by Frank Calvillo
To an entire generation of comedy fans, the name National Lampoon instantly calls to mind an assortment of beloved film classics which pinpoint the ludicrousness of American life in hilarious, and oftentimes shocking, ways. Over the years, National Lampoon has become synonymous with a certain brand of audacious humor which took no prisoners and showed no mercy with regard to the subjects it so bitingly and brilliantly satirized. Through films and TV shows, the National Lampoon brand became as much a part of Americana as the culture it laughingly picked apart.
However while the name National Lampoon lives on, instilling laughter to more and more generations, many forget the brand’s beginnings as one of the most bold and daring magazines of its time.
Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon traces the magazine’s origins from a Harvard rag to one of the country’s most read, and most reviled, publications. Featuring interviews with many of the key players behind the National Lampoon including former editors and writers, as well as celebrities such as Kevin Bacon, Billy Bob Thornton, and Judd Apatow, all of whom were at one point influenced by the magazine, Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead is an in-depth look at the rise and fall of a magazine, and a brand of comedy, which remains unmatched.
Director Douglas Tirola does quite the thorough job in researching the history of National Lampoon and documenting everything from the taboos it broke to the limits it pushed. Likewise there’s great attention to detail paid to the minds behind the magazine and the various trials and tribulations they experienced in putting out the monthly collection of essays, articles, and cartoons. Such episodes include founding editor Douglas Kenny’s sudden year-long absence, co-founder Henry Beard’s shocking departure, and the overall divide and choosing of sides which occurred as a result of new writers and changing tastes. Tirola captures all of it to the point that audiences feel they have experienced a part of the decade all over again, or for the first time.
Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead gives plenty, and I mean PLENTY of colorful examples to illustrate what gave National Lampoon the name and reputation it so rightfully earned. Beginning with their first issue featuring a photo of a scared dog with a gun being pointed at his head and a headline proclaiming: “If you don’t buy this magazine, we’ll kill this dog,” the National Lampoon quickly set the tone for the kind of no holds barred humor they intended on delivering. Other such satirical issues including the racially driven “Tales from the South” (a play on Tales From the Crypt), a Vietnamese baby book with touches such as “baby’s first wound,” a how-to manual on telling a child his parents are dead, and even an entire issue devoted to the theory that Hitler was living a secret life in the Caribbean, were some of the magazine’s most shining moments.
Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead isn’t just a collection of some of National Lampoon’s greatest hits, however. The film does an excellent job in examining both the individuals who created it as well as the people who read it. As Beard puts it, “There was a big amount of culture stored up from 1945- 1970.” Indeed, though it was made in jest, the magazine spoke to an entire generation of people who grew up continuously being told what to do and how fed up they were with it, as well as with the image of the ideal Americana they were more or less expected to continue.
There’s plenty of time devoted to the introduction of the magazine’s spin-offs (including a still-jaw-dropping radio show) and the eventual creation of Saturday Night Live featuring an assortment of National Lampoon talent, which some point to as the beginning of the magazine’s downfall. However, none of it diminishes the power of the National Lampoon and its perfect timing within early ’70s society where people were speaking their minds and the culture was changing in ways no one could have predicted.
Above all though, Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead shows just how instrumental National Lampoon was in terms of changing the face of publishing world, or at least giving it a much-needed shake-up. It showed how a publication didn’t have to cater to the status quo, yet could still be embraced by the masses (at one point National Lampoon was the most read magazine after Cosmopolitan).
There have been countless of imitators since the National Lampoon’s heyday; plenty of publications who insist they’re pushing the envelope in terms of content. Yet none have ever come close to being as uproariously offensive in such a perceptive way as the National Lampoon, and if this documentary proves anything, it’s that none ever will.
