For the first time, the D.C.-based Kennedy Center is giving its highest comedy honor to a District native. The center announced Tuesday that Dave Chappelle will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

“Dave is the embodiment of Mark Twain’s observation that ‘against the assault of humor, nothing can stand,’” said Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter in a statement. “For three decades, Dave has challenged us to see hot-button issues from his entirely original yet relatable perspective. Dave is a hometown hero here in Washington, D.C., where he grew up. We’re so looking forward to welcoming him back home.”

A graduate of D.C.’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts and a star of the new mural on the side of Ben’s Chili Bowl, Chappelle, 45, is best known for creating and starring in the sketch-based Chappelle’s Show. His recent stand-up specials have also earned him Grammy and Emmy Awards. (One of those Emmys ceremonies, by the way, is where Chappelle unexpectedly got #DCPublicSchools trending nationwide on Twitter.) The comedian has remained active in D.C. life: Mayor Muriel Bowser presented him with a key to the city in 2017, and he appeared in a commercial advocating for D.C. statehood last summer. Oh, and don’t forget that time he sang Radiohead with Ed Sheeran at Eighteenth Street Lounge.

Previous winners in the award’s 21-year history include Carol Burnett, Bill Murray, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Eddie Murphy, and—most recently—Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Louis Dreyfus, while born in Manhattan, is an alum of the Montgomery County prep school Holton-Arms). Bill Cosby’s prize, awarded in 2009, was rescinded last year along with his Kennedy Center Honor, following his criminal conviction for sexual assault.

This year’s awards will be held Oct. 27 when, as is tradition, Chappelle will watch as he’s feted by his fellow comedians. The ceremony will air on PBS on January 6, 2020.