12 Hilarious, Touching Moments From Adam Sandler’s Mark Twain Prize Tribute

Get the inside preview of America’s top comedy honors show airing March 26

Cindy Clark Kramer,

AARP

Published March 20, 2023

Paul Morigi/Getty Images

It was a veritable love fest at the Kennedy Center in D.C. March 19, when a trove of Adam Sandler’s friends and colleagues toasted and roasted the funnyman as he received the 24th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Previous award winners include Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Eddie Murphy, Carol Burnett and David Letterman. Here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll see when the gala performance airs March 26 at 8 p.m. on CNN.

Don't miss: Adam Sandler reflects on his family and career with AARP.

Sandler gave his friends jobs — and they repay him by razzing him

Sandler, 56, a standup comic who broke out on Saturday Night Live, then became the star and auteur of over $3 billion worth of movies, is known for casting his friends. This became a running joke all evening at the tribute. “The best job opportunity at NYU was living in the general vicinity of Adam,” joked Judd Apatow of Sandler, a New York University alum. “Because when Adam isn’t working, they aren’t working,” joked Conan O’Brien.

Conan O’Brien says that for once, Sandler did not dress like a slob

O’Brien, who suggested that Sandler may have thought Mark Twain was Shania Twain’s cousin, said that he “even dressed up tonight ... a change from his usual basketball shorts with a Hawaiian shirt.” Schneider was impressed that Sandler “was able to find a suit made out of gym short material.”

Steve Buscemi and Luis Guzmán agree that Sandler’s a nice guy

Guzman called him “one of the coolest, realist people I have ever met ... a good man, good husband, good father and good son, and he put a lot of people to work.”

Buscemi, drink in hand, said Sandler never seems to hire him for movies shot in Hawaii or South Africa, “but D.C., it’s ’Let’s get the Busc on a bus and get him down here.’ Touchingly, he turned to Sandler and said, “Nobody has taken better care of me in the business than you. When I hear you laugh at the funny thing you told me to say, I’m in heaven. Knowing you and your talent and your big heart, the best is yet to come.”

Sandler sees the down side of winning the nation's top honor for comedy

When he was presented with the bronze bust of Mark Twain, he joked, “As I look at this goofy award, I can’t help but think that one day it just might be the weapon used to bludgeon me to death.”

O'Brien calls Sandler a comedy heavyweight and total original

Noting that the Prize honors “giants of American humor ... each distinctive in their own way,” O’Brien said, “in that regard, no one is more deserving of this honor. ... He is beloved around the world more than anyone I can think of.” But he deserves to be in the pantheon, O’Brien added, “not for his legendary kindness and generosity of spirit, but because he is the funniest man I know.”

“The Chanukah Song” lives on

Schneider praised the pride expressed in Sandler’s celebrated tune “The Chanukah Song,” which hails Jewish people in entertainment (“David Lee Roth lights the menorah / So do James Caan, Kirk Douglas and the late Dinah Shore-ah / Paul Newman’s half Jewish, Goldie Hawn’s half too / Put them together, what a fine lookin’ Jew!”). Said Schneider, “Adam not only embraced his Jewish heritage, he had the audacity to celebrate it.”

Chris Rock, Dana Carvey and Pete Davidson, share a laugh at the presentation of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to Adam Sandler.

Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

Chris Rock says Sandler’s standup ‘hooked’ him

Rock recalled being one of just three Black students in grade school through high school. During that time, he said he was only invited over to the house of a white student once. When he first saw Sandler, who he’s now known for 30 years, perform standup, he was hooked – especially when Sandler casually asked if he wanted to hang out after the show. “He’s been lettin’ me hang ever since.”

Pete Davidson: Sandler is my ‘hero’

Davidson, who was a cast member on SNL for eight seasons before leaving last year, called Sandler his “hero.” Davidson “grew up watching Adam, idolizing him,” and when he finally was able to meet him in person, found him “exactly the person I thought him to be.”

Sandler’s pals: He was destined for this honor

Star after star recalled Sandler’s early promise. Apatow, who roomed with him when they started out in showbiz, said, “the moment you met him, you knew Adam was going to be a big star — and so did Adam,” and called him “the most fun person to be around.”

Ben Stiller, who appeared in Sandler’s 1996 hit Happy Gilmore and says he’s often mistaken for him by fans, recalled, “The mold was set. ... I always needed to work harder than Sandler,” who seemed “effortless. … I don’t want to say ‘lazy’... but I don’t have a better word.”

“You have no equal,” said Jennifer Aniston. “From the beginning, you have shown up authentically, uniquely you.”

Jennifer Aniston, left, and Drew Barrymore applaud at the presentation of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to Adam Sandler.

Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

Jennifer Aniston and Drew Barrymore stage a mock catfight

The two traded barbs over who was closer friends with Sandler, then ultimately decided to make their own movie without him. “You mean the one where we don’t need the goofy boyfriend?” said Barrymore, as they headed offstage together.

Mrs. Sandler confirms a show business rumor

Sandler’s wife Jackie said, “He is just as funny in real life as he is in the movies — and he is just as great in bed as you have all already imagined.”

Sandler thanks parents for ‘crazy confidence’

“I just loved tonight,” said Sandler at the conclusion of the program, thanking his parents for instilling a “crazy confidence” in him, and his friends for their unwavering support. Of his wife, he said, “as luck would have it, she also had a habit of telling me I was good at everything.”

“Everyone in this room tonight has made my life fun,” said Sandler. “So many of you have made me feel great about what we’ve done together.”

Watch it: The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at The Kennedy Center, March 26, 8 p.m. ET on CNN.