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Lemmings (National Lampoon)

National Lampoon: Lemmings, a spinoff of the humor magazine National Lampoon, was a 1973 stage show that helped launch the performing careers of John Belushi, Christopher Guest, and Chevy Chase.[1][2][3][4] The show was co-written and co-directed by a number of people, including Sean Kelly.

Lemmings opened at The Village Gate on January 25, 1973, and ran for 350 performances.


The songs from the show were subsequently issued as a record album. A video of one of the original performances, National Lampoon: Lemmings: Dead in Concert 1973, was eventually made available several decades later.


The show was revived in 2007–2008, and an attempted reboot was to be staged in March 2020.

Welcome to the Woodshuck Festival: Three Days of Peace, Love, and Death; plus band introductions throughout - John Belushi

Marx, Engels, and Jung, performing "Lemmings Lament." - A parody of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and the songs "Woodstock", "Long Time Gone", and others. (Also referred to in performance as Freud, Pavlov, Adler, and Jung)

Freud

Bob Dylan, performing "Positively Wall Street," a parody of several of his styles, with the title taken from "" - Christopher Guest

Positively 4th Street

Goldie Oldie, a parody of old, 1950s-style performers, performing "Pizza Man," a parody of the "teen tragedy" songs - Alice Playten

John Denver, performing "Colorado" - Chevy Chase

Joan Baez, performing "Pull the Triggers, Niggers," a parody of her protest songs and of Dylan's song "George Jackson," in particular. Listed on the album cover as "Pull the Tregroes, Negroes." - Mary Jenifer Mitchell (later replaced by Rhonda Coullet)

Joe Cocker, "Lonely at the Bottom" - Belushi as Cocker, Paul Jacobs as on piano.

Leon Russell

James Taylor, "Highway Toes," a parody of his abuse - Christopher Guest

heroin

Motown Manifestoes singing "Papa was a Running Dog Lackey of the Bourgeoisie" (parody of ""), with most of its lines taken from The Communist Manifesto.

Papa Was a Rollin' Stone

Donovan, "Nirvana Banana" - Peter Elbling (later addition to the show).

Joni Mitchell, "I Do for You" - Alice Playten (replaced by Rhonda Coullet).

Farmer Yassir (parody of Max Yasgur, owner of the land on which Woodstock was held), greeting the audience - Gary Goodrow

Megadeath, a parody of heavy metal groups, who end their act by turning the amps so loud that the audience dies.

"Jackie Christ, Superstar." Parody of "Jesus Christ, Superstar." Jesus is a stand-up comedian, while John Belushi played King Herod.

"." A Tony Hendra parody of Les Crane's recording of "Desiderata."

Deteriorata

"Defeat Day" - a parody of America's first military defeat in the . "Put all your troubles in a nickel bag and smile, smile, smile."

Vietnam War

The Rolling Stones Parody, with Alice Playten playing "Mick Jagger."

- bass guitar

John Belushi

- drums

Chevy Chase

- sax

Garry Goodrow

- guitar

Christopher Guest

-guitar, piano

Paul Jacobs

Mary Jenifer Mitchell

Alice Playten

The cast included:[5]


Later cast replacements:

Production[edit]

Writers[edit]

The writers included:[5]

– 1973 Obie Award for Distinguished Performance[9]

Alice Playten

Revivals[edit]

In the fall of 2007, National Lampoon, Inc. revived National Lampoon's Lemmings for a nationwide theatrical tour. The show consisted of a multimedia presentation of live sketches written and performed by the cast, which were integrated with related comedy videos.[10]


In 2008, National Lampoon's Lemmings went into production with ManiaTV! on a half-hour web-based sketch comedy show.[4] Notable cast members included Adam Devine, Blake Anderson, Kyle Newacheck and Anders Holm of Comedy Central's Workaholics fame, Jillian Bell, and Mark Gagliardi from Comedy Central's Drunk History and The Thrilling Adventure Hour.


In 2020, the company rebooted Lemmings as "Lemmings: 21st Century", which was scheduled to debut in a two-night engagement at Joe's Pub in Manhattan in March 2020 (right at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic).[11][12] Instead of spoofing Woodstock, the new stage play "tackle[d] modern festival culture through Downfall, a parody mash-up of corporatized events like Coachella and Bonnaroo."[2]

List of National Lampoon films

(Blue Thumb, 1973; Decca Records, 2002)

Original Off-Broadway Cast, National Lampoon's Lemmings

at the Internet Off Broadway Database

National Lampoon's Lemmings