LOS ANGELES, CA.- Julien’s Auctions wrapped Legends of Comedy Featuring the New York Friars Club, its highly anticipated presentation and celebration of the bastion of American comedy with bidders from across the globe participating on Wednesday, March 4, 2026 online on juliensauctions.com.

Treasures from the landmarked New York Friars Club, housed in the elegant and glamorous six-story townhouse in midtown Manhattan, along with the collections of comedy icons Gallagher and Louie Anderson were offered to the public for the first time in this historic event presented exclusively by Julien’s.

Rare and important items featuring some of the Friars’ most famous members, infamous celebrity roasts and toasts, honorary luncheons, testimonial dinners and other events, as well as archival material chronicling the legendary times held at the famed showbusiness enclave included:

• A bronze bust of Frank Sinatra by Jo Davidson that was displayed in the Club’s Frank Sinatra Room ($64,000, 16 x original estimate of $4,000-$6,000)

• A portrait of Frank Sinatra by Nicholas Volpe ($64,000, 106 x original estimate of $600)

• A group of eight photo albums from various Friars Club events, including: the September 18, 1992 Billy Crystal roast featuring Rob Reiner as the roastmaster, the April 25, 1993 testimonial dinner for Neil Simon, the June 6, 1992, testimonial dinner for Clive Davis, the Club’s Monte Carlo evening and more ($28,800, 57 x original estimate of $500)

• Five binders containing documents and publications related to the New York Friars Club, including: multiple issues of Friars Fables from 1968-1981, programs for celebrity roasts including Boomer Esiason, Jack Black, Betty White, and Quentin Tarantino, seating lists and programs for testimonial dinners, including John Travolta & Kelly Preston, Barbara Walters, Diana Ross, Louis Weiss, Alan King, Barbara Sinatra, Red Buttons, and others ($16,000, 32 x original estimate of $500)

• A handmade inscribed 1911 violin from Eduard Reichert owned by violinist and entertainer Jack Benny ($22,400, 11 x original estimate of $2,000)

• A vintage trunk containing hundreds of jokes pertaining to subjects from "Farm Relief" to "College Professors" clipped from a variety of newspapers and magazines and pasted onto index cards ($28,800, 46 x original estimate of $600)

• Three embossed black leather photo albums for three different Friars Club events held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City: The Friars Dinner Honoring Johnny Carson on April 25, 1965, The Friars Honor Steve and Eydie [Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé] on May 14, 1967, and The Friars Club Honors Burt Reynolds on May 16, 1981 ($19,200, 48 x original estimate of $400)

• A photo album of the Friars Club Testimonial Dinner honoring Sammy Davis Jr., held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York on April 3, 1966 ($16,000, 40 x original estimate of $400)

• A collection of eleven scrapbooks and albums created and kept by the New York Friars Club ($10,240)

• Plus, two of Gallagher’s iconic stage-used “Sledge-O-Matic” sledgehammers from the 1970s-1980s (one sold for $19,200 and second fetched $16,000)

"Over a century of the Friars Club's rich history was the toast of the town during Julien’s auction of the Club’s most cherished contents from their venerable townhouse in New York," said Catherine Williamson, Managing Director of Entertainment at Julien’s Auctions. "It was wonderful to see fans and collectors paying tribute to the Club's heyday with enthusiastic bidding from all over the world. Items of the most iconic Friars like Frank Sinatra and Jack Benny received standing ovations, and the sledgehammers of comedy legend Gallagher were smash hits at this once in a lifetime auction."