Much of late-night television has, over the last two months, taken up the cause of taking down what a group of hosts see as common enemies: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the reign of chaos and destruction they’ve wrought on many of the core institutions—and principles—of American democracy.
But there is only so much they can do. They are under duress and at times look pressured and DOGE-tired. It certainly seems like they could use some reinforcements.
Too bad Mark Twain, America’s most pungent, and funniest, political and cultural critic, is no longer available to take the stage every night after 11 pm.
But one of the biggest names in late-night history, Conan O’Brien, saw fit to step in for one night, invoking the legacy of Twain in an extraordinary speech Sunday night as he accepted the prestigious and, in this case, overwhelmingly well-earned Mark Twain Prize for a distinguished career in the field of humor.
The speech, which O’Brien himself released online via his YouTube channel last night—just a portion of the TV special that will run on Netflix in May—is extraordinary not just for the searingly timely evocation of Twain’s singular talent for capturing the glories and the embarrassments of the American experiment in democracy, but also for the man who decided to speak up for how resonant Twain’s place in American literature and humor is at this moment in history.
Conan O’Brien built his now much-celebrated reputation for comedy based more on the silly and the inventive than the topical and satirical. That was one reason why the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reached out to him to host the Oscars this year, as division and contention have roiled the country more bitterly and portentously than at any time since the Civil War.
Sunday Conan was appearing in the latest symbolic arena of conflict, the Kennedy Center in Washington, now under the direct aegis of a President seemingly intent on enforcing his opinions and taste anywhere he can. In the weeks leading up to O’Brien’s award presentation, numerous artists have pulled out of scheduled appearances at the theater, specifically because they did not want to be part of whatever cultural regime Trump intended to impose on the center’s program of events.
Some questions were raised about whether O’Brien might follow suit, especially since the host of performers most likely to honor him with reprises of his memorable contributions to late night would include many who have spoken out at volume in opposition to Trump.
He answered those questions with a night first devoted to his distinctive brand of silly-but-sophisticated comedy and climaxed with an homage to Twain that spoke to the imposing rogue elephant in the room.
The intended message was unmistakable:
“First and foremost, Twain hated bullies,” O’Brien said. “He punched up, not down and he deeply, deeply empathized with the weak.”
But he was only getting warmed up. “Twain was allergic to hypocrisy, and he loathed racism.”
He quoted from Twain saying, “There are many humorous things in the world, among them the white man’s notion that he is less savage than the other savages.”
Those qualities and that quotation would currently be grouped under the heading “woke” in official pronunciations out of the White House. And subject to attempts to erase them from libraries and American history.
And what would the anti-immigrant movement say about O’Brien’s citing how Twain “empathized with the powerless in America”? Groups that included, “former slaves struggling in Reconstruction, immigrant Chinese laborers in California, and European Jews fleeing anti-Semitism.”
The remedy Twain proscribed, O’Brien said, for ailments that have haunted America since its founding, was to travel the globe. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrowmindedness,” he quoted from the great writer. And added: “Twain was suspicious of populism, jingoism, imperialism, the money-obsessed mania of The Gilded Age, and any expression of mindless American might or self-importance.”
Could anyone miss the allusions to contemporary issues? Ideas about “America First,” taking over Canada, tax cuts and grifts for billionaires, rights to the Panama Canal and renaming the Gulf of Mexico?
Unsaid, but undoubtedly considered by many in his friendly audience: what would Mark Twain make of Donald Trump? And how long before he earned the title, “failed writer”?
These lines were not delivered in the style of monologue jokes, where a late-night host skewers the folly of every political figure who embarrasses themselves on the national stage.
This was Mr. O’Brien goes to Washington—to make a statement. His most quoted line of the night was direct and indisputably pointed.
“Twain wrote: ‘Patriotism is supporting your country all of the time, and your government when it deserves it.’ ”
The line drew his biggest applause because any thoughtful person could grasp that this is exactly how it should always be in a democracy
Perhaps more than any comedian of his generation, Conan O’Brien has relied on self-deprecation. He has had no more constant target than himself. And he compared that to Twain’s critique of his country, explaining how it has “everything to do with comedy” because Twain spoke to “the glorious mess of being human.”
Beyond his gifts in intellect and wit, Conan O’Brien’s career has been marked by other not common traits; decency and grace. In a tricky venue, at a supremely tricky time in history, those traits were on full display to full effect in a capitol that is in desperate need of them.
O’Brien’s speech can be viewed at the top of this post. His full Mark Twain Prize for American Humor ceremony is set to begin streaming on Netflix on May 4.
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Wonderful. Good for Conan O’Brien!