Kenney Douglas C - A futile and stupid gesture: how Doug Kenney and National lampoon changed comedy forever

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Karp, Josh.

A futile and stupid gesture : how Doug Kenney and National lampoon changed comedy forever / Josh Karp.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-55652-602-4

1. National lampoonHistory. 2. Kenney, Douglas C. 3. Periodical editorsUnited StatesBiography. 4. ComediansUnited States Biography. 5. American wit and humor20th centuryHistory and criticism. 6. United StatesIntellectual life20th century. I. Title.

PN4900.N324K37 2006

Cover art: Rick Meyerowitz
Cover design: Todd Petersen
Interior design: Pamela Jurez

All excerpts from National Lampoon magazine are courtesy of National Lampoon, Inc.

Judith Bruce grants permission to reprint the personal letter to her from Doug Kenney.

Quoted material that appears on p. xi reprinted with permission of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group from West of Then by Tara Bray Smith. Copyright 2004 by Tara Bray Smith.

Quoted material that appears on p. 22 reprinted with permission by Seven Locks Press from Running from America: The Poems and Plays of Timothy Mayer. Copyright 1991 by Timothy Mayer, edited by Paul Schmidt.

Quoted material that appears on p. 41 from Here Is New York reprinted by permission of International Creative Management, Inc. Copyright 1949 by E. B. White.

2006 by Josh Karp
All rights reserved
First edition
Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
ISBN-13: 978-1-55652-602-2
ISBN-10: 1-55652-602-4
Printed in the United States of America
5 4 3 2 1

For Douglas Clark Kenney
and Mary Jordan Karp
two gentle souls.
May they be at peace.

T he creation of this book involved the collaboration, time, talent, and patience of more people than I could ever hope to thank in a list that covers less ground than the many volumes tracking the life of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Thus, any individuals excluded from this brief list should know that their efforts are deeply appreciated.

Though over a hundred individuals were interviewed for the book, I would like to single out the following: Chris Miller, who served as my introduction to Doug Kenney and the people of National Lampoon; Michael Simmons, a good friend who was invaluable at several critical junctures; illustrator Rick Meyerowitz, who drew a fabulous cover and e-mailed with me about anything and everything; Sean Kelly, who made me laugh like no one else; Private Ollie Hallowell of Milton Academy and Harvard; S. Roger Cox; and Thom Mount, my resource for all things Hollywood.

Alex Garcia-Mata and Kathryn Walker for their willingness to discuss their relationships with Doug with honesty. I thank them both for their patience with my endless questions.

P. J. ORourke stands out for his thoughtfulness and candor in a situation where he had little to gain from his participation. With maturity and self-knowledge, he viewed the world of National Lampoon in the 1970s with as much objectivity as possible. For that I am indebted to him.

I would also like to thank: Judith Bruce; Robert Hoffman; Chris Cerf; Rusty Lemorande; Trevor Albert; Don MacDonald; Michael OKeefe; Chevy Chase; Peter Kleinman; Laila Nabulsi; Brian McConnachie; Ellis Weiner; Jaime Wolf at Pelosi, Wolf, Effron and Spates; Dan Laikin at National Lampoon; Craig Lambert of Harvard Magazine; Kate Meyers; Danny Abelson; Meghan Snyder; and Lucy Fisher.

Dennis Perrin, who helped me in more ways than I can mention and is my brother in the Lampoon bio fraternity; Michael Wilde, whose insight and structural analysis opened new doors for me; Rebecca Little, who took my vague direction and came back with more information than I dreamed of; my agent, Leslie Breed (who sold it), and Cynthia Sherry at Chicago Review Press (who bought it), for their enthusiasm for this book and its subjectwhich speaks nothing of their patience with my missed deadlines and other travails.

At Chicago Review Press: Lisa Rosenthal, for her wonderful editing, sense of humor, and ability to understand both the material and my long explanations of fairly straightforward questions; managing editor Gerilee Hundt; production editor Allison Felus; copyeditor Brooke Kush; interior designer Pamela Jurez; and everyone else who made everything happen.

Thanks also to Mark Simonson (proprietor of marksverylarge. com, the definitive Lampoon Web site) and Joe Paulinotwo Lampoon fans who helped me immensely, especially with unearthing difficult to find articles, tapes, and other ephemera. Scott Lax, my tour guide in Chagrin Falls; Mike Gerber, who discussed Doug Kenney, National Lampoon, and American humor with me at lengths and to depths for which both of us should be forced to enter a twelve-step program; David Standish, who introduced me to Chris Miller and helped me learn how to write good; and the esteemed Bill Zehme.

Finally, I must thank a group of friends and family, without whom, for various reasons, Id either not be here, be less happy, or wouldnt have anyone to e-mail or live with. My oldest friend, Dan Stein; Pete Smith; Evan Kraus; Jimmy Carrane and the 2005 Chicago White Sox; my in-laws, John and Ro McLaughlin, and their children Shamus, Kate (and Frank), and Clancy; my father, Jack Karp, who taught me the value of the written word, and my mother, Betsy Karp, who demonstrated how far determination can take a human being; my brother, Jeremy, with whom I share much; my three sons, Will, Leo, and Teddy, who provide joy, chaos, and love in equal parts.

And last, thank you to my wife, Susan, my muse, whose love, sense of humor, and beauty are more than I could have wished for.

Theres no free brunch.

Doug Kenney

O TTER: I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebodys part.

B LUTO: Were just the guys to do it.

[T]he sense of uncertainty plus the possibility afforded by this country, by its natural wealth, and by its growing, by the diversity of its regions and its people, made for the need of humor which would, first allow us to deal with the unexpected; and second allow us to adjust to one another in our diversity. The northerner found the southerner strange. The southerner found the northerner despicable. The blacks found the whites peculiar. The whites found the blacks ridiculous. And you know how it goes. Some agency had to be adopted which would allow us to live with one another without destroying one another, and the agency was laughterwas humor... if you can laugh at me, then you dont have to kill me. If I can laugh at you, I dont have to kill you.

Ralph Ellison

Tourists came and went and did what they pleased. They got stuck in mountaintops and in blowholes; they fell down cliffs and waterfalls; were stung by all manner of creatures; burned preposterously; they fell on lava rocks and got lost in caves and floated off to sea. Better to pay as little attention to them as possible.

West of Then, Tara Bray Smiths memoir
of growing up in Hawaii

T he Chateau Marmont is where Rebel Without a Cause