Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, the top-selling comedian in the world in 2022, and one of the most-watched comedians on YouTube with over 1.1 billion views, will be performing on Thursday, August 3.

Taylor Tomlinson, who is currently breaking ticket sale records set by the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, and selling out venues worldwide following her two highly acclaimed Netflix stand-up specials, will perform Friday, August 4, as part of her current “The Have It All” tour.

Both comedians’ performances will take place at the Northwest Arena.

The National Comedy Center announced that tickets for the festival will go on sale to Comedy Center members at noon on Friday, May 12 before opening to the general public for sale at noon on Friday, May 19.

For more information, visit comedycenter.org.

Jamestown Human Rights Commission meeting (April 5, 2023)

The Jamestown Human Rights Commission has approved funding to co-sponsor with the National Comedy Center a Juneteenth event.

The National Comedy Center is planning to show “The Nutty Professor” starring Eddie Murphy on Monday, June 19. HRC member Kim Knight, who is also helping with Juneteenth event plans, said the contribution for the HRC would be $425. The event would feature the movie on the Comedy Center’s screens on West Second Street as well as concessions sold by the Juneteenth Committee to benefit their scholarship fund.

The HRC also will be collaborating with Jamestown Community College on a Human Rights focused event. JCC Coordinator of World Languages Theresa Baginski said the college was awarded a three year grant to “globalize” the experience at JCC. She said their goal is to hold at least two Human Rights events in connection with the college over the next three years.

The Commission discussed ideas of a poster contest for middle school students, having a comedian perform, and having a speaker discuss the topic of refugees and immigrants that includes a facilitated discussion. A couple members of the HRC will work with JCC on development of the event.

The Commission also voted to spend up to $500 to purchase “swag” items to hand out when tabling at events. The group is expected to review possible items and costs at its meeting in May.

Comedian Paul Morrissey talks with WRFA’s Anthony Merchant about his upcoming album taping at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, NY, the unlikely dreams of being a comedian while growing up in Upstate New York, getting bumped by Regis Philbin on David Letterman, how a broadcasting background helped Paul in his transition to comedy and much more

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Tickets for Paul’s upcoming Jamestown performances –tickets.comedycenter.org/ActivityBooking.aspx 

The National Comedy Center is presenting the performance, “An Evening of Comedy with Paul Morrissey: ICE CREAM VS EVERYTHING,” that will be held in the Lucy Desi Museum‘s Tropicana Room on March 24 and 25.

Paul Morrissey has appeared on national television shows such as CBS’s The Late, Late Show and The Late Show with David Letterman. He has headlined clubs and theaters across the country, opened theater tours for Jim Gaffigan and Tom Papa and performed at major comedy festivals including the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, the Montreux Comedy Festival and the National Comedy Center’s Lucille Ball Comedy Festival.

Morrissey will perform four shows at the Tropicana Room on Friday, March 24 and Saturday, March 25 at 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm.

Tickets are available for purchase at ComedyCenter.org/events.

Jamestown City Council

Chautauqua Art Gallery owner Leslie Calimeri and Jamestown Renaissance Corporation Urban Core Director Frank Besse will present their Downtown ArtScape Banner project to council.

JRC Neighborhood Coordinator Mary Maxwell also will be presenting to the Housing Committee about a Historic Tax Credit Workshop.

The Finance Committee is expected to continue a discussion on American Rescue Plan funds.

And the Public Safety Committee will review a block party application for an event by Jensen British Sports Cars at the National Comedy Center to be held on Saturday, June 8.

The Public Works Committee meeting has been canceled due to lack of agenda items.

The Housing Committee will meet at 6:45 p.m. with Finance and Public Safety committees meeting at 7:00 p.m. The full City Council work session will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Police Training Room located on the fourth floor of City Hall. The public is welcome to attend all meetings with the full work session being streamed on jamestownny.gov.

The Comedy Center is now part of the Museums for All program, which is administered by the Association of Children’s Museums to encourage people of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum-going habits.

The Museums for All program supports those receiving food assistance (SNAP) benefits, who can now visit the National Comedy Center and Lucy Desi Museum for a minimal fee of $2 dual admission, per person, for up to four people, with the presentation of a SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card.

Similar free and reduced admission is available to eligible members of the public at more than 1,000 museums across the country.

Tickets may be purchased in advance at ComedyCenter.org, or by visiting the admissions desk at either the National Comedy Center or Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum.

Carolines in Times Square press conference with NCC on Dec 29, 2022

The National Comedy Center will be receiving and displaying artifacts from Carolines Comedy Club.

It was announced in December that the New York City club would not renew its lease after 30 years of presenting stand-up comedy and was closing its renowned Times Square location at the end of 2022.

National Comedy Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson said that, “Caroline Hirsch has been a vital force for nurturing comedic talent for 40 years now, and Carolines on Broadway has been one of the world’s most important venues for showcasing the art form of stand-up comedy.”

Items being preserved by the National Comedy Center include the iconic stage, the backdrop bearing the harlequin Carolines logo, showroom curtains, the microphone, signage, “barfly” stools and entry doors.

Carolines began 40 years ago in Chelsea and later moved to the South Street Seaport before calling Times Square home in 1992, playing an integral role in the resurgence of the Times Square area. Carolines has showcased the world’s greatest comedic talent through the years including Jerry Seinfeld, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Chris Rock, Margaret Cho, Jay Leno, and many more.

2022 was a busy year for the National Comedy Center. Executive Director Journey Gunderson tells us more.

Amy Poehler and National Comedy Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson

Amy Poehler has joined the National Comedy Center’s Board of Directors.

With a wide-ranging comedy career that spans improv, sketch, situation comedy and feature films, the Emmy Award-winning Poehler has been acclaimed for her eight years as a cast member and writer on Saturday Night Live, as lead actor, producer and writer on Parks and Recreation, and most recently, as a feature film director/producer and television producer.

Poehler said she’s honored to be joining the advisory board, “In my time spent at the National Comedy Center, working closely with its executive director Journey Gunderson, Director of Archives Dr. Laura LaPlaca and their teams, it’s clear that this is an incredible organization and a very special place. Every visit is a mind-blowing experience for me – it’s become my favorite museum of all time.”

Amy Poehler fills the Advisory Board seat formerly held by talent manager and producer George Shapiro, who passed away earlier this year after a seven-decade career managing comedic artists including Jerry Seinfeld, Andy Kaufman and Carl Reiner and serving as an executive producer of Seinfeld.

In 2021, Poehler worked closely with the National Comedy Center’s Archives and Preservation Department on research for her critically-acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning Amazon documentary Lucy and Desi, which she directed and also executive produced alongside Imagine Documentaries and White Horse Pictures. Poehler hosted a premiere of the film in Jamestown at the National Comedy Center before it made its nationwide debut on Prime Video earlier this year.

The free event will take place from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Council President Tony Dolce said it will be located on the Riverwalk behind the National Comedy Center and Board of Public Utilities between the two pedestrian bridges from Panzarella Island to the Washington Street Bridge, “And they’ll have all kinds of fun things of games and hay rides and costumes and I’m sure candy. All that fun stuff. As you know, this year because of the Allen Park Ice Rink being rented or leased out the (Frewsburg) Soccer Club, we aren’t able to have the indoor thing that we’ve had several years there.”

The City’s lease agreement with the Frewsburg Soccer Club states that the City will have use of the former Allen Park Ice Rink for the Easter Egg Hunt and Halloween Fun Fest. Dolce said the Parks Department wanted to try something different and hold the event outdoors this year.

For more information about the event, contact the Parks Department at 716-483-7554.