Mel Brooks Archives Find Home at Comedy Center

The National Comedy Center, America's museum for comedy, is now the official home for Mel Brooks' vast career archives. This immense collection, comprising nearly 150,000 creative documents and over 5,000 photographs, offers an unparalleled look into the development of works that have profoundly shaped American comedy and culture.

The archives span more than six decades, commencing with Brooks' earliest handwritten notes from his U.S. Army service during World War II. They meticulously document his formative years writing for Sid Caesar's television shows, such as 'Your Show of Shows,' and trace the evolution of his revolutionary approach to satire and parody through his iconic films, including 'Blazing Saddles,' 'Young Frankenstein,' and 'The Producers.'

Journey Gunderson, Executive Director of the National Comedy Center, highlighted the archive's significance as a primary-source record of how a singular artist reshaped narrative and cinematic form through comedy. The collection includes historically significant items like the original handwritten lyrics to "Springtime for Hitler" and extensive storyboards. The National Comedy Center, opened in Jamestown in 2018, is dedicated to preserving comedy's history and educating the public on its art form.