They should rename this the Henny Youngman award, clearing the way for an actual Mark Twain award to be given to writers like Kurt Vonnegut, who deserved it more than any 10 comedians I can think of. That would reflect the Mark Twain who wrote books like the Mysterious Stranger. Unfortunately, this won't happen, so we can wait a year to hear that Jay Leno is the next winner.

Terry

Terry Ballard
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New York Law School, Mendik Library
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New York, NY, 10013
Telephone: 212-431-2106
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-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Harold Bush
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 8:54 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: This year's winner of the MT Award is . . . .

Will Farrell.

not sure if that tidbit has gotten out here on the LIST or not.

personally I think Farrell is really very funny.  he's one of those guys, like Twain, Steve Martin, etc., who can walk out on a stage, not say a word, and still seem funny.

My wife finds him pretty adolescent, and barely above Adam Sandler, but of course opinions do vary.  As in years past, the award producers seem pretty driven by ratings and notoriety, and so as a result the younger crowd gets honored while the older, lifelong contributors to American humor get overlooked again and again.

I really do wonder about that -- Farrell could win 20 years from now -- while the likes of Robin Williams, Woody Allen, Dick Van Dyke, David Letterman, and so many other veterans (___________ fill in your name here) continue to be ignored.  At least Carl Reiner, Bob Newhart, and Jonathan Winters got it in the early days of the Award.

As usual I assume some LIST members can now feel free to sound off on the naming of this year's awardee.

past winners =


   - 1998 - Richard Pryor <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pryor>
   - 1999 - Jonathan Winters <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Winters>
   - 2000 - Carl Reiner <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Reiner>
   - 2001 - Whoopi Goldberg <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whoopi_Goldberg>
   - 2002 - Bob Newhart <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Newhart>
   - 2003 - Lily Tomlin <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_Tomlin>
   - 2004 - Lorne Michaels <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorne_Michaels>
   - 2005 - Steve Martin <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Martin>
   - 2006 - Neil Simon <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Simon>
   - 2007 - Billy Crystal <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Crystal>
   - 2008 - George Carlin <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Carlin>
   - 2009 - Bill Cosby <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cosby>
   - 2010 - Tina Fey <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Fey>
   - 2011 - Will Ferrell <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Ferrell>


--
Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Professor of English
Saint Louis University
St. Louis, MO  63108
314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h)
<www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>