Steve Carell on Jon Stewart | 2022 Mark Twain Prize

- A comedian is a comedian who has been dead for more than a hundred years. (Audience laughs) But in the case of Jon Stewart, we're making an exception. (audience laughing) I met Jon or bulldog, as all his good friends call him (audience laughing) in 1999, when I became a correspondent for The Daily Show, it was my dream job. I shared an office with my friend Stephen Colbert. I traveled the country doing field reports on interesting and eccentric people. I worked with an incredibly talented production team. And most of all, I had front row seats to witness the magic of Jon Stewart.

It's impossible to overstate the amount of physical and mental effort it took for him to make The Daily Show. And John carried most of that work on his narrow, wiry shoulders. (Audience laughs) He was our leader and we would do anything for him. One of my first assignments was an interview with a man who ran a poison research center in Nebraska. When I got there, the research center was actually a mobile home full of snakes. (Audience laughs) Some in cages, others free. (Audience laughs) The scientist who ran the facility The scientist who ran the facility had been bitten by his snakes so many times that the hospital no longer sent an ambulance to his house. (Audience laughs) He was terrifying.

How I have a phobia of things that can kill me. (Audience laughs) Fortunately, I managed to avoid being bitten or squeezed to death. Jon loved the interview. As he watched, he jokingly said over and over that he would have been great if I had actually been bitten by a snake. (Audience laughs) I remember him saying, quote, "It would have been great if you had been bitten by one of those snakes. (Audience laughs) I would have loved that. It would have been so much fun." (Audience laughs) Do you remember that, Jon? - I remember. - On another occasion, Jon sent Stephen and me to do a report on the effects of alcohol on motor skills.

In a loosely controlled experiment, I drank six Long Island iced teas over the course of about 45 minutes while Stephen tested my cognitive abilities. (Audience laughs) On the way home, I threw up out of Stephen's car window. (Audience laughs) Unfortunately, the window was closed. (Audience laughs) Jon loved that he had gone so far, that he had jeopardized my personal health and well-being for the sake of a two-minute comedy sketch. (audience laughs) He asked if there was any extended recording of the vomiting, but there wasn't. He also reiterated that he would like to see me bitten by a snake at some point. (Audience laughs) - You have to stop. -Jon was always supporting us, always encouraging us from the comfort and safety of his office. (audience laughs) He One time he made me eat Crisco on camera.

He could have been vanilla frosted, because he looks exactly the same and I told him so. But Jon, Jon is a perfectionist and he wouldn't have any of that. Go big or go home, Jon used to say. He loved that phrase. He also liked: "I'm getting too old for this bitch." (audience laughing) And also, "have I done that yet?" (Audience laughs) My years working with Jon were wonderful, full of excitement, fear of physical distress, and laughter. And as much as it pains me to do this, I have to be serious for a minute. Jon, you are a great writer and performer.

You are eloquent and thoughtful. You are fun and kind. And you care deeply. As most of you know, The Daily Show was filmed in New York City and naturally the show stopped filming after 9/11. Production was shut down and the city struggled to recover. We didn't know when we would be back on the air because it was hard to imagine trying to be funny again when Jon finally decided to pick up the show. His first night back, he made a comment. Speaking from the heart, he took on an immensely difficult job, finding some context, some hope in the wake of such a devastating tragedy. - Any fool can destroy, but seeing these guys, these firefighters, these police officers and people from all over the country literally with buckets, literally with buckets, rebuilding.

That's it, that's it, that's extraordinary. -At that moment, at least he summarized for me why the program existed and what sets it apart. He struggles to make sense of the crazy and find joy in the darkness. Jon, your intellect, your sense of humor, and your bravery are an inspiration to me. I thank you for that. We appreciate it. Congratulations, bulldog. (audience applauding) (upbeat music)