George Carlin, Richard Pryor and Bob Hope may be coming back for a slew of live performances exclusively at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, NY, according to Rolling Stone. You are no doubt uncomfortable with this idea, understand that all of the aforementioned stand-ups are deceased, and the explanation might not make you feel any better about it: The comedy industry might take a page out of music's books and use holograms to resurrect legendary comedians to perform at the center.
Chairman Tom Benson described the idea as "a comedy club where folks can go back in time and witness a classic routine in a setting—God knows where it might have been—and experience that as if they were really there."
The good news, we suppose, is that the routines would be delivered in a museum-style setting, and not part of some Las Vegas revue or tour...as has happened with holograms of Michael Jackson and will soon occur with Liberace and Selena. The Center is due to break ground later this year, but Benson doesn't know what names to expect among the "live" performances. He did toss out names such as Carlin, Hope and Rodney Dangerfield as ideas. Securing those "performances" would have to haggle with the estates of the deceased. They have settled on Hologram USA, the company behind the existing holograms of Buddy Holly and Liberace, as the provider of the entertainment however.
What do you think? A proper tribute to comedic royalty, or is this another step too far in the market of holographic recreations?