Billy Crystal made some good-natured remarks about his long career as a comedian before presenting the Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series to The daily show and Jon Stewart.

While thanking the audience for their applause, he joked: “It’s just great to be… everywhere.”

The comedian and veteran award presenter then shared that the award he was presenting was a very special one, as it had been almost 50 years since he made his debut at The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

As the audience continued to applaud, Crystal joked, “You’re applauding because I’m old?”

He then described how his heart was racing and he felt like “a bull rider at a rodeo before the gate opens, praying that if I could just stick to my monologue for five minutes without breaking the beat, I would be OK.”

The stage manager at the time told Crystal before continuing that if he held up his hands, Crystal should bow and leave, but if he pointed to Carson, Crystal could sit down and meet the legendary host.

Crystal explained, “I heard, ‘If I point to the desk, you’ll sit next to Johnny and maybe have a career. But if I walk like that (and hold his hands up), you’ll go back to your job at RadioShack.'”

Luckily for Crystal, the stage manager pointed to Carson and the rest is history.