Jim Gaffigan will be in Jamestown, NY on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017 as part of the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival.
JAMESTOWN – The National Comedy Center has announced that stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan will be coming to Jamestown to headline the 2017 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival.
NCC Executive Director Journey Gunderson announced on Tuesday that Gaffigan’s national tour will come to town on Aug. 3 to perform at the Northwest Arena.
“Anybody who follows comedy knows that Jim Gaffigan is one of the biggest and most respected voices in comedy today. he’s a multi-platinum selling artist. he’s going to definitely be remembered for generations as being one of the greatest of all time, so we’re pleased to welcome him to Jamestown,” Gunderson said.
Gaffigan is a Grammy nominated comedian, actor, New York Times best-selling author, top touring performer, and multi-platinum-selling father of five.
Last year, Gaffigan became one of only ten comics in history to sell out Madison Square Garden and few months prior, Gaffigan had the honor of performing for Pope Francis and over 1 million festival attendees at the Festival of Families in Philadelphia. Additionally, streaming site Pandora recently announced that Jim is the most popular comic among its users with over 647 million spins to date.
Tickets for this show will go on-sale January 26. Members of the National Comedy Center and Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum will be able to participate in an exclusive pre-sale period beginning January 19.
National Comedy Center executive director Journey Gunderson
NCC DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES
In addition to announcing the headline, Gunderson also delivered an update on the progress of the National Comedy Center. She said the NCC continues to move forward with construction, although a tentative opening date has not yet been established.
“We will be continuing with construction, including the build-out of the BPU building, the addition of the exterior screens facing Second St., the buildout of a patio to make the Second St. area a community space, and the connection to the river front,” Gunderson said. “Work will also continue on the interior to more than 70 interactive exhibits, all based on an experience in the comedic arts. We’re thrilled with the progress so far, but there are a lot of moving parts and a lot of work left to be done.”
The $50 million project is funded by public-private partnership and to date has been awarded more than $4.3 million from New York State, Empire State Development and I Love NY™.
Gunderson added that the NCC is also continuing to evolve and update in the years to follow and will be assisted with the newly established endowment fund, which is being kicked off with The Founders Group, which requires a minimum gift of $10,000 over a three year period.
An artist’s rendering of the proposed National Comedy Center in downtown Jamestown.
The NCC will also be working on a collaboration with Chautauqua Institution in the summer of 2017 for the lecture theme week of Comedy and the Human Condition. Featured speaker will be Lewis Black.
“Lewis Black spent a lot of time here in August as part of his 2016 performance,” Gunderson said. “He did a private hard hat tour with our design firms and he also spent some time on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution. So when he left he said, ‘I get it. I get what this is all about and I’ll do whatever I can to help.’ So the fact that he’ll kick off the week of lectures on Comedy and the Human Condition, week 6 at Chautauqua Institution, is fantastic.”
In addition, NCC will collaborate with the Robert H. Jackson Center to focus on programming related to comedy and the First Amendment. Other collaborations include an upcoming project with CNN.
The 2017 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival will take place Aug. 3 through 6.
For more information on the National Comedy Center, visit www.NationalComedyCenter.org.
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