Will Ferrell to get the Mark Twain prize.

[booie]

Will Ferrell to get the Mark Twain prize. Where's his book?

May 12, 2011

Will Ferrell will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from
the Kennedy Center, it was announced Thursday. The award, now in its
14th year, will be presented in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 23.

The Mark Twain Prize has been awarded to comedians who have conquered
multiple formats: live performance, sitcoms, movies, live television.
Bill Cosby (Mark Twain Prize 2009), Bob Newhart (2002), Jonathan
Winters (1999), Lily Tomlin (2003) and Richard Pryor (1998) also had
hit comedy records. Steve Martin (2005) did too -- then went one step
further and won Grammy for his bluegrass banjo playing.

And almost all of the prior winners have written books. When he got
the Mark Twain prize, Martin had written a novella, a book of essays
and a short story collection -- and since then, he's written two
novels and a memoir. Bill Cosby hit bestseller lists with comedic
riffs in books like "Fatherhood" and "Kids Say the Darndest Things."
On top of his many plays and screenplays, Neil Simon (2006) has
written two memoirs. Whoopie Goldberg (2001) published "Book" in 1997
and has, in recent years, been co-writing books for kids. George
Carlin (2008) had published four books, Billy Crystal (2007) three,
Winters two, and Newhart one. Carl Reiner (2000) had written six books
before he'd won, beginning with 1958's "Enter Laughing."

That's what one would hope for a prize named for Mark Twain -- while
yes, he toured the country as an early multitalented celebrity, he
also wrote books. Brilliant, lasting books, including "Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn," "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," "A Connecticut
Yankee in King Arthur's Court," "The Prince and the Pauper," "Roughing
It," "Letters from the Earth" and the 2010 bestseller, published 100
years after his death, "Autobiography of Mark Twain."

All of the Mark Twain Prize recipients are writers -- they write
screenplays and skits and create performances with improv. They write
jokes. Like Mark Twain, they're funny. But still: Mark Twain's humor
lasts not in transcriptions of his performances but in the way he set
down words on the page in his books.

I like Ron Burgundy and his not-quite-Twain-esque mustache as much as
anyone, but it has to be said: Will Ferrell hasn't written a book.

In this, he's not completely alone among the Mark Twain Prize winners.
Lorne Michaels and Lily Tomlin haven't published books of their own
yet, either. And Tina Fey, when she won the prize in 2010, was not yet
published.

But she did have a book deal. And "Bossypants" is now resting
comfortably at the top of our nonfiction bestseller list.

So ... publishers? Anybody want to make Will Ferrell an honest Mark
Twain Prize winner and give him a contract so he can get something
between the covers?

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Actor Credits
Everything Must Go (2011)
Nick Porter Megamind (2010)
Voice of Megamind / Space Dad The Other Guys (2010)
Allen Gamble Land of the Lost (2009)
Dr Rick Marshall The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009)
President impersonator Semi-Pro (2008)
Jackie Moon Step Brothers (2008)
Brennan Huff Blades of Glory (2007)
Chazz Michael MichaelsThe Wendell Baker Story (2007)
Dave BixCurious George (2006)
Voice of Ted, the Man with the Yellow Hat Stranger Than Fiction
(2006)
Harold CrickTalladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
Ricky Bobby/ Ricky Bobby Winter Passing (2006)
Corbit Bewitched (2005)
Jack Wyatt/ Darren Kicking & Screaming (2005)
Phil WestonMelinda and Melinda (2005)
HobieWedding Crashers (2005)
Chazz Reinhold (uncredited)The Producers (2005)
Franz LiebkindAnchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Ron BurgundyStarsky & Hutch (2004)
Big Earl (uncredited)Elf (2003)
BuddyOld School (2003)
FrankJay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
Federal Wildlife Marshall WillenhollyZoolander (2001)
Jacobim MugatuDrowning Mona (2000)
Cubby/ CubbyThe Ladies Man (2000)
Lance DeLuneAustin Powers: the Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
MustafaDick (1999)
Bob WoodwardSuperstar (1999)
Sky Corrigan/ JesusThe Suburbans (1999)
GilA Night At the Roxbury (1998)
Steve ButabiAustin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
MustafaMen Seeking Women (1997)
AlSherlock Holmes (1920)
Dr WatsonCasa de Mi Padre ArmandoTim and Eric s Billion Dollar Movie

Producer Credits
The Other Guys (2010)
Producer The Virginity Hit (2010)
Producer The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009)
Producer Step Brothers (2008)
Executive Producer Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
Executive ProducerCasa de Mi Padre Producer Hansel and Gretel: Witch
Hunters Producer Tim and Eric s Billion Dollar Movie Co-ProducerBack
to Top

Writing Credits
Step Brothers (2008)
ScreenplayStep Brothers (2008)
Story ByTalladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
ScreenplayAnchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
ScreenplayA Night At the Roxbury (1998)

What is your favorite Will Ferrell bit?

I liked him in old school.
That is classic!!!
He is one funny guy!

booie.........

[Ray O'Hara]

"booie" <bababo...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:3a012f96-fa65-4f53...@o7g2000vbn.googlegroups.com...

> Will Ferrell to get the Mark Twain prize. Where's his book?
>

I find him completely unfunny. not Louis Andewrson unfunny which is as
unfunny as it's possible to be. but down there in the Adam Sandler unfunny
bracket.

[gringo]

I liked when he did GWB on SNL.

[John Doherty]

I love Will Ferrell, but I don't think he's as neat a fit as, say,
Tina Fey or even George Carlin for the Twain prize. Twain was very
literate, and famously concerned with proper word usage ("The
difference between the right word and the almost right word is really
a large matter — it's the difference between a lightning bug and the
lightning.").

Ferrell is more of a physical comedian.