song dressed in black as a cowboy where the entire lyrics mocked Hart's diminutive size. Then Nick Cannon, who acts as public address announcer (for some reason, for the rest of the show we hear Samuel L. Jackson's voice in that capacity, but he doesn't seem to see it), introduced himself as Eddie Murphy and spoke. mainly about how Cannon and Hart play pranks on each other.
Chris Rock said that he met Hart on the set of the movie Death at a Funeral, and noted that only Hart and Aziz Ansari followed the advice they sought from Rock. To Hart, Rock said, “You have to get out of his circle and develop your own voice.”
But Hart received more ridicule from the likes of Smoove, Hall and Lil Dicky, who recounted how Hart upstaged him during a show in Las Vegas before the two met, only to later give the rapper a major boost by hosting his TV series, Dave. , to FX/Hulu as executive producer.
However, of all the artists who paid tribute to Hart, only two actually managed to get through to Hart himself. Keith Robinson made him laugh the most, while Dave Chappelle made him cry the most.
Robinson was a vital mentor to Hart, literally taking him out of Philadelphia in the late 1990s and bringing him to New York City, showing him how to navigate the big city comedy scene, and personally approving of Hart's decision. of choosing Dave Becky as his manager. But Robinson also made Hart hysterical by recalling the time the hospital wanted to put Robinson (who survived two strokes) in the COVID unit, and then when he dropped his cane just to joke with music director Adam Blackstone for helping him.
Chappelle, who won this award in 2019, noted, “Kevin, it's strange to receive an award like that while you're still on active duty.” But he said Hart deserved this recognition, not only for surviving his impoverished youth to become a global superstar, but also for bringing so much joy to the world through his comedy. “No one gives you the credit you deserve for how outstanding a comedian you are,” Chappelle told him, adding, “People don't understand what you've done for the business.” By this he was referring specifically to ticket sales, stating that Hart has sold 500 million concert tickets for his stand-up tours.
Chappelle said Hart also inspired him to go on stadium tours. "I would never play in a stadium before seeing you do it," he said.
And yet, this broadcast doesn't go out of its way to tell casual viewers or even comedy fans what Hart has accomplished. Clip montages don't catch our attention. Outside of Lil Dicky's testimony, even the words of Haddish or Plastic Cup Boyz don't go far enough to describe what Hart has meant to his career, or how he might have influenced the industry. I'm not saying Hart isn't worthy of a tribute, but this event never really explained why we honor him now. He's done a lot even though he's still in his early 40s and yet we don't hear anything about HartBeat Productions or LOL Network or his work with Peacock or.
When Chelsea Handler mentioned that she was there to present Hart with "a lifetime achievement award," it's that moment you get to, isn't it something we do a few decades later? Like when the comedian reaches Seinfeld's age? Or even Rock? Neither of them have won the award, so she imagines how they must feel celebrating Hart.
On the other hand, this year's biggest comedy event opened with Robin Thicke and Nelly singing “Fever” and “Hot in Here.” You know, those comedy classics.
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