That's Not Funny, That's Sick: The National Lampoon and the Comedy Insurgents Who Captured the Mainstream

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Theatre, Comedy, Biography & Memoir, Literary, Humour & Comedy, General Humour
Cover of the book That's Not Funny, That's Sick: The National Lampoon and the Comedy Insurgents Who Captured the Mainstream by Ellin Stein, W. W. Norton & Company
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ellin Stein ISBN: 9780393084375
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Publication: June 24, 2013
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company Language: English
Author: Ellin Stein
ISBN: 9780393084375
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication: June 24, 2013
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
Language: English

"Smart, knowing, and deeply reported, the definitive history of one of modern American humor’s wellsprings." —Kurt Andersen, author of Fantasyland, host of NPR’s Studio 360

Labor Day, 1969. Two recent college graduates move to New York to edit a new magazine called The National Lampoon. Over the next decade, Henry Beard and Doug Kenney, along with a loose amalgamation of fellow satirists including Michael O’Donoghue and P. J. O’Rourke, popularized a smart, caustic, ironic brand of humor that has become the dominant voice of American comedy.

Ranging from sophisticated political satire to broad raunchy jokes, the National Lampoon introduced iconoclasm to the mainstream, selling millions of copies to an audience both large and devoted. Its excursions into live shows, records, and radio helped shape the anarchic earthiness of John Belushi, the suave slapstick of Chevy Chase, and the deadpan wit of Bill Murray, and brought them together with other talents such as Harold Ramis, Christopher Guest, and Gilda Radner. A new generation of humorists emerged from the crucible of the Lampoon to help create Saturday Night Live and the influential film Animal House, among many other notable comedy landmarks.

Journalist Ellin Stein, an observer of the scene since the early 1970s, draws on a wealth of revealing, firsthand interviews with the architects and impresarios of this comedy explosion to offer crucial insight into a cultural transformation that still echoes today. Brimming with insider stories and set against the roiling political and cultural landscape of the 1970s, That’s Not Funny, That’s Sick goes behind the jokes to witness the fights, the parties, the collaborations—and the competition—among this fraternity of the self-consciously disenchanted. Decades later, their brand of subversive humor that provokes, offends, and often illuminates is as relevant and necessary as ever.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

"Smart, knowing, and deeply reported, the definitive history of one of modern American humor’s wellsprings." —Kurt Andersen, author of Fantasyland, host of NPR’s Studio 360

Labor Day, 1969. Two recent college graduates move to New York to edit a new magazine called The National Lampoon. Over the next decade, Henry Beard and Doug Kenney, along with a loose amalgamation of fellow satirists including Michael O’Donoghue and P. J. O’Rourke, popularized a smart, caustic, ironic brand of humor that has become the dominant voice of American comedy.

Ranging from sophisticated political satire to broad raunchy jokes, the National Lampoon introduced iconoclasm to the mainstream, selling millions of copies to an audience both large and devoted. Its excursions into live shows, records, and radio helped shape the anarchic earthiness of John Belushi, the suave slapstick of Chevy Chase, and the deadpan wit of Bill Murray, and brought them together with other talents such as Harold Ramis, Christopher Guest, and Gilda Radner. A new generation of humorists emerged from the crucible of the Lampoon to help create Saturday Night Live and the influential film Animal House, among many other notable comedy landmarks.

Journalist Ellin Stein, an observer of the scene since the early 1970s, draws on a wealth of revealing, firsthand interviews with the architects and impresarios of this comedy explosion to offer crucial insight into a cultural transformation that still echoes today. Brimming with insider stories and set against the roiling political and cultural landscape of the 1970s, That’s Not Funny, That’s Sick goes behind the jokes to witness the fights, the parties, the collaborations—and the competition—among this fraternity of the self-consciously disenchanted. Decades later, their brand of subversive humor that provokes, offends, and often illuminates is as relevant and necessary as ever.

More books from W. W. Norton & Company

Cover of the book The Cherry Orchard by Ellin Stein
Cover of the book Schnitzler's Century: The Making of Middle-Class Culture 1815-1914 by Ellin Stein
Cover of the book Love and Ruin: Tales of Obsession, Danger, and Heartbreak from The Atavist Magazine by Ellin Stein
Cover of the book Narrative Therapy in Wonderland: Connecting with Children's Imaginative Know-How by Ellin Stein
Cover of the book RAF: The Birth of the World's First Air Force by Ellin Stein
Cover of the book Brewster: A Novel by Ellin Stein
Cover of the book Family Life: A Novel by Ellin Stein
Cover of the book A Clinical Introduction to Freud: Techniques for Everyday Practice by Ellin Stein
Cover of the book Land of Fish and Rice: Recipes from the Culinary Heart of China by Ellin Stein
Cover of the book Eleanor: The Years Alone by Ellin Stein
Cover of the book The Shadow King: A Novel by Ellin Stein
Cover of the book Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity by Ellin Stein
Cover of the book Rereading Women: Thirty Years of Exploring Our Literary Traditions by Ellin Stein
Cover of the book Joy Ride: Show People and Their Shows by Ellin Stein
Cover of the book Grace Notes: A Novel by Ellin Stein
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy