Award win for National Comedy Center
The National Comedy Center, a museum in Jamestown, New York which is dedicated to comedy as an art form, was named the “Best New Museum” in the country by USA Today as part of the 2020 USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Travel Awards.
The National Comedy Center was one of 20 new museums nominated for the award by a panel of nationally-recognised travel journalists, tourism experts and USA Today editors for this USA Today travel award series, which celebrates outstanding destinations, attractions and experiences. All of the nominees were museums that opened over the past two years, including art galleries, science museums and children’s museums in cities across the United States and Canada, including Dallas, New Orleans, St. Louis, Seattle, New York City, St. Petersburg, FL , St. Paul, MN and Edmonton, Alberta. The Comedy Center was selected as the No.1 museum in the “Best New Museum” category by popular vote after a four-week voting period from January 20 through February 17, 2020.
“We are tremendously proud to be named the Best New Museum in the United States and Canada,” said Journey Gunderson, National Comedy Center Executive Director. “We have reimagined the museum experience with immersive exhibit design and unprecedented personalisation. This distinction is a testament to the significance of comedy, and talented comedic artists, to our culture and our daily lives.”
“The National Comedy Center team is grateful for the incredible support from our local community, the entire Western New York region, and from comedy fans across the country, all of whom voted for the Comedy Center to receive this national recognition and high honor” said Tom Benson, National Comedy Center project chairman. “It’s tremendous validation of the hard work and vision of our staff and board, our partner organizations, and our community, who believed in this project and worked tirelessly to make it happen.”
Lewis Black, comedian, actor, author and National Comedy Center Advisory Board member said: “The National Comedy Center is one of my favorite places in the world, and I am thrilled that everyone will now know what I already knew — it is absolutely the best new museum in the country. It’s an extraordinary showplace for all things comedic — and interactive from the moment you walk in. I promise you will smile from beginning to end. Now that the Comedy Center is officially the country’s Best New Museum, you need to make plans to visit. You won’t be disappointed,” said
Last summer, the National Comedy Center was named by TIME magazine as one of the “World’s Greatest Places” and People magazine selected it as one of its “100 Reasons to Love America.”
In early 2019, the National Comedy Center was nominated for the USA Today Readers’ Choice “Best New Attraction” award, where it was voted No.2 out of 20 new attractions by USA Today readers and chosen as the No.1 museum and No.1 ticketed attraction in the USA Today poll.
