Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon

National Lampoon changed the face of comedy—initially in print with its eponymous magazine, before moving to the stage, radio, and film—presenting smart, crass, no-holds-barred humor that broke all boundaries of decency and political correctness while sparing no target. Filmmaker Douglas Tirola's documentary tells the story of this comedy juggernaut that was launched in the early 1970s by Harvard graduates Doug Kenney, Henry Beard, and Robert Hoffman, who wrangled the best of the best comedy writing for National Lampoon magazine, and then spun their variety of bawdy satire off into musical theater, a radio show, and movies like Animal House, Caddyshack, and Vacation. The talent that cycled through National Lampoon is staggering: P.J. O'Rourke, John Hughes, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Harold Ramis, Chevy Chase, John Landis, Ivan Reitman, Christopher Guest, Kevin Bacon…the list goes on and on. Colorful archival footage is combined here with remembrances from those who worked on various projects—which shared the aim of offending everyone while also making people laugh. Interviews with contemporaries such as filmmaker Judd Apatow also speak to the depth of National Lampoon's influence on current media. Of course, as the title suggests, booze and drugs served as much of the fuel during the early days, which had tragic consequences for one of the founders. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include additional interview footage (23 min.), the behind-the-scenes segments “Thoughts on Animal House” (10 min.), “Reading John Hughes” (7 min.), “Artists of National Lampoon” (4 min.), “Favorite National Lampoon Pieces” (3 min.), “Drugs in the Office” (2 min.), “Jaws: 3, People: 0” (2 min.), “Thoughts on SNL” (2 min.), “Chevy Chase ‘Seeds' Story” (2 min.), “Working in NYC,” and “John Goodman Reads Doug Kenney,” and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a fine documentary.] (P. Morehart)