History of the Archives

In 2004, Bill Dana, a 1950 Emerson College graduate with a distinguished career in comedy, approached officials at his alma mater with an intriguing idea. Would they consider creating a program that would document the stories of individuals -- writers, performers and producers -- who have helped establish comedy as a modern American art form?

In February of 2005, Emerson initiated The American Comedy Archives in response to Dana's idea. The project revolves around oral history interviews with leading figures of comedy that provide personal anecdotes, insights, and rare “behind-the-scenes” glimpse into the comedic craft. The interviews were videotaped by Emerson College. Transcriptions and videotapes are being preserved at the Archive for posterity. The value of such a collection to future students, practitioners and scholars of comedy, and to the public at large, is immeasurable.

The first interview was with Dana, a stand-up comic who went to become the head writer for The Steve Allen Show and host of The Bill Dana Show, which featured his original character, Jose Jimenez. The interview was conducted in Boston by project Archivist and Interviewer Jenni Matz in on February 21, 2005. From Boston, Dana and Matz traveled to New York to co-interview Dick Cavett and Charles Grodin.

In March, 2005 the Archives went to Los Angeles to record the next batch of interviewees (with Shelley Berman, Larry Gelbart, Hugh Hefner, Don Knotts, Peter Marshall, Gary Owens, Tom Poston, George Schlatter, Betty White, and Jonathan Winters). Subsequent trips were made to New York and Los Angeles. View a list of the interviews conducted

Initially funded by Emerson College, the American Comedy Archives is now seeking funds to continue conducting interviews, gathering more archival material, processing the collections, and making the archives available to the general public via this website. If you are interested in making a tax-deductible donation to the American Comedy Archives, please Contact Us.