Scott Suchman / The Kennedy Center via The New York Times
In a handout photo, David Letterman, with his wife, Regina Lasko, and son Harry, greets the audience in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Oct. 22, 2017. Letterman accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, one of comedy’s top honors.
Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017 | 12:05 a.m.
WASHINGTON — It was all because of a 1978 appearance on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show,” the story goes, that David Letterman found his audience.
Letterman, an unknown stand-up comedian then, appeared relaxed and confident telling jokes in a short set, then bantering in the guest chair next to Carson’s desk. Landing on the show, and earning Carson’s approval, meant he had made it.
“I have a feeling with your shot on this show tonight,” Carson said at the end of Letterman’s segment, “that you’re going to be working a lot outside of the Comedy Store,” referring to the West Hollywood club that was a haven for young comics.
One place Letterman would go — 39 years later — was the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where on Sunday he accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, one of comedy’s top honors. While collecting the award, Letterman referred to his timely visit on Carson’s show, which was played on a screen during the award ceremony.
After hosting more than 6,000 episodes of late-night television on NBC and CBS, Letterman left CBS’ “Late Show” in 2015 and eased into a private life mostly away from cameras. On Sunday in the building’s orchestra hall, he sat perched in a box overlooking the stage, between his wife and teenage son.
During his 33 years as a late-night host, Letterman was known for being at once breezy and detached, a contrast that made him a towering figure to the comedians who delivered tributes on Sunday.
“No one from his generation influenced American comedy more,” said Jimmy Kimmel, the host of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and one of Letterman’s most famous adherents.
Other speakers were just as gushing.
“Mr. Letterman reinvented the late-night talk show,” Norm Macdonald said. “Mr. Letterman deconstructed television itself, then created his own construct.”
John Mulaney described Letterman as the comic equivalent of the painter who broke from a tradition of religious art to paint fruit.
“'The Tonight Show’ with Johnny Carson, I think it said to people: Hey, take a break from your weird life and watch these fancy people make show business,” Mulaney said. “But David Letterman’s shows said to people: Your weird life is just as funny as show business.”
Soon after, as if to prove Mulaney’s point, Bill Murray, last year’s recipient of the Mark Twain Prize, appeared at the side of the auditorium dressed in a Tudor-like costume, describing the kingly life that followed his acceptance of the award.
“What a reign it has been,” Murray said. “You’re not exactly a god, but you’re way up there.”
The show seemed particularly suited to the sweep and variety of late-night television, and to Letterman’s brand of irony-soaked humor. The onstage tributes were separated by video segments from Letterman’s shows, many featuring him away from his desk chair: working as a drive-through operator at Taco Bell, or playing with pet animals that performed tricks, or dropping objects onto a trampoline from a building.
Letterman’s longtime sidekick as a late-night host, the musician Paul Shaffer, joked in his tribute about Letterman’s signature mix of warmth and reserve.
“I believe that Dave would run into a burning house to save my children,” Shaffer said. “And I hope and know, Dave, that I would do the same for you, should you some day feel comfortable enough to tell me where your house is.”
After maintaining some distance from public life the past two years, Letterman announced in August that he would host a show on Netflix next year featuring long-form interviews in six hourlong episodes.
He has lately used his celebrity in more political ways, at times to satisfy his patchwork of extracurricular interests. Last year, he traveled to India to host a climate change-themed episode of “Years of Living Dangerously,” a documentary series on National Geographic.
And he has not been shy about his contempt for President Donald Trump, calling him “a person to be shunned.”
At the ceremony on Sunday, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. and a longtime friend of Letterman’s, said that Letterman’s interests had important range, from the “monkey cam” sketch he was famous for on late-night television to the climate change policy the two have discussed. Michelle Obama appeared by video to toast Letterman’s intellect, saying, “The thing about the best comedians is that they aren’t just funny. They’re also witty, smart and curious.”
His hobbies in television retirement have veered into less cerebral pursuits, too.
Letterman told The New York Times last October that he has appreciated the ordinary parts of life, such as shopping at Target, CVS and Walgreens. He has spent time grooming his 2,700-acre ranch in Montana, using it as a retreat from life in New York.
Something else Letterman has groomed in his post-television life: a beard that has become a token of his new life. It was a constant presence — almost a second guest of honor — on Sunday, a hairy punching bag for his admirers.
“Dave has always had spot-on comedic instincts,” said Steve Martin, who won the Mark Twain Prize in 2005. “What better time than right now to insist on looking like a Confederate war general?”
“Dave is incredibly accomplished,” Amy Schumer said. “Over the course of his life, he has successfully transitioned from a stand-up comic to a late-night talk show host to a Civil War re-enactor.”
The Mark Twain Prize has been awarded since 1998, when Richard Pryor was its first recipient. A broadcast of Sunday’s ceremony will air on PBS on Nov. 20.
“Because of this award,” Letterman said at the end of the show, “I am now the most humorous person in the world.”
