Attention comedy geeks everywhere! To paraphrase a literary classic, this new documentary feature lets us all “look back in laughter” at one of the most influential humor magazines of the last fifty years. Actually its legacy reaches on past its newstand existence. Yes, it’s been absent from newsstands (there’s still a few of them left) for nearly twenty years. But, to paraphrase again, we’ve come “not to bury this magazine, but to praise it”. And to recall the chuckles and the mini-empire it spawned. Of course, this wasn’t the first humor publication. Puck paved the way decades before. Then Mad magazine shook up the staid 1950’s. But by 1970, that mag had somewhat settled into a (still entertaining) routine, poking fun at suburbia, and wasn’t connecting with the “counter-culture”. Younger “baby boomers” wanted their humor to have a sharper edge, to reflect the “hippie” spirit, and so they turned to the “underground comix”, the realm of artists like Robert Crumb, Jay Lynch, and Skip Williamson, which were sold at “head” shops and other alternative venues. Then in 1970, a magazine tried to bridge that gap between Mad and the comix. It was sharp, stinging satire and parody. And along with the wit, there were lots of jokes about corporate America, rock music, drugs, and, to the delight of its mostly teenage readership, sex. in the pix of many, many topless ladies. Time to peer behind the scenes of that seventies (and early eighties) institution with (here’s the complete title) DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON.
Of course the story of Nat Lamp really begins in the sixties, with the college institution, the Havard Lampoon. By then their magazine parodies became quite sophisticated. Now here’s one of the many interesting tidbits this doc unearths: Mademoiselle magazine approached the college editors to do a parody of them as a great publicity stunt. Inspired by idea, and the cash, the college staff plunged in. This generated the spark to go past the college and venture into the murky waters of the magazine world. The film zeros in on the original editors, Henry Beard, Doug Kenney, and Robert Hoffman. We see the mag’s shaky start with its trippy “graphix” and attempt to ape Mad with a weird cartoon duck mascot. There’s insight from the still lovable huckster former publisher Matty Simmons, who became the “godfather” to the young group, a fella’ who looked more like a used car salesman than the guiding force behind these subversives. And then we catch up with Michael Gross , the art director who gave NL a slick professional look (if you’re gonna’ do funny stamp make them look like the real thing). We’re treated to lots of terrific art from that golden era (didya’ know that Frank Frazetta and Neal Adams were contributors?). Soon, other writers made their mark, like Michael O’Donoghue, Tony Hendra (a Brit TV star!) Chris Miller, and PJ O”Rourke. Much of their work still has a real “bite” (that “Vietnamese Baby Book” still smarts!). There are even interviews with the men that sold advertising space (a tip of the cocktail glass to Jose Cuervo). Slowly the brand branches off and expands to the stage with “National Lampoon’s Lemmings” (great old video footage of Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and Gilda Radner) and the later “National Lampoon Show” (hey, there’s young Bill Murray). The doc gives lets us a listen to their first comedy record “Radio Dinner” and the syndicated weekly dose of mirth and mayhem “The National Lampoon Radio Hour”. With the jump into book publishing, the doc devotes a much deserved chunk of time to what many people consider to be the mag’s supreme comedy achievement, the still scathingly hilarious “National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody”. Simmons says that NBC approached him about creating a weekend live comedy/variety late night show (he says they passed, sot wishing for their talent to be stretched too thin). Finally Hollywood makes them that “offer you can’t refuse” and we hear of the mega-smash ANIMAL HOUSE with lots of insight from director John Landis. This plus lots of behind the scenes footage and stories from cast members Tim Matheson and Kevin Bacon. Their next huge movie hit, NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION, is also profiled with stories of its creator John Hughes, director Harold Ramis, and quips from Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo. Along the course of the film we also hear from NL admirers like Billy Bob Thorton and Judd Apatow. This is one wild, funny trip through a true comedy kingdom.
Director/co-writer Douglas Tirola (along with co-writer Mark Monroe) aren’t re-inventing the documentary form with what seems at times to be a really well-researched bonus feature on the next super deluxe home video edition of ANIMAL HOUSE (hey, it’s been over two years, so it’s probably due for yet another re-issue). It’s told in a fairly straight-ahead chronological order (“then they did this, which led to this…”) and the interview subjects are the same basic talking heads (although there are some neat background knickknacks in view). But happily, the pace is jazzed up with some great graphic images from the mag’s pages and nifty limited animation enhancing some of the best gag cartoons (be sure and wait for the rolling Sam Gross-drawn frog). What actually surprised me was the way that the doc began to focus in on the funny yet sad and tragic story of Doug Kenney, the founder perhaps best known as the bespectacled Delta House veteran (“What are we supposed ta’ do, ya’ MORON!!”). The subtitle of the doc could be “The Seduction of Doug K”. He was engulfed by the vices of tinsel town and almost becomes a poster child for all the excesses of the flashy, coke-fueled 70’s and 80’s. His end became a harsh “wake up call” for those “over-indulgers”. Actually it would make a great solo doc or a dramatic/comedic bio-pic (Will Forte? Clark Duke?). I just wish the doc could have touched on the great “funny pages” section (No Vaughn “Cheech Wizard” Bode?) and the superb “Sunday Newspaper Parody” which revisited the 64′ Yearbook world. That’s being a bit nitpicky, but if they can run a few seconds of “Disco Beaver from Outer Space”? But (semi-) seriously this is an entertaining and informative look at a time before political correctness, when comedy burst its shackles and seemed to cover the globe.Without this mag would we have “Saturday Night Live”, “The Onion”, “Funny or Die” or “Adult Swim”. Uh-uh. And if you listen closely you can still catch the echos of raucous laughter generated by the lunatics of the Lampoon. Thank you Mona Gorilla!
4 Out of 5
DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD opens everywhere and plays exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre
