Regis Philbin will be in Jamestown July 30, 2015 to lead a panel discussion focusing on The Late Show with David Letterman.

JAMESTOWN – To celebrate the groundbreaking of the National Comedy Center, Regis Philbin will moderate a panel of producers, writers and crew from David Letterman’s Late Show and Late Night.

“David Letterman – Behind The Scenes Of Late Night’s Longest Running Broadcaster” will take place on Thursday, July 30 at the Willow Bay Theater in Jamestown, NY as part of the 2015 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival.

This will be the first time since David Letterman’s retirement that the group will discuss how they helped craft Letterman’s shows for the last 33 years.

“This event embodies the spirit of the National Comedy Center, and we’re thrilled to host Regis Philbin and these major influencers of comedy,” said Executive Director, Journey Gunderson.

With one hundred and fifty appearances on Late Night/Late Show, Regis Philbin holds the record as the most frequent Letterman guest.  Philbin took part in countless comedy bits on the show and his banter with Letterman was legendary. Over the last five decades, Regis has hosted numerous shows, including: Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Live with Regis and Kelly, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and The Regis Philbin Show.

The panelists for the evening are: Barbara Gaines (Executive Producer/Associate Producer Late Show/Late Night), Jerry Foley (Director/Supervising Producer/Technical Director Late Show/Late Night), Steve O’Donnell (Head Writer/Writer Late Night/Late Show), Steve Young (Head Monologue Writer/Writer Late Show/Late Night), and Biff Henderson (Stage Manager Late Show/Late Night). Gaines and Foley were each nominated in the 2015 Emmy Awards announcement last week.

Tickets are on sale at www.lucycomedyfest.com or 716.484.0800.

The National Comedy Center is a new $40 million attraction that will celebrate comedy: the craft and its greatest contributors. The groundbreaking ceremony takes place Saturday, August 1 in Jamestown as part of the 2015 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival. The weekend also includes Jerry Seinfeld, Melissa Rivers, Nick Offerman, Kelly Carlin, the family of Harold Ramis, the critically-acclaimed kids comedy troupe Story Pirates, showcases including Joe Machi, Andy Hendrickson, Michelle Wolf, Michael Palascak, Jon Rineman, Paul Morrissey, and more than 40 events in four days.

About the National Comedy Center: The 501(c)(3) non-profit National Comedy Center visitor experience is being designed by world-renown creative firms:  Jack Rouse Associates, and interactive specialist Local Projects, which just completed work on the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Project feasibility and economic forecasting was provided by AECOM.

In December, the National Comedy Center (NCC) project in Jamestown, NY was awarded $1.5 million by New York State Empire State Development and Governor Andrew Cuomo, making it a partner of the I Love New York campaign.  The $1.5 million in state funds will help complete the NCC’s vision for the first national attraction complex dedicated to the art of comedy in the United States.  For more information visit www.NationalComedyCenter.org.

About the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival: America’s premier comedian, Jerry Seinfeld, will be performing his signature stand-up routine during the 2015 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival on Saturday, August 1, 2015 at the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena. Past festival headliners have included Jay Leno, Joan Rivers, Bob Newhart, Lewis Black, Ray Romano, Ellen Degeneres and more.

The Lucille Ball Comedy Festival is proudly sponsored by Northwest Savings Bank, Southern Tier Builders Association, Seneca Gaming, Buffamante Whipple Buttafaro P.C., Shults Auto Group, Key Bank and many more at www.lucycomedyfest.com. Time Warner Cable News is a television media sponsor.

Kelly Carlin, Nick Offerman, Melissa Rivers will be in Jamestown, NY for the 2015 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, joining comedy legend Jerry Seinfeld.

JAMESTOWN – Some major names will be coming to Jamestown this summer to Join comedy legend Jerry Seinfeld as part of the 2015 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival.

The National Comedy Center is announcing that Nick Offerman, Melissa Rivers, Kelly Carlin and the Story Pirates kids-comedy show will join Seinfeld as featured performers during the event, which runs July 30th – August 2nd.

Offerman – who may best be known for his role as Ron Swanson on the hit TV show Parks and Recreation – will be performing his show for mature audiences during the festival on July 31 at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts. Offerman won a Television Critics Association Award for Achievement in Comedy in 2011.  He also received two Critics’ Choice Television Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Watch Offerman 2014 Congressional Radio and TV Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C.

RIVERS AND CARLIN TO PARTICIPATE IN COMEDY ROUNDTABLE

Melissa Rivers and Kelly Carlin, daughters of Joan Rivers and George Carlin respectively, will take part in a very special Comedy Roundtable on July 31, prior to Offerman’s show. The discussion will feature an in-depth look at the careers of comedic greats, as well as the impact of their contributions to modern culture.

In addition, Carlin will also bring her one women show, Carlin Home Companion: Growing Up With George, to Jamestown. That show will be presented on Aug. 1 at the Reg Lenna.

Organizers also say that the opening night of the festival on July 30 will see the return of the popular Stand-Up Showcase featuring Comedians Beth Stelling, Pete Lee, and Pat McGann.

An exclusive ticket pre-sale period will begin for members beginning on May 11 at noon. Remaining tickets will go on-sale beginning May 18.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.lucycomedyfest.com or calling festival box office at 716.484.0800.

On Saturday,  an event for children will take place with the return of the Story Pirates. The Story Pirates, who recently appeared on stage with Conan O’Brien, are a critically acclaimed arts and creative writing organization formed to celebrate the words and ideas of young people, to promote literacy as a vital part of education, and to preserve the spark of youthful creativity.  The Pirates will perform Saturday  at 11 a.m.

And on Saturday night, the festival will conclude with a performance by headliner Bill Gardell – a stand up comedian from Pittsburgh who also stars in the CBS Sit-com “Mike and Molly.”

All three shows will take place at the Reg Lenna Civic Center. Tickets are still available at LucyComedyFest.com or by phone at (716) 484-0800.

The new audio guide tours, which will be narrated by Lucie Arnaz, were made possible thanks to a grant from the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, matching funds from the Lucy Desi Center, and the generous collaborative production efforts of Desilu, Too and exhibit designer David Weiss.  

The Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum and Desilu Studios are open 7 days a week, Monday – Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 11am-4pm.

The Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, or “Lucy Fest,” runs August 1st-5th and features performances by Paula Poundstone, Lucie Arnaz, Story Pirates, Billy Gardell from CBS’s Mike & Molly, and much more. Visit www.LucyComedyFest.com for more information and tickets.

The show, which featured stories written by kids from across the country, never had a dull moment. Whether it was the story about the girl who did exactly what her dog did or the story about flying cats, kids kept cheering.

As a special treat, The Story Pirates announced they will be accepting stories from local students and will premiere sketches written by local kids at their upcoming show at the Lucille Ball Comedy Fest on Aug. 4 at 11 a.m.. Their show is funny for all, but it’s especially great for children ages 4-12. All children can submit their own original stories to info@lucy-desi.com by July 1 for a chance to be featured at the show. Tickets are available at LucyComedyFest.com and at the Lucy Desi Center for Comedy by calling 716-484-0800.

The Story Pirates, who were recently featured with Conan O’Brien, are a critically-acclaimed arts and creative writing organization founded in 2003 to celebrate the words and ideas of young people, to promote literacy as a vital part of education, and to preserve the spark of youthful creativity. The non-profit group that has been featured on the Today Show has grown to reach hundreds of thousands of children in over 200 schools across the country.

About The Lucille Ball Comedy Festival
The 2012 festival August 1-5 features Billy Gardell of the CBS hit Mike & Molly and his own 2011 Comedy Central Special: Halftime, Paula Poundstone – named Top 100 Comedians of All Time by Comedy Central, Lucie Arnaz, The Story Pirates kids comedy, Live Lucy Radio Plays, Dinner Theater with The Ricardos & Mertzes, museum & town tours, Late Night Comedy in the Tropicana Room, “Party on the Plaza” Friday and Saturday featuring bands, vendors, drinks and the Lucy World Games of grape-stomping, conveyer-belt candy-wrapping, I Love Lucy Trivia, a costume contest, and much more.  Tickets and information are available at www.LucyComedyFest.com.

The Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, or “Lucy Fest,” embodies Ball’s vision for her hometown legacy: a celebration of the comedic arts held annually on the weekend closest to her birth date, August 6th.

According to an economic impact study conducted by Buffalo firm Paradigm Economics, the 2011 five-day festival saw 13,000 in attendance and had a direct impact of $3.6 million on Chautauqua County.

The 2011 Lucy Fest featured more than ten comedians from NYC, Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco and Los Angeles performing over five days, and made international news with the setting of a Guinness World Record for “Most People Dressed as Lucy Ricardo” with 916 on Lucille Ball’s 100th birthday.

The Lucille Ball Comedy Festival is the first pillar in a four-pillar Legacy of Laughter vision for the organization including a comedic arts education program, comedy film festival and the establishment of the first national comedy museum and hall of fame.

The mission of the Lucy Desi Center for Comedy, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is to preserve the legacy of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and enrich the world through the healing powers of love and laughter through its commitment to the development of the comedic arts.

The Lucy-Desi Center for Comedy plans to help dozens of children in Chautauqua County by giving them free tickets to see a performance this summer. Lucy-Desi executive director Journey Gunderson recently announced the center will be donating tickets so that every child served by the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Chautauqua County can see the Story Pirates kids comedy show at this year’s Lucy Fest.

The Story Pirates are a nationally-respected, critically-acclaimed arts and creative writing organization that celebrates and promotes literacy and youthful creativity. The show is performed by professional adult comedians, but based entirely on stories written by kids. The theatre troupe will be traveling from New York City to Jamestown to perform at The Lucille Ball Comedy Festival on Saturday, August 4.

For information on all Lucy Fest events and activities, go on-line to www.LucyComedyFest.com or call 484-0800.