The National Comedy Center will launch its LaughSafe initiative when it reopens on Friday. Submitted photo

Even before opening their doors to the public in August of 2018, National Comedy Center leaders made innovation their guiding factor in establishing their footprint in the tourism industry.

Now, with the world in a much different place than it was the last time their doors opened in mid-March and with other world-class attractions all over the world as their guide, they are taking that ambition to a whole new level.

“The same way we re-imagined the museum experience when we built the National Comedy Center and opened it, we are taking that same ambitious and aggressive approach in revamping the visitor experience for the COVID era, so that it can be touch-free, stress-free and enjoyable and safe,” said Journey Gunderson, the center’s executive director.

Upon reopening its doors to the public on Friday morning, the center will launch its LaughSafe initiative.

“People who have visited know that this has been lauded as one of the most interactive museums in the world, so what we have done in these months of temporary closure has been to revamp the visitor experience to be entirely touch-free and worry-free,” Gunderson said, noting that exhibits will be made accessible and interactive through the use of a disposable stylus, disposable earbuds and a new “LaughCard” featuring an RFID chip for personalized comedy.

“Not an easy task for a 37,000 square foot interactive museum to convert it to the use of a stylus, but our staff has done an incredible job,” she added with a laugh.

Maintaining a safe social distance should also not be a problem.

“The one advantage that we have is that we have 37,000 square feet of exhibit space, so the layout combined with our approach to the staggered entry of visitors lends and makes it so that this experience lends itself to more than adequate social distancing at all times so that any visitor can enjoy moving from exhibit to exhibit with one’s party or household without fear of being in close contact with various other museum-goers in a crowded area,” Gunderson said, noting that museum capacity has also been reduced 25 percent and timed guest entry protocols have been implemented.

The center formed the plan in consultation with epidemiologists from UPMC in Pittsburgh as well as local health professionals from UPMC Chautauqua.

“They have been extremely helpful in that many of our exhibit experiences are so unique that there aren’t parallels to look to in other organizations,” she said. “So, we would, initially via Zoom, allow an epidemiologist to look at how an exhibit functions and how tactile it might be remotely and then we followed that more recently with an on-site walk-through of the visitor experience and that allowed us to really drill down on the absolute best way to approach each and every exhibit.”

Visitors and staff will also have to adhere to proactive safety guidelines with both having to go through pre-screening and temperature checks — for staff that will be an everyday routine. Masks will also be required.

“We are also going above and beyond any recommended protocols to ensure that our visitors feel relaxed and safe,” she said. “The safety of our visitors and our staff is our number one priority.”

Patrons will also be able to complete the Sense of Humor profile, which guides each visitor’s experience and starts one’s visit in the lobby, online ahead of time.

“We have gone through each and every exhibit and in some cases closed stations within an exhibit to allow for better social distancing or reworked how the exhibit functions to be responsive to a stylus versus a finger touch,” Gunderson noted.

In addition, social distancing markers and signage have been placed throughout the museum to ensure proper physical distance between guests, hand-sanitizing stations are located throughout the museum and touch-free, contactless payment options are now available. There will also be real-time monitoring of guest experience and feedback to optimize health and safety protocols.

In addition, the National Comedy Center sourced local Chautauqua County companies for many of its “LaughSafe” initiatives, including The Resource Center and Team Jock Shop for face masks, Jamestown Soap & Solvent for cleaning and disinfecting supplies and 360 Graphics for signage.

And while the center has been physically closed for nearly four months, they have been working to increase their footprint digitally, creating a digital platform, National Comedy Center Anyhwere that features exclusive comedy content direct from NCC exhibits. They’ve also produced several live-streamed specials, including a birthday tribute to George Carlin, which featured guest appearances by Sebastian Maniscalco, Norman Lear and other comedy legends, as well as a Father’s Day Tribute to Jerry Stiller, featuring his son, actor Ben Stiller, and Desi Arnaz, featuring Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill, among others.

“The silver lining to the temporary closure is that we’ve also, in addition to planning for a safe re-opening, we’ve been able to front-burner expansion of our online presence and our online content so that now our online presence and National Comedy Center Anywhere, the platform, is a better extension of the exhibit experience in Jamestown in a way that will add the Comedy Center visit to people’s bucket list, nationwide,” Gunderson said.

Still, Gunderson and her staff are grateful to welcome the public back into their facility.

“We’re thrilled at the opportunity to help people start laughing again – and it’s clear that the power of comedy is more important than ever in these challenging times,” she said in a release. “We’re so pleased that we can welcome visitors once more, and provide a safe and worry-free environment for our guests to take a much-needed break, relax and simply laugh — loud and often — as they enjoy some of the greatest comedy of all time.”

The center will be open Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum will also reopen on Friday and operate Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m and will be also open on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.