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The Harvard Lampoon

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"The Lampoon" redirects here. For the spinoff, seeNational Lampoon (magazine).

The Harvard Lampoon
TheLampoon Castle,designed byEdmund M. Wheelwright
CategoriesHumor magazine
Circulation30,000
FoundedFebruary 1876;148 years ago(1876-02)
Based inHarvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts,US
Websiteharvardlampoon.com
TitleDingbatfrom an 1886Lampoon

The Harvard Lampoonis anundergraduatehumor publicationfounded in 1876 by seven undergraduates atHarvard UniversityinCambridge, Massachusetts.

Overview

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TheHarvard Lampoonpublication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates atHarvard UniversityinCambridge, Massachusetts,who were inspired by popular magazines likePunch(1841) andPuck(1871).[1][2]The Harvard Lampoonis the world's third longest-running continually published humor magazine, after the SwedishBlandaren(1863) and the SwissNebelspalter(1875).

The organization also produces occasional humor books (the best known being the 1969J. R. R. TolkienparodyBored of the Rings) and parodies of national magazines such asEntertainment WeeklyandSports Illustrated.Much of the organization's capital is provided by the licensing of the "Lampoon" name toNational Lampoon,begun byHarvard Lampoongraduates in 1970.[citation needed]

TheLampoonpublishes five issues annually. In 2006, theLampoonbegan regularly releasing content on its website, including pieces from the magazine and web-only content. In 2009, theLampoonpublished a parody ofTwilightcalledNightlight,which is aNew York Timesbestseller.[3]In February 2012, theLampoonreleased a parody ofThe Hunger GamescalledThe Hunger Pains,[4]also aNew York Timesbestseller.[5]

TheLampoonis housed a few blocks fromHarvard Squarein a mock-Flemishcastle, theHarvard Lampoon Building.It has been ranked by the magazineComplexas the fifth most phallic building in the world.[6]

History

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The 1885Lampoonstaff includes several notables, such as philosopher G. Santayana and newspaperman W.R. Hearst
Cartoon by philosopher G. Santayana, Harvard class of 1886

TheHarvard Lampoonwas first published in 1876 by seven founders includingRalph Wormeley Curtis,Edward Sandford Martin,Edmund March Wheelwright,and Arthur Murray Sherwood[7](father ofRobert E. Sherwood).[8]The first issue of theLampoonwas a single copy, nailed to a tree in Harvard Yard. In its earliest years the magazine focused primarily on the satirization of Harvard andBoston Brahminsociety. As theLampoonbegan to gain notoriety on campus, the society moved from offices in Hollis Hall to addresses on Holyoke and Plympton streets respectively. These collections of rooms rented by the trustees of theLampoonwere famous not only for their beer nights, but also with the regularity that theLampoonspent the profits made on each magazine for these beer nights. "It was a good night when the Lampoon could afford coal and beer, and they often had to choose between one or the other." Pranks abounded in the early years, some more destructive than others.William Randolph Hearstwas expelled from Harvard after sending a pudding pot used as a chamber pot to a professor.[9]

ALampoongraduate from 1887,Archibald Cary Coolidge,professor of architecture at Harvard College, was chosen as the architect of Randolph Hall, one of the college's newest dormitories. Legend has it that when designing Randolph, Coolidge purposefully made the dormitory recessed further back from Mt. Auburn Street than was at first designed, purchasing for himself the land the Castle now stands on.[citation needed]The commission to design the castle was given to Edmund M. Wheelwright, then city architect of Boston.

TheLampoonand its sensibility began to branch out away from the Harvard campus in the early 1960s, and soon became an important expression of, and feeder system for, American humor and comedy.[citation needed]In 1961,Mademoiselleoffered theLampoonstaff an honorarium to produce a parody of their own magazine for the traditionally lower-selling July issue. The project boostedMademoiselle's summer circulation along with theLampoon's ever tenuous cash flow, and the magazine renewed its association with theLampoonfor a follow-up parody in July 1962, and a third parody issue (ofEsquire) in July 1963. The magazine also produced a 70-page spoof ofIan Fleming'sJames Bondnovels in 1962 titledAlligator,which was subsequently released byRandom House.These projects proved popular, and led to full, nationally-distributed parodies ofPlayboy(1966),Time(1968), andLife(1969), and later,Cosmopolitanin 1972,Sports Illustrated(1974), andPeople(1981).[10]

An important line of demarcation came whenLampooneditors andNational Lampoonco-foundersDouglas KenneyandHenry Beardwrote theTolkienparodyBored of the Rings.[11]The success of this book and the attention it brought its authors led directly to the creation of theNational Lampoonmagazine. This in turn spun off a live showLemmings,and then a radio show in the early 1970s,The National Lampoon Radio Hour,which featured such performers asChristopher Guest,Harry ShearerandChevy Chase.

Writers from these shows were subsequently hired to help createSaturday Night Live.This was the first in a line of many TV shows thatLampoongraduates went on to write for, includingThe Simpsons,Futurama,Late Night with David Letterman,Seinfeld,Friends,The League,NewsRadio,The Office,30 Rock,Parks and Recreationand dozens of others. An old copy of the magazine was shown in the fourth-season finale ofNewsRadio,and referred to as the "nefarious scandal sheet."

Lampoon alumni include such comedians asConan O'Brien,Andy Borowitz,B. J. Novak,Greg Daniels,Michael Schur,Christopher Cerf (Sesame Street), andColin Jost.Etan Cohenwrote forBeavis and Butt-Headas an undergraduate member. In 1986 former editorKurt Andersenco-founded the satirical magazineSpy,which employedLampoonwritersPaul SimmsandEric Kaplan,and published the work ofLampoonalumniPatricia Marx,Lawrence O'Donnell,Suchetas Bokil,andMark O'Donnell.TheLampoonhas also graduated many noted authors such asGeorge Plimpton,George Santayana,John Updike,andWilliam Gaddis.ActorFred Gwynnewas a cartoonist and president of theLampoon.Famous Boston lawyerBradley Palmeracted as treasurer for theLampoon.

Celebrities often visit theLampoonto be inducted as honorary members of the organization. Honorary members includeAerosmith,Winston Churchill,John Cleese,Bill Cosby,Billy Crystal,Tony Hawk,Hugh Hefner,Kesha,Jay Leno,Elon Musk,Ezra Pound,Adam Sandler,the cast ofSaturday Night Live,Sarah Silverman,Tracey Ullman,Kurt Vonnegut,John WayneandRobin Williams.

Rivalry withThe Harvard Crimson

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1886 example ofCrimson-teasing byLampooneditor T.P. Sanborn

TheLampoonhas a long-standing rivalry with Harvard's student newspaper,The Harvard Crimson,which repeatedly refers to theLampoonin its pages as a "semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization which used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine".[12][13]

TheLampoon–Crimsonrivalry was furthered by theCrimson's1953 theft of the Lampoon Castle'sibisstatue and presentation of it as a gift to the government of theSoviet Union.[14][15]

On September 27, 2011, theLampoonstole theHarvard CrimsonPresident's Chair, and had it used as a prop onLate Night with Jimmy Fallon.[16]On June 2, 2015, theLampoonagain stole theHarvard CrimsonPresident's Chair; this time, pretending that it was theHarvard Crimson's editorial staff, they took the chair to Trump Tower to fake endorsement for later-presidentDonald Trump.[17]

Notable members

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Main article:List of The Harvard Lampoon members

Publications

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  • Masthead of the Harvard Lampoon
    Masthead of theHarvard Lampoon
  • Lampoon's Ibis Mascot c.1888
    Lampoon's Ibis Mascot c.1888
  • Lampy posing in an image from an 1886 Lampoon
    Lampy posing in an image from an 1886Lampoon

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Wright is cited as Comedian of Year".The Salina Journal.April 4, 1990. p. 24.RetrievedNovember 22,2013.
  2. ^Rosenwald, Michael (March 11, 2001)."The last laugh".Boston Globe Magazine.RetrievedMay 17,2019.
  3. ^Schuessler, Jennifer (January 17, 2010)."Hardcover".The New York Times.
  4. ^The Hunger Pains.Simon & Schuster. February 7, 2012.ISBN9781451668209.RetrievedMay 17,2019.
  5. ^Cowles, Gregory (April 1, 2012)."Print & E-Books".The New York Times.
  6. ^Schonberger, Nick (November 12, 2012)."The 10 Most Ridiculous Phallic Buildings".Complex.RetrievedMay 17,2019.
  7. ^"The Founders. A.D. 1876".The Harvard lampoon fiftieth anniversary 1876–1926.Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard lampoon. 1926.
  8. ^Report – Harvard College (1780– ). Class of 1877.1917. p. 338.
  9. ^The American Pageant: A History of the Republic, Thirteenth edition.2006.
  10. ^Paisner, Daniel (October 20, 1981)."Parodies from an institution: The Lampooning of 'People'".The Boston Phoenix.RetrievedJune 4,2024.
  11. ^Karp, Josh (2006).A Futile and Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney andNational LampoonChanged Comedy Forever.Chicago Review Press. pp.29–30.ISBN978-1-55652-602-2.
  12. ^Harvard Crimson, February 1, 2006
  13. ^"Young Rich Lands Book Deal".thecrimson.com.RetrievedJuly 3,2015.
  14. ^"The Rhodes Roster".Harvard Magazine.March–April 2004.RetrievedOctober 11,2013.
  15. ^"'Dove of Peace' is 'Bird'; Harvard Crimson's Gift to Reds Ends Up as Campus Prank ".The New York Times.April 22, 1953. p. 24.RetrievedMay 17,2019.
  16. ^"Crimson President's Chair on Jimmy Fallon!".The Harvard Crimson.RetrievedSeptember 28,2011.
  17. ^Zimmerman, Neetzan(August 3, 2015)."Harvard Lampoon tricks Trump with fake endorsement".The Hill.RetrievedDecember 29,2017.

Further reading

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  • Kaplan, Martin, ed. (1973).The Harvard Lampoon Centennial Celebration, 1876-1973.Boston: Little, Brown and Company.ISBN978-0316482707.
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