Comedian Paul Morrissey to Record Hilarious Album with a Live Audience in Jamestown, NY

Comedian Paul Morrissey to Record Hilarious Album with a Live Audience in Jamestown, NY

Digital poster featuring headshot of comedian Paul Morrissey

 

Get Ready to Laugh Out Loud on March 24 & 25, 2023

 

Comedian Paul Morrissey will perform live in Jamestown on March 24 and 25, 2023. Here for two nights only, Morrisey will record his comedy album, “Ice Cream vs. Everything,” in front of four different live audiences at the National Comedy Center’s Tropicana Room (above the Lucy Desi Museum) – a recreation of Ricky Ricardo’s Tropicana Night Club from the comedy sitcom, I Love Lucy. “The audience is a huge part of the energy in the room. A singer gets an orchestra, but I’m a comedian; I get an audience – I’m playing off them. They’re giving me the energy, and I know from past experiences that Jamestown has great audiences.”

A returning friend of the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, this occasion will mark Paul’s third visit to Jamestown but his first since the National Comedy Center opened in August 2018. “I’m ecstatic to be coming back to Jamestown! I’m very passionate about stand-up, plus a huge student of comedy and its history. The National Comedy Center was still under construction when I last visited; I’m looking forward to seeing it after hearing so many great reviews. To record my album in such a unique and historic place means a lot to me. Jamestown has been an important part of my development and success from a performance and networking perspective. I’ve met many industry players, including Peter Farrelly and Nick Offerman. I hope the comedy fans there are excited to see the shows and share this special weekend with me.”

The 2015 Lucille Ball Comedy Festival gave Paul a chance to bury the hatchet with none other than Regis Philibin, who unintentionally bumped Morrissey from what would have been his first appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman when Philibin went over his time. There were never any real hard feelings; Paul later debuted on an episode of The Late Show that aired on July 10, 2014, calling it a “dream-fulfilling moment.”

Recording his live comedy album “Ice Cream vs. Everything” in Jamestown is a chance for him to get some of his career-best material immortalized, some of which he’s been continuously refining since the start of his career, and a lot of new material he’s been perfecting over the past 3-4 years. “None of my old late-night appearances are online anymore due to different user and licensing rights,” commented Paul when reflecting on his past television appearances, including those on CBS’s The Late, Late Show and The Late Show with David Letterman.

A native of Owego, NY, with self-descried “Upstate sensibilities,” Morrissey likened telling his hometown peers he wanted to be a comedian akin to declaring he wanted to be a wizard. Those sensibilities didn’t stop him from cutting school on one occasion to go on a self-directed New York City field trip to see a taping of The Tonight Show with David Letterman. Paul knew from that moment onward that comedy had to be a part of his future, whether he worked as an usher at the Ed Sullivan Theater or a stand-up comic in his own right.

He played his cards right and found success. Comedian Paul Morrissey has headlined clubs and theaters nationwide, opened tours for Jim Gaffigan and Tom Papa, and performed at major comedy festivals, including the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal and the Montreux Comedy Festival. He co-hosted the “Come To Papa with Tom Papa” podcast on Bill Burr’s All Things Comedy Network, has been a writer on projects for CBS and FOX, and appeared in Nike commercials with NBA star Chris Paul. Morrissey’s latest comedy special, “A Real Humdinger,” now has over 15 million views on YouTube and Facebook.

Comedian Paul Morrissey will perform four shows at the National Comedy Center’s Tropicana Room (above the Lucy Desi Museum), Friday, March 24 and Saturday, March 25 at 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm. Tickets are available for purchase at ComedyCenter.org/events.

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About the National Comedy Center

The National Comedy Center is the United States’ official cultural institution and museum dedicated to presenting the vital story of comedy and preserving its heritage for future generations, as formally designated by the U.S. Congress. Opened in 2018 in Jamestown, New York, the museum complex offers an unprecedented, immersive visitor experience using state-of-the-art technology, interactivity, and personalization.

USA Today named the National Comedy Center the “Best New Museum in the Country, TIME magazine named it one of its “World’s Greatest Places,” and U.S. News & World Report selected it as one of the “25 Top Family Weekend Getaways in the U.S.,” while Condé Nast Traveler called the National Comedy Center “one of the best museums in the country,” and People magazine named it one of “100 Reasons to Love America.”

The National Comedy Center has been featured in The New York Times, on CBS Saturday Morning, CBS Sunday Morning and on NBC’s TODAY Show, which called it “the Smithsonian of Comedy.”

Visitors from all 50 states and eighteen countries have given the Center a rare 5/5 rating on TripAdvisor, ranking among the highest in the attraction and tourism industry.

Based on the vision of Jamestown native Lucille Ball for her hometown to become a destination for comedy, the non-profit National Comedy Center’s mission is to provide education on the comedic arts in the form of commentary and contextualization of its bodies of work across all eras and genres of the art form.

The National Comedy Center opened in 2018 and has collaborated with dozens of artists and estates to preserve materials that represent comedy’s significant artistic, social, and political contributions to American culture including collections illustrating the careers of legendary artists like George Carlin, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Carl Reiner, Betty White, Johnny Carson, Lenny Bruce, The Smothers Brothers, and the development of groundbreaking creative work such as sketch comedy series In Living Color, Saturday Night Live, and more.

Two new exhibits opened this past summer – Johnny Carson: The Immersive Experience Hosted by Jimmy Fallon, a multi-screen theater presentation celebrating Johnny Carson’s 30 years hosting The Tonight Show 30 years later, and Carl Reiner: Keep Laughing, a multi-media, interactive exhibit that honors and celebrates Carl Reiner during his centennial year.

Within the Comedy Center’s museum galleries, more than 50 interactive exhibits and immersive experiences employ cutting-edge technology to present the story of comedy from its origins to the present day – using archival documents, artifacts, and media as their core. Its educational programming on the art form has featured George Lopez, Tiffany Haddish, Margaret Cho, Norman Lear, Debra Messing, Rain Pryor (daughter of Richard Pryor), Jay Leno, Kenan Thompson, Gabriel Iglesias, Ben Stiller, John Cleese, Jimmy Fallon, Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Weird Al” Yankovic, and many more.

The National Comedy Center operates the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum, which explores the lives, careers, and legacy of the “First Couple of Comedy” and the incredible impact they had on the world, as well as the pioneering role and remarkable influence that I Love Lucy and Desilu Studios had on the entertainment industry for generations to come.

The Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, produced and presented by the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, NY, has showcased comedy’s greatest stars and rising young comedians, including Jerry Seinfeld, Trevor Noah, Lily Tomlin, John Mulaney, Jay Leno, Amy Schumer, Sebastian Maniscalco, W. Kamau Bell, Jim Gaffigan, Paula Poundstone, Joan Rivers, and more than one hundred other comedic artists. This past summer, the 2022 festival featured Margaret Cho, Jeff Foxworthy, SNL alumni David Spade, Rob Schneider and Kevin Nealon, and over 50 live events.

The National Comedy Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit cultural institution whose mission is funded by philanthropic support. Donations and grants support the museum and its work to present the vital story of comedy and preserve its heritage for future generations.

Stay connected to the National Comedy Center and Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum:

Websites: www.ComedyCenter.org | www.LucyDesi.com

Facebook: National Comedy Center | Facebook | Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum | Facebook

Twitter and Instagram: @ntlcomedycenter | @lucydesimuseum

Stay connected to Comedian Paul Morrissey:

Website: www.paulhasawebsite.com