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Photos: Finding funny at the National Comedy Center
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Photos: Finding funny at the National Comedy Center

  • Derek Gee/Buffalo News
  • Jul 12, 2023
  • Jul 12, 2023 Updated Mar 18, 2026
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Sensing your humor

Sensing your humor

Guests create their own personalized comedy profile in the lobby before entering the National Comedy Center in Jamestown.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

We all love her

We all love her

A photograph of Lucille Ball greets visitors at the entrance to the National Comedy Center in Jamestown.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Keeping it funny

Keeping it funny

Journey Gunderson, executive director of the National Comedy Center in Jamestown.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Ode to George Carlin

Ode to George Carlin

An exhibit features the life and work of George Carlin.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Filth files

Filth files

The meticulous research files of comedian George Carlin.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Setting the tone

Setting the tone

An exhibit featuring the work of George Carlin.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Late-night talk shows

Late-night talk shows

An interactive exhibit featuring the late-night television genre.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Interacting with the camera

Interacting with the camera

Executive Director Journey Gunderson demonstrates an interactive exhibit featuring the late-night television genre in which visitors can use the camera to interact with sets from different programs.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Flatulence is funny

Flatulence is funny

Brothers Ethan, 5, and Aiden, 3, of Akron, Ohio, laugh hysterically as they sit on a whoopie cushion bench.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Re-enacting a famous scene

Re-enacting a famous scene

Bruce and Melinda Zimmerman of Buffalo re-enact a famous scene from "I Love Lucy" in an interactive exhibit.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Fifteen minutes of fame

Fifteen minutes of fame

Bruce and Melinda Zimmerman of Buffalo re-enact a famous scene from "I Love Lucy" in an interactive exhibit.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Stand-up Lounge

Stand-up Lounge

The Stand-up Lounge reads guests' wristbands to deliver a stand-up routine that is tailored to the audience.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Using AI to detect a laugh

Using AI to detect a laugh

Executive Director Journey Gunderson is pictured in an exhibit that uses AI to register when you laugh as part of a game in which a pair delivers jokes to one another.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Don't laugh!

Don't laugh!

Karen and Dennis Priore of Buffalo compete in an interactive game where they try to make each other laugh at the National Comedy Center. In other exhibits, visitors can make memes, design cartoons and have a try at matching the facial expressions of their favorite comedians.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Comedy Continuum

Comedy Continuum

Visitors interact with the Comedy Continuum wall, which allows guests to explore the connections between different comedians, movie and television genres.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Draft versus novel

Draft versus novel

An interactive display comparing Mark Twain's handwritten manuscript with the final text in his 1880 book "A Tramp Abroad."

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Funny faces

Funny faces

Guests take selfies of themselves making funny faces as they interact with an interactive physical comedy exhibit.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Comic artists at work

Comic artists at work

Sisters Adeline and Ayrabella Hendrickson, ages 10 and 15, of Fayetteville, N.C., create their own comics at an interactive exhibit.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Sitcom station

Sitcom station

An exhibit featuring television sitcoms resembles a living room with couches visitors sit on to watch television.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Master of NSFW

Master of NSFW

An exhibit featuring the work of controversial comedian Lenny Bruce in the adult-rated Blue Room.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

In his prime

In his prime

A photograph of Carl Reiner in one of his journals on display.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Historic backdrop

Historic backdrop

The gift shop in the National Comedy Center in Jamestown.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Heeeeere's Johnny!

Heeeeere's Johnny!

The Johnny Carson Experience exhibit at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Calling card

Calling card

Johnny Carson's note card for comedian Don Rickles, noting each appearance on the show as well as contact info for Rickles' agent, on display at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Carson's "Floyd R. Turbo" costume

Carson's "Floyd R. Turbo" costume

An exhibit featuring a costume from "The Tonight Show" featuring Johnny Carson at the National Comedy Center.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Andy Kaufman's Elvis Jacket

Andy Kaufman's Elvis Jacket

The Elvis jacket worn by Andy Kaufman on display at the National Comedy Center.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Zach Galifianakis' costume from 'The Hangover'

Zach Galifianakis' costume from 'The Hangover'

The iconic costume from Zach Galifianakis in "The Hangover" on display at the National Comedy Center.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Don't mess with Joan

Don't mess with Joan

Notes from comedien Joan Rivers with tips on how to handle a heckler on display at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

One-liners

One-liners

A quote on the window in the hallway featuring the art of the "one-liner" at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Meme me

Meme me

Lillian Cook, 5, of Royal Oak, Mich., tries her hand at creating a viral meme at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Did you hear the one about...

Did you hear the one about...

Austin Cook, 10, of Royal Oak, Mich., tries his hand at stand-up in the National Comedy Center in Jamestown.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Sketch comedy

Sketch comedy

Visitors check out exhibits at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown. In five years the center, top, has parlayed the attention it has received from national media into the development of exhibits that are drawing a range of visitors from Western New York and beyond

Photos by Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Analyze your sense of humor

Analyze your sense of humor

Visitors analyze their sense of comedy after touring the National Comedy Center in Jamestown.

Derek Gee/Buffalo News

Related to this collection

A pipe dream no more: As National Comedy Center turns 5, its collection and reputation keep growing

A pipe dream no more: As National Comedy Center turns 5, its collection and reputation keep growing

The center has parlayed the attention it began receiving from national media in its earliest days into the development of exhibits that are drawing a range of visitors from Western New York and beyond.

Alan Pergament: WKBW owner evaluating artificial intelligence test; Ch. 4 wins Bills-Broncos MNF rights

A note at the top of the screen during the 12:30 p.m. weekday newscast on WKBW-TV (Channel 7) had the words “AI-generated voice” used during voiceovers of some national stories.

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