WASHINGTON — Dave Chappelle, in the words of Jon Stewart, a former Comedy Central colleague, is the “black Bourdain.”

“He’s the man that seeks out people and experience and knowledge and wants to touch it and feel it and be with it on the ground,” Mr. Stewart said at the Kennedy Center Sunday night, referring to the late chef and television host Anthony Bourdain, “so that he can then channel that for his art and redirect that back to you as something completely different and new.”

Mr. Chappelle, the longtime stand-up comedian and former television host, was celebrated as the 22nd recipient of the Mark Twain Prize, considered the top honor in comedy. Speakers who spanned the comedian’s decades-long career in comedy testified to how far-reaching his influence has been: Bradley Cooper, Tiffany Haddish , Kenan Thompson, and Sarah Silverman were just some of the guests who described Mr. Chappelle as far ahead of his peers.

Much of the show was a tribute to the first part of Mr. Chappelle’s career, which included the Comedy Central show “Chappelle’s Show.” Debuting in 2003 , it featured bits that are seen as canonical in the comedy world: about a black white supremacist, a black George W. Bush or a mock sports fantasy draft for different races .