Friday Night Block Party before Trevor Noah’s performance in Jamestown, NY during the 2016 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival (Jamestown, NY; National Comedy Center)
JAMESTOWN – The numbers are in and the 2016 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival brought in thousands of people from across the country. In fact, the four-day event drew attendees from 41 different states to downtown Jamestown.
That’s according to officials with the National Comedy Center, who say the weekend included performances by “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah, the “king of the rant” Lewis Black, and one of this country’s premiere comedians, Brian Regan, in addition to National Comedy Center dialogues with comedy writer-director Peter Farrelly, and the daughters of comedy legends Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor and George Carlin.
While comedians visited Ball’s hometown of Jamestown, NY, many of them, including Black, went on a private hard-hat tour of the future site of the National Comedy Center currently under construction, led by members of the design teams from Local Projects and Jack Rouse Associates.
“Comedy is one of the most overlooked of all the arts–it’s usually the dramatic stuff that gets all the attention & recognition,” said Peter Farrelly. “So to have a place that will celebrate comedy and the comics of the past is a great thing.”
The festival featured more than 50 events at a dozen venues throughout Jamestown, with highlights including the critically-acclaimed Story Pirates kids-comedy troupe, an appearance by the “Mutt Cutts Van” from the film Dumb and Dumber, four stand-up showcases and a special exhibition in honor of the 65th anniversary of I Love Lucy.
Comedian Lewis Black takes the stage at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts during the 2016 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival in Jamestown, NY (Jamestown, NY; National Comedy Center)
“If there’s any question whether people will come to Jamestown for the National Comedy Center, the fact that we had people from nearly all 50 states over just four days speaks volumes. Jamestown is already a destination for great comedy,” said National Comedy Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson.
The National Comedy Center, Inc. embodies Lucille Ball’s original vision for her hometown of Jamestown to become a destination for the celebration all of the comedic arts, not just a celebration of her own legacy. The organization also operates the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum, and for the last 25 years has produced the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival with performers including Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Joan Rivers, Ray Romano, Ellen DeGeneres, Bob Newhart, Paula Poundstone, The Smothers Brothers and more than 100 other comedic artists.
The non-profit cultural institution recently announced the acquisition of the George Carlin archives for its forthcoming museum experience. The Center is a $50 million project funded by public-private partnership and to date has been awarded more than $3.5 million from New York State, Empire State Development and I Love NY™. Design of the immersive, interactive visitor experience has been provided by renowned creative firm Jack Rouse Associates and interactive specialist Local Projects, who was recently awarded a Cannes International Creativity award for its work on the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
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