# Pee Wee as Himself - Mark Twain Prize for American Humor **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** comedian-jokes, documentary-bio\ **Created:** [May 27, 2025, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pee-wee-as-himself-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor/1018867 "2025-05-27T16:24:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2025, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pee-wee-as-himself-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor/1018867/21 "2025-05-27T23:58:56Z")
> [@Cwturner](#): > > Paul Simon? > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Paul Simon is Lorne Michael’s best friend. And both are close buddies to Steve Martin. Am I missing something? I see a Neil Simon (per Wikipedia his full name is Marvin Neil Simon), who won the award in 2006, the year after Steve Martin won and two years after Lorne Michaels won. But I don’t see Paul Simon on the list of recipients. When I check Paul Simon’s (the Paul Simon of Simon and Garfunkel) wiki, it lists a Kennedy Center Award, the Kennedy Center Honors, in 2002, but no awards for comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pee-wee-as-himself-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor/1018867/22 "2025-05-28T00:33:51Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Am I missing something? They are mistyping Neil Simon’s name. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pee-wee-as-himself-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor/1018867/23 "2025-05-28T01:28:22Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > Got it. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pee-wee-as-himself-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor/1018867/24 "2025-05-28T03:16:51Z")
I watched the documentary (disclosure, my sister is in it briefly as a puppeteer on Playhouse) and found it very well done as a portrait of someone who wanted to succeed in show business, do so on his own terms, and still keep a close guard on his private life. A tricky juggling act however you slice it, and it is painful to see how badly Paul Reubens was wounded by the massive negative publicity that came crashing down on him after his arrest. Is there anyone now who thinks this was fair? He was not officially out as a gay man, but it was certainly an open secret, and given the widespread association in the Eighties of gayness with “recruiting” of the innocent (hint: no kid ever became homosexual by exposure to the existence of what they called a “lifestyle choice”), as a children’s entertainer the hammer came down firmly and definitively, and it took a long time for Reubens to move on from it - God forbid it should happen to any of us - but he did so with great dignity, if never completely reclaiming his success. Rewatching Pee-wee’s Playhouse today, he certainly snuck a lot of innuendo into it (much of it involving Miss Yvonne’s sexual appetite and the size of Cowboy Curtis’ boots, along with all the bare-chested hunks who somehow dropped by the Playhouse) and the grown-ups got it and I don’t doubt that a lot of Reagan-era parents disapproved. Still, Reubens got away with a lot mainly because the character he created was a pop culture sensation at the time. I can’t imagine a show like that could be done today on a platform like CBS which reached into every home (if such a thing existed now). Are we better off? The documentary is honest and fascinating in part because a good part of it involves Reubens chafing at the documentarian, still jealously trying to own his privacy and how far he wants to reveal himself, even as he knows his time on Earth is limited. The unanswered question, should we be careful what we wish for? (Wish - did somebody say Wish?) ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pee-wee-as-himself-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor/1018867/25 "2025-05-28T12:27:33Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Sure, that probably applies to every entertainer, but my guess is that the percentages for people who find Pee Wee’s Playhouse creepy is probably higher than people who think some of the other people on the list of Mark Twain Prize winners are not funny. I see, you’re talking about “controversial” more specifically in the sense of a Mark Twain prize awardee. I can see that. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pee-wee-as-himself-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor/1018867/26 "2025-05-28T21:01:39Z")
Paul Simon was a guest at the Lorne Michaels and Steve Martin tributes, which is why I mentioned them. Just in case. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pee-wee-as-himself-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor/1018867.md?page=1)