Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon

For everyone disappointed by Bao Nguyen’s flimsy and unilluminating Saturday Night Live documentary Live From New York released earlier in the year, here comes Douglas Tirola’s Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead.  The talking-head doc is a companion to Rick Meyerowitz’s similarly titled book about The National Lampoon, the humor magazine that blazed a trail for SNL, as well as just about every significant force in comedy since the seventies.  Tirola interviews nearly all the major living figures connected with the infamous publication—including Henry Beard, Matty Simmons, Tony Hendra, Chris Miller, Anne Beatts, P.J. O'Rourke, and Ivan Reitman—and compiles plenty of terrific stories about those groundbreaking contributors who didn’t survive into the aughts (Doug Kenney, Michael O'Donoghue, John Belushi, John Hughes). Though the film is a tad too briskly paced, the narratives flow nicely between the many storytellers, and the dynamic use of the magazine’s iconic covers and signature art design make for a thoroughly enjoyable viewing experience. Unlike Live From New York, there is a lot of information here that hasn’t been rehashed ad nauseam for the last forty years. True, some of these anecdotes are well known to comedy enthusiasts of a certain age (like me), but even if you’re deeply versed in the history, it’s great to hear these stories told on camera by the actual participants. 

The picture demonstrates the unquestionably vital role the magazine played in the history of American comedy and society, while never letting us forget that this “underground” cultural revolution was undertaken by a group comprised primarily of privileged straight white males. While the magazine (and films and TV shows it spawned) espoused an anti-establishment “slobs vs. snobs” ideal, most every participant actually belonged in both categories.