{"id":189511,"date":"2022-12-14T09:26:31","date_gmt":"2022-12-14T14:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/?p=189511"},"modified":"2022-12-20T16:24:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T21:24:15","slug":"adam-sandler-to-receive-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/adam-sandler-to-receive-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Kibbitz: Adam Sandler to Receive Mark Twain Prize for American Humor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Adam Sandler gives an acceptance speech at the 2022 Gotham Awards. (Getty Images via Nina Westervelt via JTA.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Jackie Hajdenberg<\/p>\n

The eight crazy nights of Chanukah came early for Adam Sandler when the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Tuesday that the comedian and actor would be honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at a ceremony in March.<\/p>\n

The prize<\/a> is presented annually to individuals \u201cwho have had an impact on American society\u201d similar to that of the 19th-century novelist and humorist, \u201cwho startled many while delighting and informing many more with his uncompromising perspective on social injustice and personal folly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandler, 56, got his start as an actor on \u201cThe Cosby Show\u201d and was a cast member on \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d for five years, before eventually starring in a slew of blockbuster comedy movies in the 1990s and early 2000s, including \u201cHappy Gilmore,\u201d \u201cBig Daddy,\u201d \u201cThe Wedding Singer,\u201d \u201c50 First Dates\u201d and \u201cClick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandler has also given critically acclaimed dramatic performances, such as one in 2019\u2019s\u00a0\u201cUncut Gems,\u201d in which he played a frenetic Jewish jeweler<\/a>\u00a0with a gambling addiction. Others include roles in\u00a0Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s \u201cPunch-Drunk Love\u201d (2002), Noah Baumbach\u2019s \u201cThe Meyerowitz Stories\u201d (2017) and Jeremiah Zagar\u2019s \u201cHustle\u201d<\/i> (2022).<\/p>\n

Perhaps unusually for comics of his generation, the Brooklyn-born\u00a0Sandler often places his Jewishness front and center,<\/a>\u00a0as in his portrayal of an Israeli fish out of water in \u201cDon\u2019t Mess With the Zohan<\/a>\u201d (2008) and especially in his performance of \u201cThe Chanukah Song<\/a>,\u201d originally an \u201cSNL\u201d bit in which he name checks dozens of Jewish celebrities. His 2002 animated comedy \u201cEight Crazy Nights\u201d takes place during the Chanukah season.<\/p>\n

Sandler, his wife Jackie and their two teenage daughters are set to star in a bat mitzvah-themed\u00a0movie for Netflix based on Fiona Rosenbloom\u2019s 2005 novel, \u201cYou Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah!<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous Jewish winners of the Mark Twain Prize include playwright Neil Simon, Lorne Michaels of \u201cSNL,\u201d actors Carl Reiner and Billy Crystal, and comedian Jon Stewart.<\/p>\n

There was no Mark Twain Prize in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous two winners before Sandler were 2019\u2019s Dave Chappelle and 2022\u2019s Jon Stewart.\u00a0Chappelle was recently the subject of controversy<\/a>\u00a0when he focused part of an \u201cSNL\u201d monologue on Kanye West\u2019s antisemitic comments and cracked jokes that\u00a0suggested Jews run Hollywood<\/a>. In the days following the episode, Stewart, a personal friend of Chappelle\u2019s,\u00a0weighed in on the monologue<\/a>\u00a0and defended Chappelle\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The eight crazy nights of Chanukah came early for Adam Sandler.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13297,"featured_media":189514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,29,14043,8959],"tags":[],"section":[14937],"coauthors":[12308],"yoast_head":"\nWeekly Kibbitz: Adam Sandler to Receive Mark Twain Prize for American Humor - Jewish Exponent<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/adam-sandler-to-receive-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Weekly Kibbitz: Adam Sandler to Receive Mark Twain Prize for American Humor - Jewish Exponent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The eight crazy nights of Chanukah came early for Adam Sandler.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/adam-sandler-to-receive-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jewish Exponent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jewishexponent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-14T14:26:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-20T21:24:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/12-13-22-Adam-Sandler-Gotham-Awards-2048x1138-1-e1672332031476.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"445\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"JTA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jewishexponent\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@jewishexponent\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"JTA\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/adam-sandler-to-receive-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/adam-sandler-to-receive-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"JTA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cb0f703e468e172d7553b0448c58dbbd\"},\"headline\":\"Weekly Kibbitz: Adam Sandler to Receive Mark Twain Prize for American Humor\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-14T14:26:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-20T21:24:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/adam-sandler-to-receive-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor\/\"},\"wordCount\":433,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/adam-sandler-to-receive-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/12-13-22-Adam-Sandler-Gotham-Awards-2048x1138-1-e1672332031476.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Arts\",\"Culture\",\"kibbitz\",\"Performance\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/adam-sandler-to-receive-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/adam-sandler-to-receive-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/adam-sandler-to-receive-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor\/\",\"name\":\"Weekly Kibbitz: Adam Sandler to Receive Mark Twain Prize for American Humor - 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