18 Jun National Comedy Center’s Father’s Day Tributes to Jerry Stiller, John Cleese, Richard Pryor and Desi Arnaz
Featuring Amy & Ben Stiller, Camilla Cleese,
Rain Pryor, W. Kamau Bell, Lucie Arnaz,
Oscar Nunez & Judy Gold
Four Online Events to Stream on
Father’s Day Weekend, June 19-21
Tune-in at ComedyCenter.org/FathersDay:
Desi Arnaz: Lucie Arnaz and Oscar Nunez in conversation with David Bianculli (Friday, June 19 at 8 pm ET)
Jerry Stiller: Amy and Ben Stiller in conversation with Judy Gold (Saturday, June 20 at 8 pm ET)
John and Camilla Cleese in conversation with Harrison Greenbaum (Saturday, June 20 at 9:30 pm ET)
Richard Pryor: Rain Pryor in conversation with W. Kamau Bell (Sunday, June 21 at 7 pm ET)
Jamestown, NY – June 18, 2020 — The National Comedy Center, the nation’s official cultural institution and non-profit museum dedicated to comedy, announced today that it will present a tribute to fathers of comedy this Father’s Day weekend, June 19-21, with four new online specials saluting comedy legends Richard Pryor, John Cleese, Jerry Stiller and Desi Arnaz, in support of the Center’s educational and preservation initiatives during the museum’s temporary closure.
- Ben Stiller and Amy Stiller, the son and daughter of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, join comedian Judy Gold for an in-depth conversation on the life, career and legacy of Jerry Stiller, who passed away last month.
- John Cleese and his daughter Camilla Cleese discuss John’s career and their recent comedy work together in a candid conversation hosted by comedian Harrison Greenbaum.
- Lucie Arnaz, the daughter of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, talks with NPR host and TV critic David Bianculli on how Desi changed the face of television — both on screen and behind the scenes – with special guest Oscar Nunez.
- Rain Pryor discusses the lasting legacy and body of work of her father Richard Pryor and comedy’s role as a vital voice for social justice with W. Kamau Bell, host and executive producer of CNN’s United Shades of America.
These programs will be live streamed, for free, at ComedyCenter.org/FathersDay with a simulcast via Facebook Live on the National Comedy Center Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/nationalcomedycenter/.
“We tell the story of comedy. These conversations on pioneers and legends of the art form, with the people who knew them best – their daughters and sons – help to surface and preserve aspects of their legacies we might not otherwise glimpse,” said National Comedy Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson.
The National Comedy Center’s Father’s Day programming is part of its new online platform, as it continues its mission to preserve and present the vital story of comedy, providing education on comedy’s great minds and unique voices in ways that engage, inspire, educate and entertain.
More exclusive programming, directly from the museum’s immersive exhibits and world-class collections, is available at Anywhere.ComedyCenter.org.
The National Comedy Center was recently named the “Best New Museum” in the country by USA Today and one of TIME magazine’s “World’s Greatest Places”, shortly before it was temporarily closed to visitors as a COVID-19 precaution on March 16th.
The Comedy Center anticipates reopening its museum in Jamestown, NY and welcoming visitors in the coming weeks, upon authorization by New York State for the reopening of museums and cultural institutions in Western New York.