Amy Poehler Gets Comedy Honor at Museum of Modern Art Ceremony

Amy Poehler accepted an innovation in comedy award Thursday night, telling the audience at the Museum of Modern Art in New York that the craft has repeatedly kept her going. "Comedy, in many ways, has saved my life many times," she said at the WSJ. Magazine Innovator Awards. The event honored people across several fields, including music, film, sports, fashion, literature and technology.

"Saturday Night Live" performer Marcello Hernández handed Poehler the trophy and called her a "baller" and a "gift." Poehler, known for her runs on "SNL," "Parks and Recreation" and her podcast "Good Hang," answered by pointing to the company she keeps in the business: "Because of the people I get to meet and who I get to work with." Other names on the honoree list were Rosalía for music, Martin McDonagh for film, the Savannah Bananas for sports, Matthieu Blazy for fashion, Marlon James for literature and Demis Hassabis for technology.

Poehler also used her time at the microphone to talk about why audiences reach for art that takes them elsewhere. "A lot of people in this room help us get away from where we are," she said. "I think where we are isn't often very good. We don't always want to be feeling what we're feeling." She added that storytellers and artists have carried her to the future, the past and next door.

Presenters at the ceremony included Dua Lipa, A$AP Rocky, Patti Smith and Seth Meyers. Poehler closed by tying the point back to her own show: "If 'Good Hang' or any of the stuff I've ever done made anybody else feel that way, I am very, very grateful."