Center for Comedy: The Legacy of Laughter Mission

Honor Lucille Ball by making a donation for her 100th birthday!

The mission of the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Center for Comedy, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is to preserve the legacy of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and enrich the world through the healing powers of love and laughter through its commitment to the development of the comedic arts.

In this year of the Queen of Comedy's Centennial, we set out to raise $100,000 in honor of her 100th birthday. Be a part of the celebration and honor her with a donation.

When Lucille Ball discussed the celebration of her legacy with her hometown of Jamestown, New York in 1989, she expressed her desire for it to be celebrated in the form of living, breathing comedy. She and Jamestown knew that a fantastic museum attraction would be an inevitable, but the concept surrounding her legacy that resonated with Lucille Ball the most was an annual festival of contemporary comedy and a thriving comedic arts center, making her hometown into a hub of humor and developing the comedy legends of tomorrow.

This year, on the Queen of Comedy's Centennial, wish her happy birthday by contributing to the vision she and Desi had for their legacy: the launch of The Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Center for Comedy. Your donation to the Lucy Desi Center for Comedy will go directly toward our comedic arts education program, developed with the help of Bob Thompson, Director of the Bleir Center for Television and Pop Culture in the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University. This support will provide educational and performance opportunities to today's under-served "class clowns," channeling their creative energy in a positive direction to help them become the Lucys and Desis of tomorrow.

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The Legacy of Laughter mission platform is comprised of four segments:

• The Legacy of Laughter Award and Hall of Fame, honoring annually the comedian who most exemplifies Lucy and Desi and the mission of the Center.
  

• The Festival of Comedy which will return the Center to its roots when the likes of (then unknowns) Ray Romano, Ellen DeGeneres and Paula Poundstone played in Jamestown during the early Lucy Fest programs.

• A Comedy Film Festival that will inspire new artists to follow Lucy and Desi’s footsteps and delve into comedic theater and production.
  

• The development of a comedic education program in conjunction with an accredited university that will have satellite programs in Jamestown and the surrounding region. Part of this program will focus on the healing power of laughter and will eventually provide services to local health care institutions.

	Hall of Fame & Award			Comedy Film Festival
	A vision for Jamestown as the Cooperstown of Comedy, with a Lucy Desi Hall of Fame Induction each August in Jamestown, NY.			Sit back and laugh.  Jamestown, NY just became the Cannes of Comedy. This pillar pays tribute to Lucy and Desi's revolutionary impact behind the camera and in the production studio.
	Festival of Comedy			Comedic Arts Study
	The Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy is the concept surrounding her legacy that resonated with Lucille Ball the most. Jamestown is now an annual hub for humor, every August on the comedienne's birthday.			Let Jamestown be your Comedy Campus and receive top-notch training in the art of creating laughter and a career in the comedic arts.