Before there was Tina Fey or Amy Poehler, there was Carol Burnett.

Ten years after receiving the Kennedy Center Honors, Burnett was back in Washington on Sunday, accepting the country's top comedy award.

The 80-year-old entertainer, who has garnered laughs since she broke onto the scene in the 1960s, was honored with the 16th annual Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in the Concert Hall at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday evening.

According to the Washington Post, top entertainers including Julie Andrews, Tony Bennett, Tina Fey, Poehler and others performed in Burnett's honor as she received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

"This is very encouraging," Burnett said during her acceptance speech according to the Washington Post. "I mean it was a long time in coming, but I understand because there are so many people funnier than I am, especially here in Washington. With any luck, they'll soon get voted out, and I'll still have the Mark Twain prize."

She described the Mark Twain Prize as "the cherry on top of the sundae."

"It's about humor," Burnett said. "It's about laughter, and that's our game."

Fey opened the show with some jokes about the recent government shutdown and about fears over Obamacare, but quickly turned to showering Burnett with gratitude for opening doors for other women comedians.

"A lot of female comediennes are going to come out and say that 'I love you so much,' " Fey said. "But I'm saying it first! You mean so much to me. I love you in a way that is just shy of creepy."

Comedian Martin Short also joined the tribute to Burnett.

"What is it about redheads on television that make us laugh so much? Carol, Lucille Ball, Donald Trump," he said.

The event showed dozens of memorable clips from Burnett's career, including Ball and Burnett's duet as cleaning ladies singing about "Chutzpah," and Burnett and Tim Conway as the flighty Mrs. Wiggins and Mr. Tudball.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Burnett said she was drawn to comedy after realizing how it felt to make people laugh. She went to UCLA with plans to become a journalist, but she took an acting course that put her on stage.

She caught a break when she was spotted by talent bookers from TV's "The Ed Sullivan Show" and was invited to perform her rendition of "I Made a Fool of Myself over John Foster Dulles." Burnett later landed a role in Broadway's "Once Upon a Mattress," and began appearing on morning TV's "The Garry Moore Show."

CBS signed her to a 10-year contract doing guest shots on sitcoms and performing in one TV special a year.

Burnett said it's a thrill to receive the award named for humorist. Burnett is in good company with past honorees, who include Fey, Bill Cosby, Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin and Ellen DeGeneres.

"I hope after tonight it will knock me down a few pegs because my head is getting huge," Burnett joked on the red carpet.

The show was taped Sunday night and will broadcast Nov. 24 on PBS stations.