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Lemmings(National Lampoon)

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National Lampoon: Lemmings,a spinoff of the humor magazineNational Lampoon,was a 1973stage showthat helped launch the performing careers ofJohn Belushi,Christopher Guest,andChevy Chase.[1][2][3][4]The show was co-written and co-directed by a number of people, includingSean Kelly.

National Lampoon: Lemmings
The poster for the 1973 show.
MusicChristopher Guest
Paul Jacobs
LyricsSean Kelly
BookDavid Axlerod
John Belushi
Christopher Guest
Tony Hendra
Paul Jacobs
Sean Kelly
Chevy Chase
Gary Goodrow
Productions1973Off-Broadway

Lemmingsopened atThe Village Gateon January 25, 1973, and ran for 350 performances.

The songs from the show were subsequently issued as a record album. A video of one of the original performances,National Lampoon: Lemmings: Dead in Concert 1973,was eventually made available several decades later.

The show was revived in 2007–2008, and an attempted reboot was to be staged in March 2020.

Plot

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The first half of the show wassketch comedy;the second half was a mock rock festival, "Woodshuck: Three Days of Peace, Love and Death", a parody of "Woodstock:Three Days of Peace and Music. "" Woodshuck "featured spoofs of Woodstock performers, includingJoe CockerandJoan Baez,as well as parodies ofJohn Denver,Bob DylanandJames Taylor,plus songs performed by fictional groups (e.g., the "Motown Manifestoes" singing "Papa was a Running Dog Lackey of the Bourgeoisie").

Acts

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Title Act being parodied Lampoonist Description
Welcome to the Woodshuck Festival: Three Days of Peace, Love, and Death John Belushi Plus band introductions throughout
"Lemmings Lament" Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Paul Jacobsas David Crosby Freud,Marx,Engels,andJung(also referred to in performance as Freud,Pavlov,Adler,and Jung), parodying the songs "Woodstock,""Long Time Gone",and others
"Positively Wall Street" Bob Dylan Christopher Guest Parody of several of Dylan's styles, with the title taken from "Positively 4th Street"
"Pizza Man" by Goldie Oldie 1950s-style performers Alice Playten Parody ofteenage tragedy songs
"Colorado" John Denver Chevy Chase
"Pull the Triggers, Niggers" Joan Baez Mary Jenifer Mitchell (later replaced byRhonda Coullet) A parody of Baez's protest songs and of Dylan's song "George Jackson,"in particular. Listed on the album cover as" Pull the Tregroes, Negroes "
"Lonely at the Bottom" Joe Cocker John Belushi With Paul Jacobs asLeon Russellon piano
"Highway Toes" James Taylor Christopher Guest Parody of Tylor'sheroinabuse referencing Taylor's "Highway Song"
"Papa was a Running Dog Lackey of the Bourgeoisie" The Temptations Paul Jacobs Parody of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone",with most of its lines taken fromThe Communist Manifesto
"Nirvana Banana" Donovan Peter Elbling Later addition to the show
"I Do for You" Joni Mitchell Alice Playten(later replaced byRhonda Coullet)
Farmer Yassir Max Yasgur Garry Goodrow Parody of the owner of the land on which Woodstock was held, greeting the audience
Megadeath Heavy metalgroups John BelushiandPaul Jacobs Band ends their act by turning the amps so loud that the audience dies
"Jackie Christ, Superstar" Belushi, et al. Parody ofJesus Christ Superstar;Jesus as a stand-up comedian, with Belushi asKing Herod
"Deteriorata" Les Crane Tony Hendra Parody of Crane's recording of "Desiderata"
"Resounding Defeat Day" Parody of America's first military defeat in theVietnam War."Put all your troubles in a nickel bag and smile, smile, smile."
The Rolling Stones Alice Playten asMick Jagger

Cast

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The cast included:[5]

Later cast replacements:

Production

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Writers

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The writers included:[5]

Reception

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ATimemagazine reviewer calledLemmings"an uproariously funny spoof of the rock scene and its counterculture folk heroes," writing that the show's second half was "a brilliantly sustained rock parody," and predicting that, "Lemmingswill slay many many more with its high-voltage humor. "[6]Reviewers forThe New York Timesinitially gave the play lukewarm reviews,[7][8]but a subsequentTimesmention of the show lauded its "gleeful... desanctifi[cation of the] hallowed touchstones of the rock counterculture."[9]And in 2005,Jake Tapperof theTimescalledLemmingsNational Lampoon's "most famous live performance," writing that, "the team devastatingly satirized Woodstock attendees and performers as mindless masses running off to engage in trendy generational suicide."[1]

Awards

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Revivals

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In the fall of 2007,National Lampoon, Inc.revivedNational Lampoon's Lemmingsfor a nationwide theatrical tour. The show consisted of a multimedia presentation of live sketches written and performed by the cast, which were integrated with related comedy videos.[11]

In 2008,National Lampoon's Lemmingswent into production withManiaTV!on a half-hour web-basedsketch comedyshow.[4]Notable cast members includedAdam Devine,Blake Anderson,Kyle NewacheckandAnders HolmofComedy Central'sWorkaholicsfame,Jillian Bell,and Mark Gagliardi from Comedy Central'sDrunk HistoryandThe Thrilling Adventure Hour.

In 2020, the company rebootedLemmingsas "Lemmings: 21st Century",which was scheduled to debut in a two-night engagement atJoe's Pubin Manhattan in March 2020 (right at the outset of theCOVID-19 pandemic).[12][13]Instead of spoofingWoodstock,the new stage play "tackle[d] modern festival culture through Downfall, a parody mash-up of corporatized events likeCoachellaandBonnaroo."[2]

Cast recording

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National Lampoon's Lemmings
Live albumby
the cast ofLemmings
Released1973
GenreComedy,Parody,Rock,folk rock
LabelBlue Thumb Records,MCA Records,Decca Broadway
ProducerTony Hendra
National Lampoonchronology
National Lampoon Radio Dinner
(1972) 		National Lampoon's Lemmings
(1973) 		The Missing White House Tapes
(1974)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusiclink

A cast recording of the show was released in 1973, withalbum coverart byMelinda Bordelon.

Track listing

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Side One

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  1. Stage Announcements
    Performed by John Belushi
  2. "Lemmings Lament"
    Lead vocal by Paul Jacobs (asDavid Crosby); instruments and backup vocals by the cast; written by Paul Jacobs and Sean Kelly.
  3. Stage Announcements
    Performed by John Belushi
  4. "Positively Wall Street"
    Lead vocal by Christopher Guest (asBob Dylan); instruments and backup vocals by the cast; written by Paul Jacobs, Christopher Guest, and Sean Kelly.
  5. Weather Person
    Performed by Garry Goodrow
  6. "Pizza Man"
    Lead vocal by Alice Playten (as Goldie Oldie); instruments and back-up vocals by the cast; written by Christopher Guest, Sean Kelly, and Tony Hendra
  7. Stage Announcements
    Performed by John Belushi
  8. "Colorado"
    Lead vocal by Chevy Chase; instruments and backup vocals by the cast; written by Christopher Guest, Sean Kelly, and Tony Hendra
  9. Richie Havens
    Performed by Christopher Guest (asRichie Havens)
  10. Crowd Rain Chant
    Performed by John Belushi

Side Two

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  1. Stage Announcements
    Performed by John Belushi
  2. "Papa Was a Running Dog Lackey" of the Bourgeoisie
    Lead vocal by Paul Jacobs; instruments and backup vocals by the cast; written by Paul Jacobs and Tony Hendra
  3. All-Star Dead Band
    Performed by John Belushi
  4. Stage Announcements
    Performed by John Belushi
  5. "Highway Toes"
    Lead vocal by Christopher Guest (asJames Taylor); instruments and backup vocals by the cast; written by Christopher Guest and Sean Kelly
  6. Hell's Angel
    Performed by Chevy Chase
  7. Stage Announcements
    Performed by John Belushi
  8. Farmer Yassir
    Performed by Garry Goodrow
  9. "Lonely at the Bottom"
    Lead vocal by John Belushi (asJoe Cocker); instruments and backup vocals by the cast; written by Paul Jacobs and John Belushi
  10. Megagroupie
    Performed by Alice Playten
  11. "Megadeath"
    Lead vocal by John Belushi; instruments and backup vocals by the cast; written by Paul Jacobs and Sean Kelly

See also

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References

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  1. ^abTapper, Jake(July 3, 2005)."National LampoonGrows Up By Dumbing Down ".The New York Times.
  2. ^abAridi, Sara (Jan 28, 2020)."'National Lampoon: Lemmings' Reboot Coming to New York: 'Lemmings: 21st Century,' a satire on modern festival culture, will have a two-night engagement in March ".The New York Times.
  3. ^"National Lampoon's Lemmings Comedy Troupe".Archived fromthe originalon 2008-09-07.RetrievedJune 26,2009.
  4. ^ab"National Lampoon's LemmingsTake Internet TV by Storm ".Reuters.May 20, 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-09-08.
  5. ^abNational Lampoon Lemmings (1973)Archived2002-10-21 at theWayback Machine(accessed June 26, 2009)
  6. ^T.E.K. (19 February 1973)."Megadeath by Laughter".Time.Archived fromthe originalon December 14, 2008.
  7. ^Kerr, Walter(Feb 4, 1973)."Less Sharp Than Olsen & Johnson".The New York Times.
  8. ^Alterman, Loraine (Sep 9, 1973)."'Lemmings' Is No Giggle ".The New York Times.
  9. ^Holden, Stephen(June 25, 1989)."POP VIEW; For Pop, Comedy May Be The Sincerest Form of Flattery".The New York Times.Pop debunking perhaps reached its zenith in the early '70s with albums like 'Goodbye Pop'... and 'National Lampoon''s 'Lemmings', in whichChristopher Guest,Sean Kelly,Tony Hendra,and others gleefully desanctified hallowed touchstones of the rock counterculture.
  10. ^1972–1973 Obie Awardsaccessed 27 November 2009
  11. ^"Lemmings Comedy Troupe".National Lampoon.Archived fromthe originalon Aug 9, 2007.
  12. ^Sokol, Tony (January 28, 2020)."National Lampoon's Lemmings Rebooted for a New Generation: National Lampoon finds corporate sponsors for its Downfall Festival in Lemmings: 21st Century".Den of Geek.
  13. ^Handy, Bruce (March 16, 2020)."A National Lampoon Reboot Takes On Cancel Culture: Combining 'wokeness' with 'outrageousness,' a new crew updates the 1973 hit 'Lemmings' for the Béyonce and Billie Eilish era".The New Yorker.
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