Amy Poehler Says Comedy 'Has Saved My Life Many Times' at WSJ. Awards

Amy Poehler told the WSJ. Magazine Innovator Awards on Thursday that "comedy, in many ways, has saved my life many times." She accepted the award for innovation in comedy at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

"There's no greater joy for me than laughing at people who I love — laughing with them and at them, both! And them laughing with me," Poehler said on stage. "Comedy, in many ways, has saved my life many times."

The claim is a strong one. It came without detail — Poehler did not say when or how comedy saved her, only that it did, repeatedly. What she did specify was the professional pleasure behind it.

Who presented, and why it mattered to her

Marcello Hernández, a "Saturday Night Live" cast member, presented the award. He called Poehler a "baller" and a "gift."

Poehler reversed the compliment. Hernández, she said, is exactly why she stays in the trade: "Because of the people I get to meet and who I get to work with."

Poehler is best known for "SNL," "Parks and Recreation" and, most recently, her podcast "Good Hang." The Innovator Award adds a media-brand laurel to a career already decorated with television recognition.

The full class of honorees

The ceremony honored seven innovators across disciplines:

• Rosalía — music
• Martin McDonagh — film
• The Savannah Bananas — sports
• Matthieu Blazy — fashion
• Marlon James — literature
• Demis Hassabis — technology
• Amy Poehler — comedy

Presenters included Dua Lipa, A$AP Rocky, Patti Smith and Seth Meyers.

What did Poehler say about escapism?

The most quotable portion of the speech pushed against a popular cultural instruction: be present. Poehler argued the opposite case for art.

"I was thinking about the way in which we often insist on being in the present moment," she said. "There's a lot of discussion about remembering where you are, and seeing where your feet are, and staying exactly where you're supposed to be: present."

Her rebuttal was blunt. "A lot of people in this room help us get away from where we are. A lot of people in this room transport us. I think where we are isn't often very good. We don't always want to be feeling what we're feeling."

She then widened the frame to the room itself. "The storytellers here and the artists here have certainly transported me. They've taken me to the future, to the past. They've taken me right next door. They let me ride on their wings and their talent."

Poehler closed by applying the standard to her own work. "If 'Good Hang' or any of the stuff I've ever done made anybody else feel that way, I am very, very grateful."

What does this change?

For Poehler, it signals that her current chapter — podcasting, away from network television — is being read as innovation rather than a step down. For "Good Hang," still in its early life, an award-stage endorsement from one of comedy's most bankable names is free publicity that most new shows never receive.