Bill Murray Receives Presitigous Mark Twain Award In Comedy

Many worried that Bill Murray would be a no-show for his ceremony for his important comedy win, but luckily the Chicago Cubs won on Saturday, freeing up his Sunday schedule.

BILL MURRAY ACCEPTS MARK TWAIN AWARD FOR COMEDY

Murray did appear and accept his Mark Twain Award for comedy. He has never been a fan of big shindigs, saying he would rather just receive a letter of congratulations than an audience full of his colleagues. On the red carpet, he described the evening as probably being “a squirm-a-thon for me.”

And the life-long Cubs fan in him would most likely have attended Game 7 of the NLCS to see his beloved team win, instead of going to his own award ceremony. Presenter Bill Hader was afraid “we’d be playing to an empty box” if the Cubs had lost on Saturday. “If the Cubs hadn’t won last night, I would have had to be there,” Murray quipped. “Because honestly, I do not trust the media to report the story.”

Among attendees at the dinner were Aziz Ansari, Jane Curtin, Jimmy Kimmel, Sigourney Weaver, Paul Shaffer and David Letterman. The night consisted of a bit of roasting of the veteran comedian, but mainly of a lot of love for the actor. “As much as I’ve dreaded this,” Murray said in his acceptance speech, “I really have to come back to this idea that: There is love.”

Steve Martin couldn’t be present, but sent a recording of himself making jabs at Murray’s career, but ended with a loving sentiment, describing Murray as “a man who travels around the world spreading foolishness and joy wherever he goes.”

Murray also went on to thank his older brother Brian Doyle Murray for being the catalyst to his success, who encouraged Murray to go into acting when he did himself. “The only reason I’m here is because of the guts of my brother Brian,” Murray admitted. “He’s been waiting a long time to hear that.”

The evening also included a somewhat awkward performance by Miley Cyrus, who filled Sinatra’s “My Way” with incorrect lyrics and a ton of f-bombs, but Murray thoroughly enjoyed it.

The event was the end of a long weekend of celebration for Murray, who met with the president, crashed a White House press briefing, and had a meal with Sonia Sotomayor earlier in the week. “He might just pop up in Michelle Obama‘s garden,” joked ceremony writer Bruce Vilanch.