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August 4, 2011 Edition – Main Section – A
Guinness World Record To Be Set On Lucille Ball’s 100th Birthday Contributed Article Journey Gunderson
The Lucy Desi Center for Comedy invites everyone, men, women and children, to participate in the setting of a new world record for “most people dressed as Lucy Ricardo in one place, at one time.” On August 6, on Lucille Ball’s 100th birthday, Jamestown, New York has the chance to become the home of a new world record, governed and affirmed by the ultimate authority on record-breaking achievement, Guinness World Records. “We need everyone’s help to make this record an impressive success. It’s going to be so much fun, though. Why wouldn’t you come downtown to throw on a $5 get-up and be a part of something that will officially be recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records?” said Lucy Desi Center
for Comedy Executive Director Journey Gunderson. The “BE A LUCY: Guinness World Record” (Sat., Aug. 6, 12-2pm) event is part of the Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy and 100th birthday celebration, Aug. 3-7. The festival includes headliner comedians Joan Rivers (Aug. 4), Paula Poundstone (Aug. 6), kids comedy troop Story Pirates (Aug. 6), eight comedians from San Francisco-based festival co-producer Rooftop Comedy, and the world’s best Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel impersonators. You can enjoy a cold beer and live music on the plaza, register for the record, throw on your get-up, and then take your place in the history books, right at City Hall in downtown Jamestown. It’s going to be a hoot. Totally hysterical.” Gunderson added that at 5:30 Friday and Saturday on the
Plaza there would also be an outdoor Happy Hour of StandUp Comedy. The record registration begins at noon at Lucy Fest’s “Party on the Plaza” at City Hall, with the officially required photograph moment -- with all Lucys in position -- at 2pm. An aerial photograph and video footage are required and planned. “The kids comedy show, Story Pirates, lets out at 12:30, so it’s perfect for families to see that show at 11:30, then walk right outside and register and have a lot of fun doing the record together. We’ve got qualifying get-ups for everyone; all ages and all sizes.” While the registration fee includes a basic qualifying costume, participants are also encouraged to wear their own costumes. “We anticipate some very quality look-alikes to be on-hand. Our Lucy Fans come from around the world
for this festival and they do not disappoint when it comes to donning a Lucy resemblance.” Dress/attire must correspond with an episode of I Love Lucy, so pre-registration online at LucyComedyFest.com is encouraged to make sure one qualifies. There will be staff to judge on-site as well, so bringing an image from the corresponding episode will help guarantee inclusion. All participants pay a $5 registration fee, and will be officially recorded by name in the record. Qualifying mask will satisfy the lips and hair criteria for anyone not wearing red lipstick and a red up-do hairstyle. A large quantity of Lucy-red lipstick has been donated by Benefit Cosmetics, a sponsor of the “Be a Lucy” world record. “This will be high-quality lipstick in the right Lucy-shade, so we’re very appreciative of Benefit’s support.”
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“The idea came from a random message to our online contact form one day, back in March. We are still trying to track the young woman down to let her know it’s happening! “The idea came in, we did some research, and couldn’t find any other existing record of its kind. Next, Sharon Bergstrom on our staff submitted a proposal to Guinness, and we had to wait five weeks for the response from the British headquarters.” BE A LUCY: The Guinness World Record for Most People Dressed as Lucy Ricardo in one place, at one time. How it works: Participants must be dressed as Lucy Ricardo from any episode of I Love Lucy. Requirements: The signature red lips The red “up-do” hair Dress/attire. Must correspond
with something Lucy Ricardo wore in an episode of I Love Lucy. Basic qualifying costume can be provided on-site while supplies last. Pre-register at LucyComedyFest.com to guarantee inclusion. The mission of the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Center for Comedy, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is to preserve the legacy of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and enrich the world through the healing powers of love and laughter through its commitment to the development of the comedic arts. The four-pillar Legacy of Laughter vision for the Lucy Desi Center for Comedy includes a festival of comedy, a comedy film festival, a comedic arts education program, and a the first real national comedy hall of fame in Jamestown, New York.
includes a festival of comedy, a comedy film festival, a comedic arts education program, and a the first real national comedy hall of fame in Jamestown, New York. Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr., the children of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, had this to say of the Legacy of Laughter vision: “On this, the 100th anniversary of our mother’s birth, we are very happy to support the new Board and Staff of The Lucille Ball - Desi Arnaz Center For Comedy, in whose forward thinking and capable hands Mom’s original desires for her professional legacy might finally be truly realized- a festival of new comedy, seminars and master classes to train the comedy talents of tomorrow, outreach programs to prove the healing power of love and laughter in our communities and the inauguration of the first ever Comedy Hall of Fame named in honor of her and our father, Desi Arnaz. On August 6, 1911 Desiree Eveline Hunt Ball birthed a comedy legend in Jamestown, New York. It’s fitting that, 100 years to the day, Jamestown christens itself as the birthplace of legions of comedy legends to come and
the hometown of legacies of laughter. Congratulations to the good and patient people of Jamestown for thinking BIG with us and utilizing the gift of Lucy and Desi to its highest potential. They would be so very proud.” Will Rogers, CEO and CoFounder of Rooftop Media, offered the following remarks: “Rooftop Comedy is proud to share in the excitement of the Lucille Ball 100th Birthday Celebration by partnering with the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center to co-produce a stellar festival this August. It’s a great feeling to be able to use our expertise in talent selection and festival production to gather people together in memory of one of comedy’s most memorable figureheads. We hope to work with the Lucy-Desi Center in a long partnership of bringing groundbreaking comedy to Jamestown, NY. The mission of the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Center for Comedy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is to preserve the legacy of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and enrich the world through the healing powers of love and laughter through our commitment to the development of the comedic arts.
Lucy Fest:
Big Birthday. Bigger Comedy. One World Record. Contributed Article Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center
Lucille Ball told her hometown of Jamestown, New York in 1989 of her desire for her legacy to be celebrated in the form of living, breathing, contemporary comedy, with a festival of comedy annually in her name. JOAN RIVERS, the legendary entertainer doing searing stand-up since making a splash in her twenties on the Johnny Carson and Ed Sullivan shows, performs August 4. PAULA POUNDSTONE, named Comedy Central’s Top 100 Comedians of All Time and a regular panelist on NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, performs August 6. A co-producer partnership with San Francisco-based Rooftop Comedy, recent producer of the Aspen Comedy Festival and more than 20 other festivals worldwide, provides programming eightcomics-deep to round out the festival, including an August 5th STAND-UP SHOWCASE featuring: • Nate Bargatze, Winner of the 2010 New York City and
Boston comedy festivals. • Christina Pazsitzky, writer and guest on E!’s Chelsea Lately and finalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing • Costaki Economopoulos, known for his regular segment on The Bob & Tom Show, “The Economonologue.” Critically-acclaimed KIDS COMEDY SHOW Story Pirates, lauded by parent John Stewart on CNN’s Larry King Live for their sketch comedy musicals based on kids’ writing, perform at 11:30 am Aug. 6. Registration begins at noon Aug. 6 for the GUINNESS WORLD RECORD for most people dressed as Lucy Ricardo. While participants’ own costumes are encouraged, $5 registration fee includes a basic qualifying costume. Preregister at LucyComedyFest. com for guaranteed inclusion or register on-site at Jamestown’s “Party on the Plaza”, City Hall, August 6 from 12 to 2pm, when the record will be officially photographed, filmed and documented. The free-admission “Party on the Plaza” will take place at Jamestown’s City Hall deck, Tracy Plaza, from 11am-9pm
on Fri, Aug. 5 and Sat. Aug. 6, featuring live bands, vendors of art, crafts and food, and a 5:30pm “Happy Hour of Comedy” both days. The event will be free to the public, and include performances by the best rising comics in the country provided by Rooftop Comedy. “We know that Lucy and Desi’s intentions for the Center, and their legacy, were for it to embody living, breathing, contemporary comedy. That’s what we’ve done with the annual Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy, and will continue to do with our four-pillar Legacy of Laughter vision,” said Executive Director Journey Gunderson. Gunderson is currently featured as a Guest Editor of Rooftop Comedy’s Celeb Profile series at http://www. rooftopcomedy.com/celebplaylists. SiriusXM satellite radio’s Radio Classics will record a live, onstage radio show performance of Lucille Ball’s former radio sitcom, My Favorite Husband. The episode is directed by Gregg Oppenheimer, son of I Love Lucy creator Jess Oppenheimer, and will be coupled with the premiere of
Gregg Oppenheimer’s original screenplay/radio play, I Love Lucy: The Untold Story. Also in Jamestown for the festival are the world’s premiere Lucy, Ricky, Ethel and Fred impersonators, performing dinner shows and photo opps in the Lucy Desi Center for Comedy’s “Tropicana Room,” a re-creation of Ricky Ricardo’s famous Manhattan night club. Museum exhibit unveilings, a silent auction of memorabilia and estate archives, Lucy Town bus and cemetery tours, a Jamestown Jammers minorleague baseball game featuring commemorative jerseys, and a Friday evening parade round out the festivities on the schedule at LucyComedyFest.com. The 6:30pm Aug. 5 parade includes 12 marching bands, the Babes of Wrath women’s roller derby team, and a historical re-enactment of the 1956 Jamestown world-premiere of Forever, Darling, the first movie co-starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Full schedule and tickets: www.LucyComedyFest.com, 716.484.0800 The four-pillar Legacy of Laughter vision for the Lucy Desi Center for Comedy
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No Sunday Sales Lily Dale Assembly 2011 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
The 132nd Lily Dale Season will be held
June 24 – September 4, 2011 During the season, guests are invited to participate in many free, daily activities including: Meditation Services, Healing Services, Guest Speakers and Clairvoyant Message Services
August 12-13 Sharon Klingler & John Holland
August 13 Joseph Tittel
August 19-20 Sandra Taylor
August 26-28 Sharon Klingler
September 2-4 John White
www.lilydaleassembly.com Lily Dale Assembly . 5 Melrose Park . Lily Dale, NY 14752 . 716-595-8721