Conan O'Brien accepts Mark Twain Prize for humor as politics roils Kennedy Center

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 empathized 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 Center 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."

Once the festivities began, Stephen Colbert joked that the Kennedy Center had announced two new board members: Bashar Assad, the ousted president of Syria, and Skeletor, a fictional supervillain.

John Mulaney quipped that the entire building would soon be renamed "the Roy Cohn Pavilion" after one of Trump's mentors. And Sarah Silverman made multiple Trump jokes that were too vulgar to print.

Trump, in announcing the Kennedy Center changes, posted on social media that those who were dismissed "do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture."

How that vision takes shape remains to be seen, but Trump has spoken about wanting to book more Broadway shows there and floated the idea of granting Kennedy Center Honors status to actor Sylvester Stallone and singer-songwriter Paul Anka.

Into this maelstrom stepped O'Brien, whose comedic persona has never been particularly political. The comic has always tended more toward goofiness and self-deprecation. But he has also leaned into sensitive societal issues at times. In 2011, O'Brien officiated a gay wedding live on his show, overseeing the marriage of his longtime costume designer Scott Cronick and his partner David Gorshein.

O'Brien vaulted into the spotlight from near-total obscurity in 1993 when he was chosen to replace David Letterman as host of "Late Night" despite no significant on-camera experience. The former Harvard Lampoon editor had spent the previous years as a writer for "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons," appearing on camera only as an occasional background extra in "SNL" skits.

He went on to host "Late Night" for 16 years, longer than any other host. O'Brien was later tapped to replace Jay Leno as host of "The Tonight Show," but that experiment ended in public failure. After seven months of declining ratings, NBC executives brought Leno back for a new show that would bump "The Tonight Show" back. O'Brien refused to accept the move, leading to a public spat that ended with a multimillion-dollar payout for O'Brien and his staff to exit the network in early 2010.

O'Brien went on to host another talk show on the cable station TBS, while launching successful podcasts and travel shows. He is currently on a late-career elder statesman hot streak. His travel series, "Conan O'Brien Must Go," drew popular and critical acclaim, with a second season coming. His recent gig hosting the Academy Awards was so well received that the producers announced they are bringing him back next year.

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.