It was a little surprising to drive by the National Comedy Center late on a Monday night and see a public visit by famed comedian Gabriel Iglesias being advertised.

Sure enough, comedy center officials made a public announcement the next day that Iglesias, who has performed in Jamestown as a National Comedy Center Lucille Ball Comedy Festival headliner and contributed items to the center, would indeed be making another donation and, to the delight of hundreds of city residents, be part of a meet-and-greet at the comedy center. The fact that the ribbon cutting and meet-and-greet were free, as was entrance to the comedy center for the day, is a cherry on top of the sundae since it included the community.

It was quite the gift of Iglesias’ time to make the trip to Jamestown not only to donate his 1959 VW Bus that was featured in Iglesias’ famed show at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles where Iglesias became the first comedian to sell out Dodger Stadium.

“Some might call this Gabe’s induction into the National Comedy Center. But the truth is that Gabe’s extraordinary work has been showcased in our museum since we opened. This is more than an induction. … It’s a celebration, a recognition of comedy history, and it’s a tribute to an artist whose impact continues to grow,” Journey Gunderson, National Comedy Center executive director, said during the donation ribbon cutting.

Iglesias’ visit is also a tribute to the growing impact of the National Comedy Center in the world of comedy. One of the big questions about a National Comedy Center when it was still just a concept was if the center could become a big enough part of the comedy world to make it a true repository of comedy history and, ideally, a big enough draw to financially make sense. Filling the center’s advisory board with famous comedians is impressive. Securing archival material from famous comedians from days gone by is noteworthy. But making such an impression on comedians like Gabriel Iglesias, someone still at the top of his game and the height of his popularity, is another story entirely.