A comedic revolution began in 1970 with the publication of National Lampoon magazine. The satirical magazine was known for pushing the boundaries of taste and for a distinct dark form of satire strongly informed by the sensibilities of the counterculture movement of the 1960s and 70s. National Lampoon was the precursor to Saturday Night Live and also gave career starts to some of the most brilliant comedy writers of all time, including P.J. O’Rourke, Anne Beatts, and Michael O’Donoghue. Whether you know it or not, National Lampoon is responsible for much of the tone and style of modern comedy. It was a major success among the youth who identified with the magazine, as most of its writers were recent college graduates who shared similar opinions and views on the turbulent times of the 1970s. It was dark, acerbic, controversial, and confrontational. National Lampoon changed the course of comedy history forever.

National Lampoon was founded by Doug Kenney, Henry Beard, and Robert Hoffman, all of whom attended Harvard, where they worked as editors on the campus humor magazine The Harvard Lampoon. After graduating, they decided to start a national humor magazine and enlisted the help of businessman Matty Simmons, who would later become a film and television producer. National Lampoon published its first article in March of 1970, and was initially unsuccessful as humor magazines were tough sells at the time. National Lampoon quickly rose in popularity as it began publishing themed issues, many of its written pieces became well-regarded, and its parodies of the print industry also stood out. National Lampoon released its “High School Yearbook Parody” issue, which became a top seller and cemented its status among young people. National Lampoon had become a fixture of the counterculture movement. It spawned a stage show in 1973, National Lampoon’s Lemmings, a parody of the Woodstock festival, featuring the talents of John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and Christopher Guest. The success of the magazine and Lemmings led to a subsequent radio show, The National Lampoon Radio Hour, which provided opportunities for talented performers like Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, and Dan Flaherty to break through and begin their now legendary comedy careers. Belushi, Chase, and Guest were also players on the radio show. By the mid 1970s, National Lampoon had become a comedy empire. NBC proposed a National Lampoon TV show, which Matty Simmons turned down, believing that the team behind the magazine, radio show, and stage show needed to focus and could not work on all those projects simultaneously. When Saturday Night Live premiered in 1975, much of the cast and writing staff came from the National Lampoon, including Michael O’Donoghue, who was the first head writer of SNL. That same year, original co-founders Henry Beard and Robert Hoffman had their contracts bought out and left the company. This was the first of several major changes to the National Lampoon company, and was also a contributing factor to Doug Kenney’s depression.

During the 1970s, National Lampoon was immensely popular among young people, especially college kids. Its blend of crude humor and anti-authority political messaging was very resonant to the young people of the time. With the success of the radio show and the magazine, Doug Kenney felt it was time to venture into film. He teamed up with Harold Ramis, who would go on to become one of the most prolific comedy directors of all time, directing comedy classics such as Caddyshack and Groundhog Day, and appearing as Egon Spengler in the Ghostbusters franchise. Ramis and Kenney enlisted the help of fellow National Lampoon writer Chris Miller, who wrote some of the most famous Lampoon pieces that were often about his experiences as a student at Dartmouth. Together, they wrote the screenplay for National Lampoon’s Animal House, one of the greatest comedy films ever made. It was a smash hit in theaters, grossing over $140 million against a $3 million budget. It featured early acting performances from John Belushi, Kevin Bacon, Tim Matheson, and Karen Allen, and spawned multiple moments and catchphrases, including “Toga! Toga!” and the “Food Fight” scene. It is still one of the most quoted comedy movies of all time. Ramis and Kenney would collaborate again, this time with Brian Doyle Murray to write the 1980 sports comedy Caddyshack. Kenney was unhappy with the finished product, and although it is considered a classic now, Caddyshack received a much more mixed reception than Animal House. Doug Kenney never got to see Caddyshack become the popular comedy it is now. National Lampoon would continue to produce movies, perhaps most notably the Vacation franchise. 1983’s National Lampoon’s Vacation was written by John Hughes, who would go on to direct some of the most popular coming-of-age films of the 1980s, such as Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. What most people might not know is that he started his career as a writer for National Lampoon magazine. While there, he wrote a short story for the magazine titled Vacation ‘58, which was later adapted into the film National Lampoon’s Vacation starring fellow National Lampoon alumni Chevy Chase. Christmas ’59, also written by Hughes for the magazine, was adapted into one of the sequels in the Vacation franchise, 1989’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. 

National Lampoon, and specifically co-founder Doug Kenney, has been the subject of a biographical book titled A Futile and Stupid Gesture, which was adapted into a Netflix movie starring Will Forte as Kenney, narrated by Martin Mull as a hypothetical older version of Kenney. There is also a brilliant documentary titled Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead, which follows the story of National Lampoon and specifically highlights Kenney’s role in its history. Doug Kenney died in August 1980 after falling from a cliff in Kaua’i, Hawaii. Due to Kenney’s drug use and depression, there has been much speculation as to whether his fall was accidental or not. In a quote that has been attributed to Harold Ramis, Ramis supposedly quipped:

“Knowing Doug, he probably fell while looking for a place to jump.” 

Doug Kenney is one of the most important comedy writers of all time. Joel McHale, who portrayed Chevy Chase in “A Futile and Stupid Gesture, referred to Kenney as the “Alexander Hamilton of comedy” for the trajectory of his life and the major, yet often overlooked, role he played in the foundation of modern comedy. Without National Lampoon, it is hard to say where most of these great comedy minds would have gotten their start. So much of the comedy from the last fifty years is either linked directly to National Lampoon in some way or heavily influenced by it. A promotional advertisement for A Futile and Stupid Gesture highlights the chain of pop culture events that were set in motion by Doug Kenney’s founding of the National Lampoon. 

National Lampoon continued to be published throughout the 1980s, though its popularity was declining. By this time, most of its original audience had aged out, and the stars it produced, such as Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, were well into their film careers. The sharp, controversial satire that made National Lampoon so popular in the 70s had begun to take a back seat to the more vulgar, shock-based comedy prevalent at the time, with comedians such as Andrew Dice Clay and Sam Kinison dominating the stand-up stage. After multiple changes of ownership, the National Lampoon name began to be licensed, causing many low-budget (and low-brow) comedy films to carry the National Lampoon label above their titles. The rights were sold again in 2002, this time to a group of investors who started their own film company, “National Lampoon Inc.,” which continued the tradition of producing low-budget films in hopes of cashing in on the Lampoon label. The company faced financial hardships throughout the 2000s, and its founders were involved in several controversies, including being caught in a Ponzi scheme. The rights were sold once again in 2017 to Palm Star Media.

National Lampoon magazine started a comedy revolution in the 1970s. Its anarchic approach to comedy lit a fire that continues to burn in every comedian or comedy writer who seeks to challenge authority. It took risks, mocked everyone, and gave rise to some of the greatest comedic minds of all time. Its influence on comedy can still be seen today in the many writers and performers whom it has inspired. National Lampoon began during a time when much of the comedy America had grown accustomed to had grown stale, especially for younger audiences. Today, comedy is also struggling to find its place in the culture. As legacy media continues to fade, the comedy scene becomes more tribalized, and the role and responsibilities of satire are questioned and challenged, it is clear that another comedy revolution is sorely needed. Regardless of what this next comedy revolution looks like, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it will carry the same spirit that fueled the National Lampoon in the 1970s, and made it culturally impactful.