The 2023 Mark Twain Prize Event Honoring Adam Sandler Is The Perfect Combo Of Humor And Heart

Who knew Adam Sandler—he of the basketball shorts, goofy voices, Opera Man and The Chanukah Song—would be the recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to not only whip up a cyclone of hilarity but also remind us of some poignant life lessons: Work hard, and lift your friends with you.

These were consistent themes from the red carpet to the stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., earlier this week when Sandler drew a dream Saturday Night Live cast reunion including Chris Rock, Conan O’Brien, Dana Carvey, David Spade, Rob Schneider and Pete Davidson; his former roommate and frequent collaborator Judd Apatow; and film co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Ben Stiller, Steve Buscemi and Luis Guzman.

Sandler’s distinct flavor of low-brow comedy may not be what comes to mind when one thinks of the Twain Prize—and he’d be the first to agree. At the end of the evening, when he came on stage to receive his bronzed bust of the award’s namesake, he quipped: “As I look at this goofy award I’m holding, I just can’t help but think this just may be the weapon used to bludgeon me, by an angry intruder… or Mr. Rob Schneider.”

But there’s no denying his pedigree. With 80 movies, a $4 billion box-office tally and seven albums under his belt, Sandler is a superstar. And his pals were all too happy to offer up their best Sandler shtick and share some heartfelt stories about their friend “the Sand Man,” who they always knew was going to skyrocket.

It was a night rife with shenanigans, which should translate particularly well when the event airs this Sunday, March 26 on CNN in a departure from its longtime home on the more staid PBS
PBS
, which took a pass.

Or, as Idina Menzel, donning a cape and training her killer vocal chops on a glorious Opera Man-style toast, sang, PBS decided “Suze Orman’s as low as we’ll go…that’s why it’s on CNN-o!”

O’Brien, a writer at SNL when Sandler was hired in 1990, started off the accolades with a sentiment that was repeated throughout the night. “Have you asked yourself why so many of Adam’s friends were available” to come to DC to fete him, he mused. “Because if Adam isn’t working, they aren’t working. Everyone’s on the Adam train.”

Sandler’s work ethic was also lauded by Rock—who first took a moment to recall his infamous Oscars slap and bond with Paul Pelosi, who was in the audience. “Paul Pelosi is the only guy here who knows just how I feel—it’s just me and you, Paul!” he said.

“All of us comedians, we all work hard. Conan works hard and Judd works hard and I work hard. But nobody works as hard as the Sand Man, nobody comes even close. The Oscars… they’re f*inf assholes, so if they don’t want to give my man his props, we will tonight,” Rock added.

More hijinks ensued. Aniston and Barrymore did a joint bit where they bickered over who was Sandler’s favorite leading lady. Spade, who ribbed Sandler noting, “No one who’s 56 should still call themselves the Sand Man,” added, “In these PC times I can assure you the one person who would not win the Mark Twain Prize is Mark Twain.”

Taking the stage as his character from The Wedding Singer, Buscemi drew laughs with his Sandler stories then added, “It’s the greatest feeling in the world to be a part of your world. No one has taken better care of me in this business than you have.”

“He’s in his own lane,” Carvey said preshow. “There’s no one whose done this breadth of work for 30 years. SNL… and these movies. And they just kept coming. He does silly comedies and very sincere and earnest films. It’s not easy being Adam Sandler, but that’s the guy you want to hang out with.”

On the carpet, Apatow praised the friend and frequent collaborator with whom he shared an apartment in their LA early days. “He’s a consistent friend who’s been there for so maybe people for so long and given so many people breaks—and his output is enormous. He’s the type of actor we don’t have many of these days,” added Apatow, who called Sandler’s unique brand “human comedy.”

When it came time to accept his award at the end of the night, a suit-donning Sandler—”I don’t know if it fits; I just threw it on for the second time,” he said preshow—launched into a sampler of signature voices before getting serious. And delivering another life lesson: Run with the confidence showered on you by your supporters and don’t look back.

Waxing nostalgic, he expressed gratitude about how consistently—from his parents to his older siblings to his high school and college friends to his wife—throughout his life those closet to him have been bolstering his self-esteem, telling him he was the funniest, the best, even when he strongly suspected that wasn’t the case.

Bringing it full circle, Sandler said getting to work and hang out with his friends trumps being a critical darling or getting a bad review any day: “Everything we do together makes me feel like the critics don’t know what they’re talking about.”