Jay Leno was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. last night, which was one big joke to all of his comedian friends.
"When I first heard that Jay was getting this Mark Twain Prize tonight, which is a huge honor, I found out it was for humor, and I was a little bit confused," Chelsea Handler said during the ceremony. "I wasn't sure what the connection was."
Leno gave Handler wider exposure by bringing her on the "Tonight" show, helping her career as a leading female comedian.
Although she thanked him yesterday, she wasn't going to let him go without cracking some jokes at his expense.
During the ceremony she explains that she tried donating a zip file of all Leno's jokes to the Smithsonian over the weekend but they wouldn't take it.
Jimmy Fallon, who took over the "Tonight Show" for Leno, joined Handler in making fun of the man of honor yesterday.
"Jay Leno is a trailblazing comedian, who hosted 'The Tonight Show' and kept it at number one in the ratings for 20 years," Fallon said. "A man who has done so much for NBC that we had to celebrate his career on PBS."
Jerry Sienfeld, who according to Washington Post has been friends with Leno for 38-years, wove a "this should have been me" complaint throughout his whole set.
He also joined the Leno-shaming bandwagon with his opening: "we're going to honor Jay so let's just trudge through it."
The show will broadcast nationally on PBS Nov. 23.
