Most awards show hosts took the gig for reasons other than the prestige or the (usually nonexistent) pay — but few of them open their performances by talking about them. That’s just one of many things that made John Mulaney’s work hosting the Academy’s Governors Awards such a pleasant surprise, thrilling the starry crowd that had just endured a far less exceptional Golden Globes.

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“This is a strategic obligation,” Mulaney said at the beginning of the ceremony Tuesday night. “It is a pleasure to stand here on this temporary stage. For those of you that don't recognize me from the Tuesday night AA meeting in the Palisades, my name is John Mulaney.”

The Governors Awards, usually held in November but delayed due to the actors strike, are an untelevised, chummy affair, drawing in virtually every awards contender but only awarding the Honorary Oscars that are determined months in advance. There are no envelopes to open or moments of suspense, just tributes and, when Mulaney is hosting at least, some of the best jokes we’ve heard about this year’s top Oscar contenders.

“Mr. Bradley Cooper is here,” Mulaney said early on, turning his attention to the room. “Bradley Cooper, incredible director and star of Maestro, or as it was originally titled, Bye Felicia!” Then he turned his attention to the odds-on best picture favorite: “That Oppenheimer cast is stacked with talent. Every part is played by a huge movie star. They're like, ‘Hey, we need an extra to polish the atom bomb. Let's see if Jack Nicholson is available?’ Daniel Day Lewis plays a pair of goggles.”

The focus of the evening is on the honorary winners, who this year were Mel Brooks, Angela Bassett, editor Carol Littleton, and Sundance Institute founder Michelle Satter. We can only imagine the terror of delivering jokes in front of a comedy legend, but Mulaney met the challenge, introducing him as Mel Brooks, “or as antisemites call him, ‘Exhibit A.’” He then added, “You know the guy that did the prosthetic nose for Maestro? He did Mel's entire face and body and personality for the last 97 years.”

For Bassett, nominated last year for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Mulaney got even more pointed: “Here's what a great actor Angela Bassett is. She got an Oscar nomination for a Marvel movie. That’s like getting a Pulitzer Prize for a Reddit comment.”

Reporting by David Canfield.