Outside the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a giant tarpaulin remained in place to conceal Donald Trump’s humiliation. Guests entering the national arts complex on Sunday night could not see the section of its marble facade where Trump’s name was recently erased to comply with a court order. But once they sat down for the Mark Twain prize for American humor ceremony, there was no hiding place as performers delivered punchlines at the expense of a US president whose power appears to be waning, at least in this corner of Washington DC.

Paying tribute to this year’s recipient, the comedian Bill Maher, the actor Woody Harrelson said: “Finally, an award for my dear friend – ironically at the Trump Kennedy Center. No, all right, we fixed that.” The audience erupted in applause. Then, apparently acknowledging the tarp-coated scaffolding, Harrelson added: “Not as though you’d be able to notice.” Trump seized control of the Kennedy Center last year, installing himself as its chair.

His handpicked board voted to rename it the Trump Kennedy Center and affix his name to the wall. But last month, a judge ruled that the addition of Trump’s name to the building was illegal and ordered that the 18 letters be removed. On Sunday, a step-and-repeat backdrop to the red carpet featured the name “Kennedy Center” without Trump’s name, but framed photos of the president, the first lady, Melania Trump, the vice-president, JD Vance, and the second lady, Usha Vance, remained on the wall.

The legal saga surrounding the building became immediate fodder for jokes at the gala. The former late night host Jay Leno said on the red carpet: “This is funny to me. It’s not war, it’s not antisemitism, it’s not racism – it’s vanity.

It’s so silly, it’s like high school with money. Covering the name now – hilarious! It’s high school.

‘I’ll show them, I’ll cover the name!’” During the ceremony, which Trump did not attend, the comedian Whitney Cummings quipped: “I’m just glad we all celebrated Bill tonight, even though Trump is now the board chair of this venue. He actually does have a lot of power here and he has a say what productions go on here, so enjoy this fall’s three-month run of White Hamilton.” Hamilton, a musical written and composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, cast actors of colour as the US’s founding fathers. Its producers cancelled a planned run at the Kennedy Center this year in direct response to Trump’s takeover and will stage performances at the city’s National Theatre instead.

Cummings added pointedly: “The thing about comedy is that we aren’t scared. We try not to be scared of people that bully.” Just moments after Maher began to accept the prize, Matt Friend, a leading impersonator of the president, took to the stage and, in Trump’s voice, joked that he would accept the award himself. “I had one of the greatest comedy careers of all time,” he said.

“I get so many more laughs than this guy!” Friend also made fun of Maher’s recent White House dinner with Trump, who autographed a list of insults he had thrown at Maher. The comedian later denied he had made a “deal” or compromised his values. He told the Trump impersonator: “That dinner was always about just having the two sides talk to each other instead of shouting at each other.” Last month, the US district judge Christopher Cooper upended the president’s grand designs, halting his plans to close the entire centre in July for a two-year renovation costing $257m.