The National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York, hometown of Lucille Ball, is preparing to host its annual Lucille Ball Comedy Festival from 7-9 August 2026, headlined by Jerry Seinfeld, Bert Kreischer and Seth Meyers. In a "Daily Variety" podcast interview, the centre's executive director, Journey Gunderson, discusses why a dedicated institution for studying comedy history matters, and how the festival has helped raise the centre's profile among top performers.

Gunderson, who has led the nonprofit for 15 years since joining what was then the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum in 2011, oversaw its 2018 expansion into the National Comedy Center, which now holds archives from George Carlin, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. She notes that visiting comedians, including Jon Stewart ahead of last year's festival, have been struck that no other museum tells the story of comedy as an art form. Brooks alone has donated over 150,000 documents and more than 5,000 photographs, reflecting Gunderson's emphasis that preserving comedy history requires deliberate, ongoing effort rather than happening automatically.