I guess I should start by telling you
that this evening almost didn't happen.
The events that hit our nation have hit
us all hard, and it hit me in such a way
that I was not sure that this was
appropriate, because I had been with
people who were seemingly doing things
that seemed much richer and much more
concerned with the reality than I seemed
to be doing. I held myself under a
microscope and it wasn't that I didn't
like what I saw, but I wasn't sure about
what I was seeing. I didn't know where
what I did fit into the fabric of the
nation anymore. Tonight,
all the people who came here to do this
show, remind us that, along with the
tragedy, we must exist. We must be part of
life. And so, after several phone calls
and much sweating, truly much sweating.
I'm wearing no drawers, that's how much
I'm sweating. [laughter]
Just occurred to you I wasn't kidding,
didn't it? See, it's starting to come back,
starting to feel natural again and, and, I
[applause]
I am very pleased to receive this,
because Mark Twain reminded me, as I leaf
through various pages, of what it is
we're supposed to be doing. And one of
the things he says is, your race in its
poverty has unquestionably one really
effective weapon: laughter. Against the
assault of laughter, nothing can stand.
For me…
I realize that on behalf of all those
folks I spent time with in New York, and
on behalf of all the folks here in
Washington, these things are important. We
must pick ourselves up by our bootstrings
and laugh. We have to.
[applause]
And so, we're all little band aids, Billy and
Robin and Caroline and Bruce, Tommy
Davidson, Chris Tucker, Chris Rock, Richard
Pryor, Alan King. Band aids. It's okay when
we're here when the nation’s strong. It's
much more important that we're here in
the dark scary times. So I came.
I'm not ashamed now, because I feel like,
like, a firefighter and a police officer.
As an American, that's what I have to
offer. I have to offer dirty jokes and
bad language.
[applause]
The Kennedy Center. My mom was really
excited. She said, aren't you too young
for this? I'd explained to her it wasn't
the one where you wear the medal.
[applause]
Yeah, but you know what? To be
acknowledged by our country, a country
who has sometimes looked at me with
great question… in their eyes. At this
time, in particular, is extraordinary. I
thank you and all the folks who came…
Celia Cruz, oh my god, you guys didn't
know. So you have to get some Latin music
in your homes, because I saw you and
y'all were kind of like this…
you know, but you have to get up, you have
to move your arms. You saw how Robin was
trying to do that, that's what you must
do.
White people try.
[applause]
Three Mo’ Tenors. If you don't know them, you
know them now. They are extraordinary.
[applause]
And then there's Harry… the rock. I mess
up a lot and Harry is the only one who
calls me to tell me. But he didn't say a
thing untoward, when we decided he wasn't
going to tell any dirty jokes about me...
cuz he could. And so, it's been a night. I
am glad I came,
but I'll be relieved to get out of this
dress. Thank you.
[applause]
[music]
[applause]
[music]