Mel Brooks donates career archive to National Comedy Centre in New York

Mel Brooks has donated his career archive to the National Comedy Centre in Jamestown, New York, adding more than 150,000 documents and 5,000 photographs to the institution’s growing collection of comedy history materials.

The archive spans Brooks’ work from his early comedy notes written during World War II through his years working alongside Sid Caesar on NBC’s Your Show of Shows.

As well as his later success as a filmmaker behind titles including The Producers, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World, Part I and Spaceballs.

The National Comedy Centre also houses the archive of Brooks’ longtime collaborator Carl Reiner, who died in 2020 at the age of 98. Brooks and Reiner worked together on Your Show of Shows and later became widely known for their recurring comedy routine, The 2000-Year-Old Man.

In a statement announcing the donation, Brooks said, “I’ve always been proud to say that I make people laugh for a living. So, knowing that my work will have a home at comedy’s national archive and continue making people laugh leaves me with a deep sense of pride.”

He added, “I’m honoured that my contributions will be preserved for future generations at the National Comedy Centre – especially because it’s a place that was meaningful to my best friend Carl Reiner, who believed in the importance of preserving comedy’s history.”

Actor and comedian Billy Crystal also commented on the announcement, describing Brooks as “the king” among comedians and praising the decision to preserve both Brooks and Reiner’s legacies together.

The National Comedy Centre opened in 2018 in Jamestown, the hometown of Lucille Ball. Its collections include materials from George Carlin, Joan Rivers, Lenny Bruce, Saturday Night Live, In Living Colour, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Brooks is marking his centennial year in 2026 ahead of his 100th birthday on June 28.