National Lampoon

The National Lampoon stage ensemble, which introduced audiences to performers such as John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Richard Belzer, grew out of the magazine’s pages during 1972. The publication first appeared in April 1970 when Michael O’Donoghue and Tony Hendra extended the reach of The Harvard Lampoon; celebrated for its lacerating humor and precise satirical bite, it swiftly established itself as a dominant influence in American comedy and opened the door for its writers to move into live performance.

Alongside the stage production Lemmings, which Hendra produced, O’Donoghue created The National Lampoon Radio Hour, whose sketches supplied the content for the 1972 album Radio Dinner. Christopher Guest, later known as Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel, appeared among the cast and delivered a parody of Bob Dylan, while Hendra crafted “Magical Misery Tour,” a pointed imitation of John Lennon. Music remained a central target on the 1973 Lemmings recording, a scathing Woodstock satire that cast John Belushi as master of ceremonies; alongside satirical jabs aimed at James Taylor, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the album assailed the broader hippie movement, labeling it “a mighty mass of furry little mindless animals.”

The Missing White House Tapes, issued in 1974, delivered a relentless critique of Watergate and featured Chevy Chase, who returned with Belushi, Guest, Gilda Radner, and Brian Doyle-Murray for Gold Turkey. Following 1975’s Goodbye Pop, which included contributions from Bill Murray and Paul Shaffer, the Lampoon’s comedic approach reached a wider public through the premiere of NBC’s Saturday Night Live; Belushi, Chase, Radner, Shaffer, and O’Donoghue took on roles within the show, leaving the National Lampoon severely depleted of fresh talent. The ensemble nevertheless produced three additional albums—1977’s That’s Not Funny, It’s Sick, 1979’s White Album, and 1982’s Sex, Drugs, Rock ’n’ Roll and the End of the World—before disbanding, even as the magazine itself persisted after a full change of editors.