Cosby receives humor prize

Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld will salute fellow funny man Bill Cosby with the nation’s top humor prize at the Kennedy Center, along with two co-stars from “The Cosby Show,” Phylicia Rashad and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

Tribute performances Monday night will range from standup to orchestra and jazz as Cosby receives the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Wynton Marsalis is slated to perform, as well as Willie Nelson.

Of all his work, the 72-year-old Cosby says he’s most proud of “The Cosby Show.” He says he carefully crafted the hit TV show the way he wanted it to look.

Cosby has won other big awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002. Still, the Mark Twain Prize is special because he says Twain was the “quintessential American writer.”