The National Comedy Center’s electronic billboard displays the address for its new online platform — anywhere.comedycenter.org. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

Who doesn’t need a little bit of laughter?

Now it’s available virtually anywhere.

While most businesses have shut down due to the coronavirus including the National Comedy Center, it is launching today a new online content platform.

Currently, the National Comedy Center Anywhere platform features exclusive content directly from its interactive comedy exhibits, as an extension of the museum during its temporary closure.

The new Anywhere platform tells the story of comedy via commentary from the artists themselves, and rare archival material never-before-seen outside of the comedy center.

“With the healing power of laughter more important than ever in these challenging times, we’re pleased that we could launch our new online platform, National Comedy Center Anywhere, featuring exhibit content available for the first time outside of our museum. We hope everyone will join us online to explore the art form comedy across all eras and genres, from film and television, to the late night shows, to stand-up, sketch and improv, to the latest online content- as we bring a taste of the National Comedy Center experience into everyone’s home until we can re-open our doors and welcome visitors to Jamestown once again,” said NCC Executive Director Journey Gunderson.

With the museum temporarily closed as a COVID-19 precaution, the new platform provides an unprecedented opportunity for anyone, no matter where they live, to enjoy content directly from the National Comedy Center and its archives, never before seen outside its walls.

The platform, Gunderson added, takes each visitor on a journey through the world of comedy, including stand-up, sketch and improv, late night TV, film, the latest online comedy, and more.

“We want to enable our online visitors to explore the great works and unique voices that have shaped our culture through comedy. Our mission is to provide education on the comedic arts in the form of commentary and contextualization of its bodies of work, while providing an examination of the time-honed creative processes that have elevated comedy to an art. Now is not the time to stop. We need it more than ever,” Gunderson noted.

In addition to footage from its interactive exhibits, the online platform will feature selections from its archives, including rare artifacts and documents from some of comedy’s greatest talent, along with special event highlights from its renowned Lucille Ball Comedy Festival and its National Comedy Center Dialogues.

The platform will also be presenting live-streamed stand-up comedy shows in the coming weeks.

The platform features a selection of free material with the option to upgrade to access more content from the museum. Upgraded access includes one additional gift access to share the laughter with a friend or family member, plus one admission ticket to the center which can be used when the museum re-opens in the coming months. The $19.50 fee for upgraded access will support the mission and ongoing operations of the center during this critical time, while sharing comedy content with a friend or loved one.

“We put it (the new platform) together because obviously our doors are closed right now and we wanted to have a way for people to engage with the content,” said Vice President of Marketing and Communications Gary Hahn.

“It’s a pretty good deal. For $19.50, not only can access our online content now, but you get a ticket when we reopen that you can use as well,” Hahn added.

Gunderson noted it is still to be determined whether or not the platform will remain after the center reopens.

Content is available now by visiting ComedyCenter.org/Anywhere

The center is located at 203 W. Second St., Jamestown.