Before she died in 1989, Jamestown, N.Y., officials approached Lucille Ball with the idea for a museum. But she told them: “Don’t just celebrate me — don’t just put my stuff in glass cases,” said Journey Gunderson, executive director of The National Comedy Center, “make my hometown a destination for the celebration of all comedy and its artists.”
So that’s what they did.
There’s certainly a lot that celebrates Lucy in Jamestown: In addition to the National Comedy Center,there’s the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum that displays costumes, memorabilia and replicas of the original I Love Lucy set and Ricky Ricardo’s Tropicana club.
Visitors can take a “Lucytown” bus tour to see the homes where she was born and raised, her gravesite, and one of the buildings where she performed as a teen.
But Jamestown does far more than celebrate just Lucy. The National Comedy Center, a few blocks away from the Lucy and Desi museum, showcases everything from black-and-white cinema slapstick to the bluest standup comedy. There are dozens of interactive exhibits, like a stand-up lounge where visitors can get on stage, take the mic and see what it’s like to try to make an audience laugh.
During the annual festival, which takes place around Ball’s August birthday, you can see a number of attendees dressed in her trademark polka dot dress.
This year’s headliners were Nate Bargatze, who’s been called “The nicest guy in stand-up” and Nicole Byer, the comedian/actor who’s currently hosting Netflix’s reality baking show Nailed It! The festival also brought in a number of rising stars who performed standup at the Tropicana.
Jamie Bogert came to the festival from Philadelphia with her mother. She said all of the different activities showed them how Ball helped “pave the way in so many ways for comedy.”
