On May 8 it was the funny men…and women…who had a chance to shine with the American Comedy Awards.
From the Hammerstein Ballroom, Craig Robinson kicked off the show with the Nasty Delicious. Robinson introduced the first award of the night…himself for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Comedy Series to Bill Hader for his role in “Saturday Night Live”.
The award for Best Actor in a Comedy Film went to Will Ferrell for “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues”.
The award for the Best Supporting Actress in a Television Comedy went to Kate McKinnon for her role in “Saturday Night Live”.
The Award for Best Director in a Comedy Film went to Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg for “This is the End”.
The Club Comic of the Year is Maria Bamford.
The Alternative Comedy Series winner is Key & Peel from “Comedy Central”.
The Best Director of a Comedy Television Series is Peter Atencio for “Key & Peele”.
The winner of the Best Comedy Special of the Year is Louis C.K. for “Oh My God”.
The Best Television Comedy Actress went to Amy Poehler from “Park and Recreation”.
The Best Comedy Screenplay went to Kaite Dippold for her role in “The Heat”.
The Best Television Comedy Writing award went to “Modern Family”.
The award for Best Late Night Talk Show was a tie between “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report”.
Sir Patrick Stewart – Capt. Jean-Luc Piccard to “Star Trek” fans – presented the award for the Best Viral Video of the Year to “Bad Lip Reading: The NFL”.
The Best Comedic Actress in a Film went to Melissa McCarthy for her role in “The Heat”.
The Best Concert Comic award went to Jimm Gaffigan.
In the In Memoriam segment of the show, the American Comedy Awards paid tribute to Hollywood’s funny men and women over the past year – Harold Ramis, Eileen Brennan, Conrad Bain, Lisa Robin Kelly, Jonathan Winters, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Dennis Farina, Bob Hoskins, David Brenner, Peter O’Toole, Bonnie Franklin, James Gandolfini, Jean Stapleton, John Pinette, Marcia Wallace, Cory Montieth, Jane Kean, Mickey Rooney, and Sid Caesar.
The Best Comedic Film was “This is the End”.
The Best Television Comedy Series is “Parks and Recreation”.
Chris Rock presented the Johnny Carson Lifetime Achievement Award to Bill Cosby. Speaking on Cosby, Rock called him the greatest comedian to ever live. Cosby first appeared on television with Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show” in 1963. In a video clip Bill Belamy, Dick Gregory, Jeff Foxworthy, Keenen Ivory Wayans, and Eddie Murphy all spoke on Cosby.
Previous winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award were David Letterman and Don Rickles.
By Sherrill Fulghum
