Serious about laughter
Comedian Billy Crystal asks the question in a video that welcomes visitors to the National Comedy Center.
“Everybody else has a place,” he says. “Why not us?”
It may be as good a reason as any for the construction of the high-tech new centre devoted to what has made people laugh from Vaudeville to now.
But there’s more to it.
The non-profitcentre in Jamestown was inspired by hometown hero, Lucille Ball, who envisioned a place where comedy would be celebrated as an art form. The city of about 30,000 people in the southwest corner of New York already is home to the annual Lucille Ball Comedy Festival and the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum.
“But it was always (Ball’s) preference that Jamestown become a destination for the celebration of all comedy in a way that would foster and inspire the next generation of artists,” says National Comedy Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson. “What we’ve done here is finally bring her vision to fruition.”
Located in a repurposed 1930 art-deco train station, the centre is part museum, part hall of fame and part video arcade, keeping visitors smiling as they move through displays of comedic artifacts. There’s the “puffy shirt” from a 1993 “Seinfeld” episode and scripts from the 1960s “Dick Van Dyke Show” along with lively immersive exhibits that invite visitors to explore sound effects and props and make cartoons and memes.
The bravest can take the stage in “Comedy Karaoke,” trying out lines from Jeff Foxworthy or others, or sit at a game showlike set and try to crack up an opponent. But there also are plenty of chances to laugh at the pros in action. A club-like comedy lounge shows stand-up bits, and a movie theatre has clips of classic scenes with celebrity commentary. A hologram theatre initially will feature Jim Gaffigan’s evolution as a performer.
The grand opening celebration starts Aug. 1.
“I’m stunned by the technology,” says Andrew Tangalos of Charlotte, North Carolina, who with his wife, Bonnie, was part of a group invited to test the exhibits on Tuesday before the official opening.
After six movies, 22 years, countless bruises and a broken ankle, Tom Cruise’s deathdefying “Mission: Impossible” stunts continue to pay off at the box office.
“Mission: Impossible - Fallout” easily took the No. 1 spot on the domestic charts this weekend. Paramount Pictures estimates that it earned $61.5 million from 4,386 North American theatres.
Not accounting for inflation, it’s a best for the long-running franchise, which has grossed $2.8 billion worldwide, and one of Cruise’s biggest too (just shy of “War of the Worlds”’ $64.9 million debut in 2005). Internationally, the film earned $92 million from 36 markets which is also a franchise best.
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, “Fallout” has scored some of the best reviews in the series and has been in the news cycle for almost a year. Talk about the film started early, in August of 2017, when Cruise broke his ankle performing a stunt in London with video to prove it.
We Go Again,” which fell 57 per cent in its second weekend in theatres, to earn $15 million.