Will Ferrell Acceptance Speech | 2011 Mark Twain Prize

The Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center
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Published 2019-10-01
The Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor recognizes people who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th century novelist and essayist best known as Mark Twain. As a social commentator, satirist and creator of memorable characters, Samuel Clemens was a fearless observer of society, who startled and outraged many while delighting and informing many more with his uncompromising perspective of social injustice and personal folly. He revealed the great truth of humor when he said "against the assault of laughter nothing can stand."

For more information on the Mark Twain Prize, please visit: www.kennedy-center.org/pages/specialevents/marktwa…

The inaugural Mark Twain Prize was presented to Richard Pryor during the first annual Kennedy Center Celebration of American Humor, October 20, 1998. The event was created by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Bob Kaminsky, Peter Kaminsky, Mark Krantz, and John Schreiber and is televised annually. The Kennedy Center is grateful to Cappy McGarr for his steadfast support of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor since its inception. Previous recipients of the Mark Twain include 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Michaels (2004), Steve Martin (2005), Neil Simon (2006), Billy Crystal (2007), George Carlin (2008), Bill Cosby (2009, rescinded in 2018) Tina Fey (2010), Will Ferrell (2011), Ellen DeGeneres (2012), Carol Burnett (2013) Jay Leno (2014), Eddie Murphy (2015), Bill Murray (2016), David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), and Dave Chappelle (2019).

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All Comments (21)
  • @naushad5139
    I can imagine him getting the idea to drop the award and just cracking up at the thought of actually doing it.
  • @kawaiiafangirl
    I feel like one of the most unsung qualities of Will's comedic talents is that he rarely breaks character.
  • @djxpvnd
    "If my children touch it or even look at it, I will beat them" 😂
  • @erriqueyoung
    " Sometimes you get a little lippy" That was an absolute classic
  • @ChadMichaelSimon
    There are those moments that you continually return to. I don’t know how many times I’ve watched this, but he surprises and delights every time because of his amazing delivery as a true master.
  • @alsuzy1345
    I have watched this at least a dozen times. You can tell Will and Vivica have something very special. What a great sport she is going along with his jokes and comedy. Will is in a class all by himself when he broke the bust. Not even Vivica knew what was going to happen.
  • @laurencewhite4809
    Only a comedic genius like Will Ferrell can turn into a screaming wife abuser on stage and get a tsunami of laughter and applause in response.
  • @Jackforever11
    Will Ferrell is my top comedian of all time. Cracks me up still after all these years.
  • @zohriathmar856
    this is still my favourite mark twain acceptance speech
  • @RichardsWorld
    When he was joking about his wife I totally lost it. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard that I had tears come out.
  • @bernlin2000
    They've handed out this prize 11 times since then, and nobody has come even close to making such an unforgettable speech. Will is the top of the heap in the comedy world!
  • @captainzappbrannagan
    Comedy is and artform 100%. I love will. He's given so much laughter to me and my family. What's more needed than laughter right now (and always)?
  • @johnbailey2024
    This is absolutely brilliant, when he goes off on his wife, amazing comedic timing, he let it build up to that, classic, if that stuff didn't make you laugh real hard, nothing will....
  • @TheFinalStanza94
    im not done im not... i just started the speech why would you think im done