Sunday, July 27, 2014

Key Figures Behind 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.

Parody was greatly used in the writings of the magazine. This was boosted by the great appeal of its content. Its humor transcended the perceived standards of acceptability.

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.

It initial days were a little difficult though the it managed to pull through. Its first publications focused on virtually all matters ranging political to social. Its editors were known to have strong political views though their publications or the paper itself desisted from taking a political stand.

Its monthly editions, according to many fanatics, will be greatly missed. Besides these publications, the paper engaged in side projects such as songbooks, calendars, books and t shirts.

Some of the most humorous acerbic articles were published under Michael c.in 1974.They concentrated on many issues, most memorable being the Vietnam War and a satirical look at the argentine revolution. The parody in these writings was creatively employed. A caption showing a dog terribly worried due to a gun being pointed on it, followed by a designation that if one did not purchase the magazine the dog would be shot, became very famous at the time.

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.

He left in 1988 to join the private sector. After this year, lampoon experienced 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 will be remembered some parts in the magazine that contained real and factual information though they were presented in a satirical manner. In fact some of the parts were compiled into books in the 1980s. It also acted as a great outlet of notable talent. Cartoonist and photographers of no mean fete first worked here. Many comedy stars also trace their roots here.




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