Billy Crystal Acceptance Speech | 2007 Mark Twain Prize

The Mark Twain Prize 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/...
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Michaels (2004), Steve Martin (2005), Neil Simon (2006), Billy Crystal (2007), George Carlin (2008), Bill Cosby (2009, rescinded in 2018) Tina Fey (2010), Will Ferrell (2011), Ellen DeGeneres (2012), Carol Burnett (2013) Jay Leno (2014), Eddie Murphy (2015), Bill Murray (2016), David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), and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (2018).
#TwainPrize #PBSTwain
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[@deanronson6331]

Billy is the best combination of a stand-up comedian and a comedic actor.

[@nathelondon3719]

That man is multi talented. Actor. Comedian. Writer. Director. Orator. That speech was so sincere and heartwarming. Billy Crystal is a national treasure. A great Jew. A family man. And a great American. A dying breed unfortunately

[@daren9718]

Talented and gracious. They broke the mold with this man.

[@SpoookyBooogie]

Absolutely incredible public speaking. I've watched the last 15 years or so of speaches and this is so well done. Dave Chapelle on Jon Stewart is also really good for a different reason, but wow, this is perfection.

[@fredlifsitz7411]

Billy hits another grand slam. Fabulous

[@elisolomon8741]

The world is a better place for having Billy Crystal, in it.

[@tomripsin730]

A hilarious comedian, and a genuinely decent man.

[@kayecurren3342]

That is the best acceptance talk I have ever heard. And I'm old. Love you, Billy!

[@jaredoaks]

He speaks true comedy and true love. Beautiful!

[@mitchfromtheinternet297]

Billy Crystal’s public speaking is just amazing.

[@francismallard5892]

It really is. Check out his eulogy of Muhammad Ali. Charming, and a tear jerker.

[@mitchfromtheinternet297]

@@francismallard5892 already seen in pal, great respect for the man.

[@wakavachaflame]

He's the person anyone should watch if they need an example of a perfect public speaker

[@Bruno-ho5jl]

This is probably the best acceptance speech i have ever viewed. While all Mark Twain recipients deserve their awards Crystal is by far the best. He is not only a great comedian, he a great public speaker and an even greater story teller. Twain would be proud.

[@markallen3293]

Billy, a National Treasure...

[@craigbatchelor6869]

Billy is a legend

[@stephenmccollum1391]

Wonderful speech and what a family man!!

[@patsheppard2616]

Thank you for all the great moments you have given us. Thank you to you tube for sharing them with us the public because we all enjoy Billy’s comedy over his lifetime.

[@bossfan49]

Been a fan of Billy since the "Soap" days. Always funny, never took cheap shots at anyone. So many great characters/roles on SNL (Muhammad Ali, Howard Cosell, Sammy Davis, Jr., Fernando Lamas, Buddy Young, Jr. ..) Running Scared, When Harry Met Sally, City Slickers, Mr. Saturday Night, 9 time Academy Awards host, Monsters, Inc.....

[@gloriatiano850]

One they Very Best comedians . Great speech

[@5cloudwalker]

A great!!!! acceptance speach 😊👏👏👏👏👏🇨🇦

[@jmartin4204]

Samuel Clemmons , got his name Mark Twain when working on the boats , and on the rudder of the boats were the markings and it started as Mark One , Mark Twain for Mark Two . I am now looking forward to reading Mark Twain again .

[@carlosnunez9154]

Legend.

[@sreedharanaidu3175]

What confidence! Bravo!

[@laurencegr9978]

Great speech.

[@normhall1622]

Billy is the best!

[@JavierArveloCruzSantana]

Billy Crystal is an American treasure. So eloquent. Check out his Ali memorial eulogy.

[@Estiallina]

Beautiful!

[@SOMEBROAD1]

Love Billy 💯 his 700 Sundays is such a wonderful beautiful show

[@darylgould8923]

Terrific speech ..

[@broncodeviltexas]

Saw 700 Sundays and it was one of the best evenings in my life .👍

[@CarrsMill]

That was class.

[@ceciliapreziose3783]

Class act

[@bernlin2000]

3:55 clever way of saying "joint" XD

[@garymcaleer6112]

The best MTP acceptance speech...ever! Diverse, witty, touching, and full of laughter. My question is...Who wrote it? :^)

[@osiasmedia3884]

I did! Glad you enjoyed it. Billy was also very appreciative. He sent me a personal handwritten note written in German and phlegm. (BTW, equally funny is Will Farrell’s acceptance speech🤣).

[@KnockOffBeingFat]

BILLY

[@GenDischarges]

Love you mate

[@mikewhite4560]

Billy is S M O O T H...😅

[@tas22222]

Brilliant

[@backyardadvocate9377]

Mr Clemmons would’ve smiled. Twain always will. Thank you , Billy Crystal.🕉🗽😎

[@That1SonOfGodIam]

👑 of 👑's ♾️

[@UTUBE3JC]

Back before the Cosby scandals

[@lukaszsawicki4382]

Hi didn't mention His I was thinking good friend Robin Williams. WTF?

[@mungphan9074]

Imagine how your life would be every day being the kid of one of the funniest men of all time.

[@starchf]

2007 Bill Cosby’s guilty verdict not yet out

[@saxpert]

Good ol' times when you could refer to Bill Cosby without any ulterior motives....

[@airmackeeee6792]

"Friends in Australia"???

[@WoundedEgo]

German and flehm.... hilarious.

[@maxmitchell6150]

I wonder what he meant by his friends down in Australia

[@UlyssesChester]

as i hav said, elliot gould /seventies movies fav actor, he career tanked for whatever reason

[@jan-olofharnvall8760]

Or, why me?😂

[@michaelobrien6124]

Where would we be without all those funny people jonathan dave robin julia carol tim richard donald trump ?

[@youtubestealspoorpeoplespr2105]

They don’t need to be alive, a lot of the recipients are either dead or the career is dead (pause for light laughter). But if we’re considering the list of talented comedians to have won this under appreciated piece of ironic rabbit turds... there are a few notable funny people (by modern standards anyway), I believe who are disgustingly overlooked. The list of past recipients is kinda like reading a Mark Twain novel. It’s funny, and fun, but you don’t want to read out loud to your friends with any kind of sincerity. Rather, consider this insanely comprehensive list of funnier people... Robin Williams, Don Rickles, Andy Kaufman, Martin short, Chris rock, Phil Hartman, Steve carrel, Christopher guest, Dana carvey, Will forte, Robert Smigel, Amy (Schumer or Poehler) Dan aykroyd, Seth macfarlane Kristen wiig, John Stewart, Chevy chase, Rodney dangerfield, Catherine O’Hara Norm Macdonald, Jan hooks, Fred armisen, Seth rogen (not Joe!) Conan O’Brien, John candy, John Cleese, John belushi, John Hughes, Jack black, Johan Hill, Stephen Colbert, Sarah Silverman, Adam Sandler, Sacha baron cohen Howard stern, Nathan fielder, Tim and Eric (sorry, gotta be dual recipients), Craig Ferguson, Peter sellers, John mulaney, Vince Vaughn, Dennis Miller, David Wain, Mitch hedberg, Adam McKay, Bill Hader, Bill burr, Gilda Radner, Rob Reiner, John Goodman, Kyle Mooney, Reggie watts, Owen Wilson, Damon wayans, Alec Baldwin, Mike Myers, Oh, and... Jim fucking Carrey, Mel fucking brooks, Lenny Fucking Bruce, And Chris fucking Farley!! So anyway, I’ve got it for the next 50-60 years or so. Let Mark RIP, and I’ll pick the funniest and most deserving funny person (dead or alive) for a little while - I’ve got time. The fact Jay Leno has the award at all, let alone got it three years before Dave... and no offense to great comedy performers like Ferrell or Elaine from Seinfeld, but, wait! Larry fucking David and Jerry fucking Seinfeld?! And why not... Lucille ball and Lou Costello? Jerry fucking Lewis?! No!!! Wait!! Jesus Christ... Woody Allen Give it to him next year or lose any sense of relevance. I mean good job with Bill and Steve and George and both Dave’s... but Tina Fey before any of the aforementioned (did Lorne blow Huckleberry Finn or something?)? And I love Tina. But here are five other women who aren’t on the list but I’m just thinking of now - maya rudolph, molly Shannon, Kate McKinnon, Ana gasteyer, Jane Curtin who are at least just as funny. You give the award to Ellen but not to spade? Billy and whoopi but not Robin? Bill Cosby but not Louis CK? Might as well call it the Kennedy center Andy dick or Jeanene Garofalo awards... and I like both of them way better than Jay Leno

[@joshuasteward6097]

They do have to be living.

[@Kevin-xz4jq]

Wait, is he Jewish?!

[@jeffreyjeziorski1480]

It would seem so. Knock me over mit a feather, already.

[@dizzydino1]

Arrrrrrrr

[@jimjr4432]

I'm guessing the next one, say in 2021 will be Kathy Gifford with the head of President Trump.

[@libertyresearch-iu4fy]

Not that I care, but I think you mean Griffin.

[@AaronRClark]

Most related to Bill Cosby... Eeek

[@TonyVega123]

I seriously doubt he had any idea

[@BenCotten]

This speech was in 2007

[@Fourestgump]

I feel like you should be able to separate the artist from the crime.

[@R.U.1.2.]

@@Fourestgump Sorry, it's the same person.

[@bossfan49]

@@Fourestgump I know what you mean. I was a huge Cosby fan (as were many of us). So are all his hilarious stand-up bits suddenly not hilarious anymore? I haven't figured out how to feel about it yet.

[@JuanHernandez-qj4kz]

The measly patch symptomatically park because textbook randomly worry among a ten criminal. handsomely, tenuous pail

[@joe-vz6hx]

please don't do drugs and post

[@warwickclark2143]

Ah yes but compared to Chappelle's acceptance speech....

[@baboom007]

Ah yes but compared with other people you suck

[@jaycos4905]

Sorry, I’ve never thought he was funny.

[@KnockOffBeingFat]

Thats real sad. Sad will do that.

[@kayecurren3342]

So why are you here?

[@nathelondon3719]

That’s because you don’t have a sense of humour. Get help

[@michaelstone1047]

Never found him funny

[@baboom007]

Well, if you have a personality of a dead moth like you of course nothing is funny

[@mybeatmhz]

@@baboom007 i do think he is funny but dave chapelle is way better than this vanilla cone

[@michaelstone1047]

@@baboom007, wow really

[@iamhollywood555]

mybeatmhz Chapelle is great. One of the greatest. But he’s a different kind of comedy. Crystal and the likes ( Steve Martin, Martin Short etc) we’re from a different time and different style. But still greats nonetheless.

[@crystalglass7106]

Michael Stone, I got the joke. You're too funny. 1:20 where he says Twain was okay.