22nd Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor celebrating: Dave Chappelle

In 2019 comedy great Dave Chappelle received the 22nd Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The event was held in a star-studded ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Toasting Chappelle were a who's who of the entertainment industry: Morgan Freeman, John Legend, Common, Lorne Michaels, Bradley Cooper, Aziz Ansari, Sarah Silverman, Jon Stewart and many more.

Watched this because I'm a great fan of Dave Chappelle and if anyone deserves a comedy award, he does. Suitably we have some amazing comedic talents telling some good jokes, plus some great footage of Chappelle from his earlier days, all the way back to the early 90s in some cases. We also have Chappelle himself, in a stand-up special filmed the night before the awards ceremony and at the ceremony itself.

Unfortunately it's not simply a gathering of him and his friends doing comedy routines but an awards night so you also have scores of dull speeches where the orator just heaps empty praise on Chappelle (Bradley Cooper takes the cake here but he's not alone). It's the kind of flattery that you feel embarrassed to receive (though maybe that's just me - I'm not that good with compliments). Quite cringeworthy at times.

So a bit hit and miss: some great comedy mixed in with cringeworthy praise. Overall it's watchable, but only just.

Thank you for bringing my childhood memories back. I have never in my life laughed and cried so much in 85 minutes. I don't know you personally but I am so proud of you...Thank you for your brilliance 🙌🏼 Dave chappelle for president 2020!!! Thanks for being a light ✨

Wow! Just watched this, always been a huge fan. He is truly the master and a beautiful and empathetic soul with a most excellent and powerful message for humanity behind all his comedy genius ✊👊😎

This is just a good tribute to Dave Chappelle, featuring friends, family, co-workers and just awesome artists and people who respect him. The best part about this whole show are the flashbacks to Chappelle Show and other stand-up shows by Dave. As a big fan of his, I enjoyed this program.

Best part of this are the old clips of Dave. And not even his best clips. Otherwise it was just a flow of unfunny so-called entertainers I've never heard of acting foolish. Some truly horrendous live music that made me mute my TV. The kind of music people who can't sing tend to make. Very dull average comedians trying to be funny and tell stories that in all honesty fell flat almost every time. Dave is hilarious but certainly not worthy of this award, which at one time was considered prestigious. Don't bother with it. You'll be disappointed if you don't keep your expectations extremely low. I didn't make it all the way through. It was worse than most shows of this type. Hardly any laughs. One or 2 touching but instantly forgotten stories. Sorry, but it stunk.