Hair’s the breakdown on Letterman’s big night
The jokes painting David Letterman as a Confederate war general, Santa Claus or Moses were plentiful at the Kennedy Center Sunday night, thanks to the former late-night host’s retirement beard.
The much buzzed-about facial hair — which irritated fans after he exited Late Show in 2015 — was too irresistible for fellow comedians to pass up as they honored and roasted this year’s recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
“Dave is incredibly accomplished. Over the course of his life, he has successfully transitioned from a stand-up comic to a late-night host to a Civil War reenactor,” Amy Schumer deadpanned. “I’m glad you didn’t look like that when you were the last thing we saw when we were going to bed at night.”
But the praise flowed, too, from comedian John Mulaney, who told a hilarious tale of his father fearlessly approaching the late-night legend with a comment about Letterman’s resemblance to Moses, much to Mulaney’s chagrin.
“I’m a great admirer of his. I’ve met him a couple of times,” Mulaney said on the red carpet.
“You saw some of my friends here tonight, all of them more talented, more gifted, funnier than I am. But they all helped me.”
David Letterman
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“You can have a little edge.” Bill Murray, the 2016 Mark Twain Prize recipient who needs no lesson on edge, came out in full costume for a “comedy king ” bit with his own words of praise. And hamburgers, which Murray encouraged Letterman’s son Harry, 13, to share with the crowd.
“Harry, I want you to be a generous prince. Not like that redheaded pimp Harry. Throw a pickle to your people,” Murray implored.
But the most moving, and political, words came from friend and protégé Jimmy Kimmel.
“David Letterman signed off the air at 1:35 a.m. on May 21, 2015, and since that night the world has gone to complete and utter ... are we allowed to say (expletive) on PBS?” Kimmel quipped. The public broadcaster will air the tribute on Nov. 20 (9 ET/PT).
After placing false blame on Letterman for the world’s problems since his retirement, Kimmel sang his praises.
“I know you’d rather be doing Carpool Karaoke with Nick Jonas right now. But the fact is, whether you like it or not, you led the way for all of us with your humor and intelligence and empathy, and — even if it took a quadruple bypass surgery — heart,” Kimmel said, not missing an opportunity to rib at Letterman’s heart surgery in 2000.
Letterman took all the taunting in stride.
On the carpet, his notoriously anti-social personality was nowhere to be seen as he joked about how his son was handling his retirement and reminisced about fond times with Late Show music director Paul Shaffer.
In accepting the award, Letterman thanked the impressive list of comedians who helped him get there, including Jimmie Walker, who hired Letterman as a writer. He also praised musician Eddie Vedder, who performed Warren Zevon’s Keep Me In Your Heart, a Letterman favorite.
“It was because of hundreds of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people who helped me. And you saw some of my friends here tonight, all of them more talented, more gifted, funnier than I am. But they all helped me,” Letterman said. “We have to help each other, or nothing will happen.”