Cappy McGarr - The Man Who Made Mark Twain Famous: Stories from the Kennedy Center, the White House, and Other Comedy Venues

A SAVIO REPUBLIC BOOK

An Imprint of Post Hill Press

ISBN: 978-1-63758-167-4

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-63758-168-1

The Man Who Made Mark Twain Famous:

Stories from the Kennedy Center, the White House, and Other Comedy Venues

2021 by Cappy McGarr

All Rights Reserved

Cover Design by Cody Corcoran

Cover Illustration by Mark Ulriksen

This is a work of nonfiction. All people, locations, events, and situations are portrayed to the best of the authors memory.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

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For Janie, Elizabeth, and Kathryn.
You are the most selfless people in the world. Now please enjoy this book about me.

NOTICE

Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.

Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

CONTENTS

Foreword
by Ken Burns

W as Mark Twain the first American comedian? In Huck Finns words, that aint no matter. Whether you call him a comedian, a humorist, a satirist, or an apocryphal quote generator, the influence Twains work has had on American literature and American comedy is unparalleled.

In his time, Twain was practically synonymous with humor, considered the funniest man on earth. But he wasnt just remarkable because he was funny.

One reason Twain was so influential is the very same reason he could make people laugh to begin with: he perfectly captured an emerging, authentic American voice and reflected enduring American contradictions in a way that no writer before him had quite been able to do. And he fearlessly satirized American institutionsfrom slavery, which he abhorred, to Congress, which he relentlessly mocked. He also understood the true origin of our laughter. He said, The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.

In that way, his work accomplished a feat that is fundamental to all successful laugh-getters: he expressed complicated ideas a vast audience could relate to (i.e., none of us gets out of here alive), but that no one else had thoughtor daredto put on paper or say aloud. He studied us and mastered the American way of speaking and thinking, reproduced it flawlessly, and weaved in his own sharp-witted perspective along the way. My favorite one-liner of his is: Its not that the world is filled with fools; its just that lightning isnt distributed right.

Thats exactly what American comedy does at its best. The people who make us laugh the most are those who have mastered the American language and lifes sometimes cruel ironiesnot just the words, but the gestures, the references, the subtleties.

And, like Twain, the most influential comedians go a step further. They dont just reflect our sensibilities; they refract them, questioning our assumptions about the world, undercutting the people in power, and puncturing pretension where they see itwhich is everywhere.

So, it is perfectly fitting that Americas highest honor for achievement in humor would be named for Mark Twain.

The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor celebrates the American comedic tradition that I think arguably began with Twain himself. And it honors some of the finest modern storytellers whoin satirizing our politics, commenting upon our culture, and sharing their own unique experiencesare continuing his legacy.

Appropriately, the Mark Twain Prize also gives contemporary humorists an opportunity to cross paths with an American presidentsomething Twain did on multiple occasions, from his unlikely friendship with Ulysses S. Grant to his adversarial relationship with Theodore Roosevelt.

Where the Mark Twain Prize commemorates the history of American comedy, this book, The Man Who Made Mark Twain Famous , commemorates the history of the Mark Twain Prize. And it does so through the inimitable drawl and laser wit of my friend Cappy McGarr, who co-founded the award and has been one of its most stalwart supporters for decadesin fact, since its inception.

I met Cappy when we sat together on the National Archives Foundation Board in the early 2000s. Quite literally, we sat next to each otherwhich made me the lucky one-man audience to Cappys quips, asides, and uncanny impressions of every president since JFK. Since then, weve shared a wonderful friendship that has spanned many years (and countless jokes).

Reading Cappys book is not unlike sitting down to dinner with him and listening to the stories he has picked up from decades of rubbing elbows with political leaders and comedians alike. There are historic set pieces. There are laughs and howls and chuckles and chortles. There are names dropped, picked back up, and then shamelessly dropped again.

But more than that, Cappy has chronicled each and every Mark Twain Prize ceremony from the very beginningeffectively giving us a personal tour of the hall of fame for todays would-be Twains.

The last couple of decades of American politics have reminded us how desperate we are for figures like Twain, who can make sense of our absurd tragediesand tragic absurditiesand, in response, create incisive, hilarious works that offer us some catharsis and release. Through the Mark Twain Prize, Cappy has helped pay tribute to nearly two dozen comedians who are filling Twains shoes (and suit, and mustache) during these fraught times.

Along with the history of the Mark Twain Prize, Cappy has also shared another uniquely American story: that of his own life. His Texas upbringing; his courtship with his future wife, Janie; his earliest encounters with the political juggernaut known as LBJ; his journey to the board of the Kennedy Center; his visits to, and shows hosted from, the White House. Hes a wisecracking southerner who has somehow charmed his way into encounters with some of the most influential people of his time. Who better then to tell the story of the Mark Twain Prize?

The playwright George Bernard Shaw once said that Mark Twain taught him telling the truth is the funniest joke in the world.

With that in mindand to paraphrase Huck one more timethis book was made by Mr. Cappy McGarr, and he tells the truth. Mainly.

N o matter how serious the occasion, if you give comedians the opportunity, most will use it to make a joke. The following are the reactions of every Mark Twain Prize recipient when they have been selected for the honor.

1998: Richard Pryor

I feel great about accepting this prize. It is nice to be regarded on par with a great white mannow thats funny! Seriously, though, two things people throughout history have had in common are hatred and humor. I am proud that, like Mark Twain, I have been able to use humor to lessen peoples hatred!

1999: Jonathan Winters

When asked by PBS what being awarded a prize in Mark Twains name meant to him, Winters said, I think I always dreamedcertainly as a young boy, maybe I do now, stillof standing on the banks of the Mississippi, and seeing this great-looking man with snow white hair. Its Mark Twain, and hes looking out at a whale boatand Huck Finn over here, and Im Tom Sawyer.