late night comedy

Score one for Team Coco. Conan O’Brien has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. He’ll receive the award on March 23, less than three weeks after he hosts the Oscars for the first time. The Oscars are set for March 3.
O’Brien, 61, will be the second former host of The Tonight Show to receive the Twain Prize. Jay Leno, who was both O’Brien’s predecessor and successor as host of that legendary late-night comedy franchise, received the honor in 2014. David Letterman, who was passed over for the job in favor of Leno when Johnny Carson retired in 1993, received the honor in 2017. Jon Stewart, whose The Daily Show in its heyday was often buzzier than The Tonight Show, received the honor in 2022. (Carson, who hosted The Tonight Show for 30 years and is widely regarded as the GOAT of late-night talk-show hosts, never received the honor. He died in 2005, seven years after the award originated.)

“For four decades, Conan O’Brien has brought his unique blend of the smart, silly, insightful, and hilarious into our homes,” Deborah F. Rutter, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, said in a statement. “From Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons —including the unbelievably funny monorail episode — to late night, podcasts, and all things Team Coco, Conan is a master of invention and reinvention, consistently pushing the envelope in search of new comedic heights.”

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“I am honored to be the first winner of the Mark Twain Prize recognized not for humor, but for my work as a riverboat pilot,” wisecracked O’Brien.

The presentation will take place in Kennedy Center Concert Hall. The program will stream on Netflix, date to be announced. Last year’s presentation to Kevin Hart marked the beginning of a long-term relationship with the streamer.

The 26th Mark Twain Prize will be produced by David Jammy and the creative team at Done+Dusted, the Kennedy Center’s producing partner for the Mark Twain Prize since 2018.

The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor recognizes individuals who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, colloquially known as Mark Twain. “As a social commentator, satirist, and creator of characters, Clemens was a fearless observer of society who delighted and informed onlookers with his uncompromising perspective on social injustice and personal folly,” the statement said.

Previous recipients are Richard Pryor (1998), Jonathan Winters (1999), Carl Reiner (2000), Whoopi Goldberg (2001), Bob Newhart (2002), Lily Tomlin (2003), Lorne Michaels (2004), Steve Martin (2005), Neil Simon (2006), Billy Crystal (2007), George Carlin (2008), Bill Cosby (2009; rescinded in 2018), Tina Fey (2010), Will Ferrell (2011), Ellen DeGeneres (2012), Carol Burnett (2013), Jay Leno (2014), Eddie Murphy (2015), Bill Murray (2016), David Letterman (2017), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (2018), Dave Chappelle (2019), Jon Stewart (2022), Adam Sandler (2023), and Kevin Hart (2024).

The event was created by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Bob Kaminsky, Peter Kaminsky, Mark Krantz, and John Schreiber.