To me, the Mark Twain Prize has become irrelevant 
since they have declined giving it to THE most 
Twain-worthy humorists in America today, the 
editors/writers of TheOnion.com ...

Instead, they bestow it mostly upon TV 
personalities, many of whom wouldn't have been 
worthy to light the great Mr. Clemens' cigar, and 
they do so because those kind of celebrities 
attract a glitterati of Hollywood and TV 
personalities, which is apparently what the 
Kennedy Center is striving for.

In recent years: Eddie Murphy, Jay Leno, Carol 
Burnett, Ellen DeGeneres, Will Ferrell, Tina 
Fey.   Past years included Bob Newhart, Whoopi 
Goldberg.  Etc etc.

I'm sorry, but there isn't one in that list that 
has produced a body of work worthy of a Mark Twain 
Prize, imo.

Seriously ... until they honor The Onion, I will 
do my best to ignore the whole shebang.

Your mileage may differ.

Steve Hoffman
Takoma Park, MD

On 11/22/2015 3:41 PM, Tracy Wuster wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I find Amy Schumer to be one of the more interesting comedians working
> right now, and her show is quite good as satire.  She probably isn't ready
> for the Mark Twain Prize, but Hal is right, ratings are central to that
> enterprise.  And wouldn't have Sam Clemens (who was real) been very
> interested in the ratings of enterprises related to Mark Twain (who wasn't
> real)?
>
> Speaking of which, the Mark Twain Prize TV Extravaganza for this year airs
> tomorrow.  I don't remember any discussion of Eddie Murphy being awarded
> the prize, but I am intrigued to watch.
>
> http://www.pbs.org/mark-twain-prize/home/
>
> Best,
>
> Tracy
>
> On Sun, Nov 22, 2015 at 2:15 PM, Hal <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> She will probably be awarded the Mark Twain Prize any year now,
>> ironically..=
>> . And the ratings will be very high, I'm sure. What a strange time to be
>> ali=
>> ve. =20
>>
>> HB=20
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>>> On 2015/11/22, at 13:43, Susan Bailey <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>> =20
>>> She's an actress and comedienne.
>>> =20
>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Schumer
>>> =20
>>> Susan Bailey
>>> Co author
>>> The Twain Shall Meet
>>> <
>> http://www.amazon.com/Twain-Shall-Meet-Granddaughter-Gabrilowitsch/dp/149=
>>
>> 9799497/ref=3Dsr_1_1/191-7847938-3534132?ie=3DUTF8&qid=3D1415889321&sr=3D8-1=
>> &keywords=3Dthe+twain+shall+meet+susan+bailey>
>>> Twain Page <https://www.facebook.com/marktwainsgranddaughter>
>>> www.marktwainonline.com
>>> Greenville, SC
>>> =20
>>> On Sun, Nov 22, 2015 at 2:32 PM, Scott Holmes <[log in to unmask]>
>>> wrote:
>>> =20
>>>> Is she real?
>>>> =20
>