On Tuesday night, she attended the private event and discussed the documentary that features a behind-the-scenes look at Ball and Arnaz and their rise to fame as a power couple in Hollywood. The documentary was produced by Amazon Studios.

Poehler said she watched the beloved “I Love Lucy” show at various times in her life.

“It was on when I was younger when my Nana would watch it,” she said. “And then, when I got older and I started doing more comedy, I watched it a little differently. I was always really blown away by her acting ability. Frankly, I just thought she was an amazing actor. It wasn’t until I was older that I really understood the kind of width and depth and breadth of her empire, of her impact, and Desi, too. I think Lucy and Desi and the work they did together like all good art just kind of keeps coming back into your life in different ways.”

Poehler said it was incredibly exciting to work on the film and “be part of the story of Lucy and Desi.”

Amy Poehler was at the National Comedy Center Tuesday to discuss the documentary she directed about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. P-J photo by Eric Tichy

“It’s been a really interesting experience to figure out how to creatively enter that world and say something about it,” she said, adding that she learned many surprising things throughout the process. “I think their early lives … have been a mystery for a long time and they certainly came from a generation that didn’t talk a lot about that stuff. They were forward thinkers and forward movers. Every day was an experience of learning more about the people we were talking about.”

Poehler said she was able to visit Jamestown over the past summer to do research and visit the National Comedy Center.

“Journey Gunderson and Laura LaPlaca were amazing and helping us kind of fill in because there is so much context and subtext needed in order to talk about this incredible life and career. I think that you have to always make connections between the old and the new in order to try to make sense of things. So that was super instrumental.”

Poehler said she enjoyed visiting Jamestown, especially the farmer’s market.

When asked if she planned on working on any similar projects, she joked that she was “retiring.”

Amy Poehler was at the National Comedy Center Tuesday to discuss the documentary she directed about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

“I’m staying here,” Poehler laughed. “We have a lot of stuff at Paper Kite, our production company. We do television and film, and we have a ton of things that we’re ready to launch out to the world all the time. We’re very busy and very excited.”

Journey Gunderson, National Comedy Center executive director, said Poehler was “fearless in her willingness to acknowledge that Lucy and Desi were not simple people with straightforward stories to tell.”

“Her film has nuance and room for interpretation – just like their real-life stories,” Gunderson said. “The film exemplifies the National Comedy Center’s reason for being: we are not here to keep history hidden away under lock and key. We are here to ensure that the artists, the students and the storytellers have the raw materials they need to access and interpret comedy’s impacts. Amy visited us in Jamestown to learn more about the Lucy and Desi story … and all people interested in this art form are welcome to walk through our doors and do the same.”

Gunderson said the center appreciated the care that went into presenting the archive, much of which came from the National Comedy Center. She said the center shares Poehler’s conviction that stories like Ball’s can be more than “merely nostalgic.”

“They have a real impact today and we can still discuss them in the present tense,” she said. “It is so fitting that Amy has gifted Lucille Ball this fresh and respectful interpretation that is all about her approach to comedy as a craft.”

Ball was born in Jamestown and left for New York City in 1928. She worked as a model before eventually making her way to Hollywood.

Arnaz came to Miami from Cuba in 1933 and soon found his calling as an entertainer.

The two met in 1940 on the set of “Too Many Girls” and married six months later. The pair would go on to develop “I Love Lucy,” which aired in 1951.

“Lucy and Desi” will be available for streaming on Friday on Amazon Prime.