On April 28, politicians, celebrities and members of the media gathered in Washington for the White House Correspondents Dinner, which has come to be commonly referred to as “the nerd prom.”
All due respect to the Beltway, but the real nerd prom took place that night in New York, where comedy’s elite gathered at the Hammerstein Ballroom for the second annual Comedy Awards, which airs on Comedy Central tonight at 9.
Stars including Tina Fey, Robin Williams, Jon Stewart and Amy Poehler donned their finery to celebrate the year’s great comedic achievements. While many, including Stewart, joked last year that the show would be a one-year flameout, most took care not to betray that irreverence upon its return.
“It really shows there could be a third year — if Comedy Central has enough money lying around,” said Joel McHale, star of “Community.” “Now it’s a machine that won’t be stopped — because everyone knows that everyone watches awards shows.”
“I don’t wear tuxedos very often,” said “The Office” star Ed Helms, who summed up the Comedy Award as being “better than a Pulitzer, not as good as a Nobel Prize.”
“If I’m wearing a tuxedo, this is an incredibly important event.”
The show offers enjoyable moments including a touching speech by Don Rickles, who received the Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence, and a far sillier speech by “Johnny Two Feathers” — an actor in Native American headdress, brought on stage by Norm Macdonald, as a parody of Marlon Brando’s 1973 refusal of his Academy Award.
Some did take genuine meaning from the event.
“To be in the same room with Don Rickles, Louis C.K., Patton Oswalt — that’s the meaning of the night for me,” said Williams, who received the Stand-up Icon award. “It’s a wonderful, strange night of people I admire deeply. It’s crazy fun.”
But for the most part, comedians took their greatest pleasure in deflating any potential pompousness at the sight of tuxedoed comics.
“This glorious award has a prestigious 12-month history. It feels like a one-year thing that got out of hand,” joked “Daily Show” correspondent John Oliver. “There is an inherent ridiculousness about an award for comedy. In a season of pointless awards, this could be the most pointless of all.”
“This is all I’ve dreamt about since I was a little girl,” said “Up All Night” star Maya Rudolph, whose movie “Bridesmaids” was up for several awards including Best Comedy Film.
“When I was in third grade, I thought, wouldn’t it be great if when I was 38, they came up with an award show for comedians only, and then I got nominated the following year. And you know what? Dreams really do come true.”
THE COMEDY AWARDS
Today, 9 p.m., Comedy Central
