Watch Tina Fey Receive Mark Twain Prize (and Thank Sarah Palin)
Tina Fey received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor last week at the Kennedy Center, the youngest recipient ever and the third woman to receive the honor (following in the steps of Lily Tomlin and Whoopi Goldberg). PBS aired the award ceremony last night, featuring a who's who of American comedy—Lorne Michaels, Steve Carell, Jimmy Fallon, and more—stopping by to pay tribute to Fey. But in her, acceptance speech, Fey may have upstaged them all:
While she mocked the occasion ("I want to thank everyone involved at the Kennedy Center, or, how it will soon be known, The Tea Party Bowling Alley and Rifle Range."), its namesake ("I hope that like Mark Twain, 100 years from now people will see my work and think, 'Wow. That is actually pretty racist.'"), and her own demeanor ("I am not going to get emotional tonight, because I am a stone cold bitch."), Fey was in good comedic company.
Despite a quiet broadcast on PBS, the ceremony may have been the funniest thing to air on television in months. (Highlights include tributes by Amy Poehler—"Tonight we celebrate a dynamite lady. I'm so happy to attend your comedy bar mitzvah"—and Betty White—"I'm the only one here who actually dated Mark Twain. And I can tell you they didn't call him Samuel Longhorne Clemens for nothing."
Luckily, the full affair is available for viewing online at PBS.org, and embedded below:
Watch the full episode. See more Mark Twain Prize.