What, if anything, is the relationship between the Harvard Lampoon and National Lampoon? I know that in 1970 the Harvard boys licensed the “Lampoon” name to National Lampoon and thus made tons of money, which they spent on a party. Cite: If at All Possible, Involve a Cow: The Book of College Pranks, by Neil Steinberg (New York: St. Martin’s, 1992). What I don’t understand is if the two publications are separate entities.
That is, is National Lampoon the exact same thing as the Harvard Lampoon, cover to cover, only distributed nationally. Do the two publications share any relationship at all? Or did the Harvard boys back in 1970 just give the other publication permission to use the word Lampoon? Did they thus become multi-millionaires (if they weren’t already, that is ) overnight? Was the money split between the then-current staff of the Lampoon, or did they distribute it to all living people who had worked for the Lampoon, going back to the beginning? Do current staffers of the Harvard Lampoon earn royalties, too? I’d think that a job on the Lampoon staff would be one of the most coveted positions at Harvard!
Finally, barring any relationship between the two publications, does National Lampoon accept free-lance manuscripts?
No, they’re not the same. I believe that National Lampoon was started by some alumni of the Harvard Lampoon. A number of famous people got a start there, including, I think, Conan O’Brien.
No, there is no present relationship. The original relationship, as cher3 says, was that some alumni of the Harvard Lampoon founded the National Lampoon back in 1970. Among the early staffers were Doug Kenny, P. J. O’Rourke, and Mike McDonough (later a key writer for Saturday Night Live), but I’m not certain which of these were on the Harvard Lampoon.
The National Lampoon first came out during my freshman year in college, and I and all my friends purchased it religiously. (IIRC, the Harvard Lampoon put out a Time magazine parody that year as well that was produced by many of the same writers.)
What I am curious about is the relationship between the current NL, and the one founded in 1970. I stopped buying it around the mid-70s. (Not sure if my sense of humor changed, or if the quality declined, but I suspect a little of both. ;)). I seem to recall looking for it on the newstands in the mid-80s out of nostalgia and not being able to find it. I’ve been wondering if it folded and was revived, or whether it’s been published continuously since 1970. Anybody know?
Small correction - the SNL writer and Lampoon alum who used to do impressions of people with steel spikes poked in their eyes was Michael O’Donoghue, not McDonough.
Not much to add, except that it was Michael O’Donohue (since departed) who was an early NL staffer and SNL writer; and to add Henry Beard to the list of those who made the transition. Bored of the Rings was authored by the Harvard Lampoon, specifically Beard and Kenney, who were the first editors of NL (and NL recycled many BotR jokes).
Lord, I miss those days. The first few years of NatLamp produced some incredibly funny stuff.
The current status of National Lampoon magazine is very tenuous. As I understand it, the current owners of National Lampoon magazine are predominently concerned with keeping the trademark alive for merchandizing reasons. However, to maintain their ownership of the trademark they have to publish the magazine on a semi-regular basis. So every couple of years they put together an issue of reprinted articles from old issues and toss a few hundred copies out on newstands.
Since several spellings of Mr. Mike’s name were proposed, I looked it up on the SNL FAQ: Michael O’Donoghue (aseymayo has it right). Thanks for the correction, as well as the reminder on Henry Beard from jsc.
Little Nemo, thanks for the explanation of what’s going on now. Do you know if the magazine ceased publication entirely for a while? I tried searching the web a couple of years ago for NL, and the only references were to the movies (Animal House and Summer Vacation, etc.). Last year I found the new magazine website, but it’s changed quite a bit since then.
When the National Lampoon was founded by various Harvard graduates in 1970 (I have the first issue somewhere), they generously gave the Harvard Lampoon a small royalty for the use of the name. Since NatLamp became a major magazine in the 70s, that was a good deal for the Harvard Lampoon.
I doubt the money goes to any of the Harvard Lampoon staff (if it’s even being paid at all). It’s probably used to pay production costs, and the occasional party.
Beard, Kenney, and Christopher Cerf, had a very successful tenure at the Harvard Lampoon, putting out their highly successful “Life” magazine parody (1968), the “Time” Parody (1969), “Bored of the Rings,” and even a record album “The Surprising Sheep and Other Mind Excursions.” The success of these got them backing to go national.
As for submissions, the old NatLamp would not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
) overnight? Was the money split between the then-current staff of the Lampoon, or did they distribute it to all living people who had worked for the Lampoon, going back to the beginning? Do current staffers of the Harvard Lampoon earn royalties, too? I’d think that a job on the Lampoon staff would be one of the most coveted positions at Harvard!