National Lampoon (magazine)
National Lampoon was an American humor magazine that ran from 1970 to 1998. The magazine started out as a spinoff from The Harvard Lampoon.
Editor
Douglas Kenney (1970–1975)
Humor
Magazine
1,000,096
Matty Simmons (1970–1989)
1969
April 1970
November 1998
issue 246
Twenty First Century Communications (1970–1979)
National Lampoon, Inc. (1979–1990)
J2 Communications (1990–1998)
United States
English
National Lampoon magazine reached its height of popularity and critical acclaim during the 1970s, when it had a far-reaching effect on American humor and comedy. The magazine spawned films, radio, live theater, various sound recordings, and print products including books. Many members of the publication's creative staff went on to contribute creatively to successful media of all types.
During the magazine's most successful years, parody of every kind was a mainstay; surrealist content was also central to its appeal. Almost all the issues included long text pieces, shorter written pieces, a section of actual news items (dubbed "True Facts"), cartoons and comic strips. Most issues also included "Foto Funnies" or fumetti, which often featured nudity. The result was an unusual mix of intelligent, cutting-edge wit, combined with some crass, bawdy jesting.[1] The magazine declined during the late 1980s and ceased publication in 1998.
Projects that use the "National Lampoon" (NL) brand name continued to be produced, but under its production company successor, National Lampoon, Inc. The 50th anniversary of the magazine took place in 2020 and, to celebrate, the magazine was issued digitally for the first time by Solaris Entertainment Studio.
Overview[edit]
National Lampoon writers joyfully targeted every kind of phoniness, and had no specific political stance (even though individual staff members had strong political views). The magazine's humor often pushed far beyond the boundaries of what was generally considered appropriate and acceptable. It was especially anarchic, satirically attacking what was considered holy and sacred. As Teddy Wayne desrcibed it, "At its peak, the [National Lampoon] produced some of the bleakest and most controlled furious humor in American letters."[2]
Thomas Carney, writing in New Times, traced the history and style of the National Lampoon and the impact it had on comedy's new wave. "The National Lampoon", Carney wrote, "was the first full-blown appearance of non-Jewish humor in years — not anti-Semitic, just non-Jewish. Its roots were W.A.S.P. and Irish Catholic, with a weird strain of Canadian detachment.... This was not Jewish street-smart humor as a defense mechanism; this was slash-and-burn stuff that alternated in pitch but moved very much on the offensive. It was always disrespect everything, mostly yourself, a sort of reverse deism."[3]
The magazine was a springboard to the cinema of the United States for a generation of comedy writers, directors, and performers. Various alumni went on to create and write for Saturday Night Live, The David Letterman Show, SCTV, The Simpsons, Married... with Children, Night Court, and various films, including National Lampoon's Animal House, Caddyshack, National Lampoon's Vacation, and Ghostbusters. The characteristic humor of Spy magazine, The Onion, Judd Apatow, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert is difficult to imagine without the influence of National Lampoon.[2]
As co-founder Henry Beard described the experience years later: "There was this big door that said, 'Thou shalt not.' We touched it, and it fell off its hinges."[4]
The magazine[edit]
Publication history[edit]
National Lampoon was started in 1969 by Harvard graduates and Harvard Lampoon alumni Douglas Kenney, Henry Beard, and Robert Hoffman,[5] when they first licensed the "Lampoon" name for a monthly national publication.[a] While still with The Harvard Lampoon, in the years 1966 to 1969, Kenney and Beard had published a number of one-shot parodies of Playboy, Life, and Time magazines;[6][7] they had also written the popular Tolkien parody book Bored of the Rings.[7]
The National Lampoon's first issue, dated April 1970, went on sale on March 19, 1970.[8] Kenney (editor) and Beard (executive editor) oversaw the magazine's content, while Hoffman (managing editor) handled legal and business negotiations.[6][7] After a shaky start, the magazine rapidly grew in popularity. Like The Harvard Lampoon, individual issues had themes, including such topics as "The Future", "Back to School", "Death", "Self-Indulgence", and "Blight". The sixth issue (September 1970), entitled "Show Biz", got the company in hot water with The Walt Disney Company after a lawsuit was threatened because of the issue's cover, which showed a drawing of Minnie Mouse topless, wearing pasties.[9]
Corporate history[edit]
Twenty First Century Communications[edit]
The company that owned and published the magazine was called Twenty First Century Communications, Inc.. At the outset, Gerald L. "Jerry" Taylor was the magazine's publisher, followed by William T. Lippe. The business side was controlled by Matty Simmons, who was chairman of the board and CEO of Twenty First Century Communications.
1973–1975 creative and commercial zenith[edit]
The magazine was considered by many to be at its creative zenith in the period 1973–1975.[5] During this period, the magazine regularly published "special editions" which were sold simultaneously on newsstands. Some of the special editions were "best-of" omnibus collections; others were entirely original. Additional projects included a calendar, a songbook, a collection of transfer designs for T-shirts, and a number of books. From time to time, the magazine advertised Lampoon-related merchandise for sale, including specially-designed T-shirts. The magazine sold yellow binders with the Lampoon logo, designed to store a year's worth of issues.
It was also during this time that National Lampoon: Lemmings show was staged and The National Lampoon Radio Hour was broadcast, bringing interest and acclaim to the National Lampoon brand[5] with magazine talent like writer Michael O'Donoghue. Comedy stars John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle Murray, Harold Ramis, and Richard Belzer first gained national attention for their performances in those productions.
1975 founders exit[edit]
In 1975, the three founders Kenney, Beard, and Hoffman left the magazine,[5] taking advantage of a buyout clause in their contracts for a shared total of $7.5 million[25] (although Kenney remained on the magazine's masthead as a senior editor until about 1976).
At about the same time, writers Michael O'Donoghue and Anne Beatts left NL to join Saturday Night Live, as did Chase, Belushi, and Radner, who left the troupe to join the original septet of SNL's Not Ready For Prime Time Players.[2][e] Bill Murray replaced Chase when Chase left SNL after the first season, and Brian Doyle Murray later appeared as an SNL regular.[27]
Harold Ramis went on to star in the Canadian sketch show SCTV and assumed the role as its head writer, then left after season 1 to be a prolific director, writer, and actor, working on such films as Animal House, Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day and many more. Brian Doyle Murray has had roles in dozens of films, and Belzer was an Emmy Award-winning TV actor.
Film about the magazine[edit]
In 2015, a documentary film was released called National Lampoon: Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead. The film featured a great deal of content from the magazine, as well as interviews with staff members and fans, and it explains how the magazine changed the course of humor.[58]
The 2018 film A Futile and Stupid Gesture, a biography of co-founder Douglas Kenney, also depicts the magazine's early years. The film was described by a 2018 New York Times article as a "snapshot of a moment where comedy's freshest counter-culture impulse was gleefully crass and willfully offensive." In the same article, Kenney was said to "spot a comical hollowness and rot in the society he and his peers were trained to join."[57]