Talk:Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

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BetacommandBot (talk) 16:28, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

"foremost"
Says them? Says who else? Thmazing (talk) 06:16, 15 November 2010 (UTC)

What happened to the selection process?
What happened to the selection process that started with long-time, universally accepted greats and is now giving us somewhat popular, but less skilled comics (Ferrell, DeGeneres). I think the most recent choices are funny & skilled performers, but I don't think they are in the same league as previous winners (Winters, Tomlin, Williams, Calin, Newhart). The earliest recipients changed the nature of entertainment and/or comedy, while the last few winners are merely among the more talented comics in recent years. Perhaps I'm relying to heavily on personal opinion, but somehow I don't see the same group that picked Richard Pryor ever considering Will Ferrell or Ellen DeGeneres.

If something changed in the process, I think it would important to include in the article. At the very least, the article should include a description of the nominating process, the selection process, and whether there has been any open debate about either the process or the choices. 75.36.178.24 (talk) 02:41, 13 April 2013 (UTC)


 * There simply aren't enough worthy candidates to justify an annual award, at least not if it can't be posthumous. The result is merely a list of famous comedians. TheScotch (talk) 08:37, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

External links modified
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Who votes?
Who votes, exactly? Kennedy Center, Board of Directors I am guessing? Hyperbolick (talk) 23:03, 31 July 2017 (UTC)
 * I agree, the article is missing important information (see also "What happened to the selection process?" above. Also, the Kennedy Center doesn't seem to understand, and is blurring the distinction between comedians (to whom they gave 18 of the 20 awards so far) and actual humorists like Twain. I think it would be useful to tag the article for missing information about the selection process. (That's why the article is rated Start-class.) JustinTime55 (talk) 16:46, 9 February 2018 (UTC)


 * I have reviewed all the sources available online including the Kennedy Center website, and there is NOTHING published about the process other than comments by co-founder Cappy McGarr that certain individuals had been contacted about accepting the award and declined. It looks like original research would be required to answer those questions...  Mgrē@sŏn  ( Talk ) 00:44, 11 February 2022 (UTC)


 * I've merged everything into "History"; still needs more work of course. Is there any reason to restore the section "selection process" and keep it separate? FacetsOfNonStickPans (talk) 13:50, 14 August 2022 (UTC)

Images
I've placed two images (no. 2,3) with this edit, just wanted to leave some comments regarding the presence of suitable substitutes.


 * 1) Karl Gerhardt's 1884 bust of Twain
 * 2) Venue, the Kennedy Center - There are a couple of suitable images of the Kennedy Center which could be used.
 * 3) Honoree meeting President - There are currently two images over at Commons, Carol Burnett (2013) and Will Ferrell (2011).

FacetsOfNonStickPans (talk) 13:46, 14 August 2022 (UTC)

Recipients' Images
It can't be that difficult to find images of the recipients that are more appropriate. For example, showing Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby in their latter years is disingenuous. Images that people would recognize for the time the recipients were most famous would be far better (granted, someone like Cosby, whose humor spanned decades would be difficult to narrow down, but, I would choose one of his albums or his family show, which, despite his guilty verdict, is still being shown in syndication, just as Will Smith's show is, despite his public violence to Chris Rock; we are a strange and confused planet). Skaizun (talk) 19:22, 25 March 2024 (UTC)