The Heydays Of The Lampoon Magazine

By Sharron Cantu


The start of the national lampoon can be traced back to 1970.The business ran for twenty eight years and officially shut down in 1998.The lampoon magazine had come to be one of Americas most humorous publication. Its heydays can be traced back to the 1970s were it significantly grew not only in popularity but also acclaim. In those days, it remained influential in chatting the trajectory of American comedy and humor. Its existence led to emergence of films, live theater, radio and various recordings. It also acted as an outlet for great media personalities who had significantly contributed to its growth.

In those years, the magazine greatly employed parody of all kind. Its great content was integral to its appeal. Its humor went far beyond what people deemed as acceptable and appropriate.

It however declined towards the end of 1980s never to recover. Minimal publication continued into the 1990s and completely stopped in 1998.Harvard graduates and Lampoon alumni are credited with its when they acquired a license to publish on a monthly basis.

The initial days were not so rosy though the business would later pick up. It highlighted virtually every issue in a social setup including political affairs. It however desisted from taking political stands despite its editors individually taking a keen interest in political affairs.

Besides publications, the business engaged in other activities such as sale of songbooks, designed t shirts, books and calendars.

Under Michal c. As director of art, the company produced some of the most humorous and acerbic articles. The Vietnam War and the leaders of the argentine revolution are some of the issues captured in these articles so humorously. The parody in these writings enriched the humor. A caption showing a terrified dog having a gun pointed at it, and an inscription the dog will be shot if one does not buy the publication, is an example of one of the greatest demonstration of creativity by this team. Coming up with such a photo, demonstrating the plight of the dog humorously and not as pathetic, was not a simple task according to the photographer.

The company was also the owner of the heavy metal magazine under the directorship of Peter Kleinman who served from 1974 until 1979.He left that year with a view of starting a ad agency. He would later return in 1984 as creative director. His return greatly contributed to its restoration to former glory. It also led to many former writers and artists coming back to the organization. This was perhaps a demonstration of his great value in the organization.

His role, during his leave, was taken over by Skip Johnson, the man credited with the parody of the Sunday newspaper. When kleinman left again in 1988 to pursue a job in the corporate sector, The business witnessed a precipitous decline.

The monthly publication had an editorial in front page, which seemingly was straightforward, but always contained a parody. This editorial was a creation of editors dealing with that issue as this responsibility rotated among staff members. Guests would a times write on some of the issues.

True facts, dealt with items based on real life and were factual though containing a lot satire that had a humorous effect. Some of these were ultimately compiled into books. The magazine is celebrated for having produced great talent in the name of cartoonist, photographers and comedy stars.




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