Conan O’Brien to Receive Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

Conan O’Brien may have left late night behind for podcasting, world travel and — soon — Oscar hosting, but his sketch work and man-on-the-street comedy aren’t so easily forgotten.

On Thursday, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts recognized O’Brien’s versatility and experimentation in announcing that it would award him its 26th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at a ceremony on March 23. (The event will stream on Netflix on a later date.)

The center cited O’Brien’s “unique blend of the smart, silly, insightful and hilarious” — including possibly his most celebrated writing credit: the monorail episode of “The Simpsons” — as well as his achievements as a comedian, late-night host, actor, writer, podcaster and producer.

In a statement, O’Brien, 61, made reference to the lesser-known vocation of Samuel Clemens — better known by his pen name, Mark Twain — for whom the award is named. “I am honored to be the first winner of the Mark Twain Prize recognized not for humor, but for my work as a riverboat pilot,” he said.

O’Brien got his start writing for “Saturday Night Live” in the 1980s, then served as a talk-show host for nearly three decades — “Late Night” on NBC from 1993 to 2009, “The Tonight Show” on NBC in an aborted run, and finally “Conan” on TBS from 2010 until 2021. He has won five Emmy Awards and has become known for his brand of joyfully goofy absurdity.

In 2018, he debuted a weekly podcast, “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” which featured him talking with fellow comedians and actors, as well as friends, political figures and people he admired. He sold the show to SiriusXM as part of a deal for his podcasting company for a staggering $150 million, setting a template for other former hosts like James Corden and Trevor Noah.

Since leaving late-night television in 2021, he has continued to work on the podcast, which he expanded into an international travel series, “Conan O’Brien Must Go,” that premiered on Max in April. The show, in which he meets fans in person whom he’d previously chatted with via video calls in his podcast, won an Emmy and has been renewed for a second season.