On today’s episode of “Daily Variety” podcast, Journey Gunderson, executive director of the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, N.Y., explains why it’s important to have an institution devoted to the study of comedy. Jamestown, which is the hometown of Lucille Ball, will be abuzz with laughs as the center hosts the annual Lucille Ball Comedy Festival Aug. 7-9, headlined by Jerry Seinfeld, Bert Kreischer and Seth Meyers.
Gunderson has been the driving force behind the nonprofit National Comedy Center for 15 years. She joined what was then the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum in Jamestown in 2011. In 2018, the organization’s footprint expanded to include the National Comedy Center, which is now home to the archives of comedy titans George Carlin, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks.
The lure of working in Lucy’s hometown has been strong for A-list comedians for decades, as the comedy festival predated the launch of the center. But nowadays, when top stars parachute in for the festival, they’re able to tour the center and recognize that it is unique among museums and cultural institutions.
“I do think that sets us apart from any other city that an artist is touring and performing within. And the word has gotten out in the artist community that you have to make ample time to traverse the galleries of the National Comedy Center when you come and perform at the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival in Jamestown,” Gunderson says. “My favorite part of the job is touring the comedians themselves. When Jon Stewart toured the museum before headlining the festival last year, he just said, ‘No one’s ever done this for us before. No one has done this.’ I think it felt profound to him — the realization as he was walking through the museum that it wasn’t until 2018 that anybody opened a museum that tells the story of this art form.”
