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The Best of the Harvard Lampoon: 140 Years of American Humor
A collection of the best of The Harvard Lampoon—the spawning ground for Hollywood’s elite comedy writers and New Yorker humorists—revealing the hidden gems from their 140-year history.Since its inception in 1876, The Harvard Lampoon has become a farm system for Hollywood’s best and most revered comedy writers. Lampoon alumni can be found behind the scenes of sitcoms and late-night shows, including Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, The Office, 30 Rock, The Mindy Project, and many others. The Best of the Harvard Lampoon is the first anthology of The Lampoon’s extensive archives, featuring luminaries who have gone on to shape the comedy and literary landscape along with some of the best cartoons, illustrations, and satirical advertisements from over the years. Contributors include B.J. Novak, Henry Beard, Andy Borowitz, George Plimpton, Conan O’Brien, John Updike, Patricia Marx, and many others, with an introduction by New York Times bestselling author Simon Rich.
- GenresHumorNonfiction
315 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 15, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 28, 2016
This was the "best" of the Harvard Lampoon? I had to keep checking the cover to make sure I hadn't misread the title, because this collection of mostly banal writing is practically guaranteed not to bring a smile.
August 11, 2020
Not really funny
First of all, most of the content is from the 1970's onward, so forget about 146 years of humor. Secondly, the articles seem to have been chosen more for what the writer is known for today than from being exceptionally humorous. But I was glad to see that even a Harvard student can't spell villain.
First of all, most of the content is from the 1970's onward, so forget about 146 years of humor. Secondly, the articles seem to have been chosen more for what the writer is known for today than from being exceptionally humorous. But I was glad to see that even a Harvard student can't spell villain.
September 12, 2026
The title The Best of the Harvard Lampoon is way more promising than what is delivered. Features some very interesting writers and entertainers who used to be on Harvard Lampoon's staff (such as John Updike, Fred "Herman Munster" Gwynne, and Conan O'Brien), but the majority of these essays and musings just are not funny or even that interesting. I like bizarre, absurd non-sequitor comedy and this has that, but very little of it hits the funny bone.
January 12, 2020
Before I read this book, I read the reviews. And to the reviews that complained that it “wasn’t funny”, I mentally turned up my nose. Maybe they just didn’t *get it*. Now, may I offer my most humble apologies. It actually isn’t that funny. And not particularly enjoyable either. It got three stars, 2 because of my love of Harvard and one for the book itself.
January 15, 2023
Mildly humorous
It was interesting to see some of the personalities and their articles. As expected, some of the humor was dated due to the lengthy run of the Harvard Lampoon. There were some famous names that went on to great careers but overall this was not as entertaining nor funny as I expected.
It was interesting to see some of the personalities and their articles. As expected, some of the humor was dated due to the lengthy run of the Harvard Lampoon. There were some famous names that went on to great careers but overall this was not as entertaining nor funny as I expected.
February 25, 2018
For a book that is supposed to be funny, it failed it's purpose. I didn't laugh out loud once. I'm not even sure I ever smiled! The only "fun" thing about the book was recognizing the names of some of the contributors.
May 12, 2017
My God. How could so many smart and talented people be so consistently unfunny? A big disappointment.
Al Jean and Mike Reiss's piece on magicians was easily the best thing here.
Al Jean and Mike Reiss's piece on magicians was easily the best thing here.
June 30, 2020
NOT funny. Major disappointment.
May 8, 2021
A compilation of banal student writing. Dropped about 10% in.
January 20, 2023
Genuinely impossible for “The Diary of an Amoeba” to not be funny
Read
December 10, 2024A handful of funny chapters, but mostly unfunny. I feel like Harvard Lampoon could have put together a better collection than this.
July 16, 2026
I was optimistic. With notable alumni like Jim Downey, Conan O’Brien, and John Updike, how could I not be?
The laughs… were scarce.
The laughs… were scarce.
July 8, 2021
Source of Recent Comedy Literature and Radio/TV Scene - When reading Ben Blatt’s "Nabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve: What the Numbers Reveal About the Classics, Bestsellers, and Our Own Writing," I first became aware of this book as looking for more information on the author’s background. While I learned more about Blatt and his former Lampoon co-author Eric Brewster from their "I Don't Care if We Never Get Back: 30 Games in 30 Days on the Best Worst Baseball Road Trip Ever," it was interesting to get a better feel for the publication where they and others have made their start going on to become professional writers. Moreover, as I continued in reading popular writing around this time, I was impressed to see how many authors from the Lampoon have affected our recent comedy literature and radio/TV scene.
The book contents include an Introduction from comedian and writer Simon Rich which although comic does provide some useful information, e.g. the Lampoon dates from 1876, modeled after British magazine Punch. There are some 123 articles or pieces in chronological order from 1886 over 246 pages or an average of 2 pages each, with most items being short in length. A helpful listing of brief contributor bios is included over 8 pages at the end.
In terms of content, the Lampoon covers and subscription solicitation ads from over the years are fascinating as they give some common basis to see how the publication has changed over time. As I read through, some articles didn’t affect me while with others I was chuckling. The ones that were particularly meaningful were those where I was familiar or had seen mention of the authors previously and it was curious to see their college work. For instance, the pieces by George Plimpton and John Updike who both were associates and inspirations for Garrison Keillor (see my review of "The Keillor Reader: Looking Back at Forty Years of Stories: Where Did They All Come From?") were affecting: Plimpton’s later athletic farces (e.g. "Paper Lion") seem to be a departure from his tuba and sax player shorts, whereas Updyke’s “The Different One” seems in an odd way to prefigure his Rabbit series (e.g. Rabbit, Run). Then there were Conan O’Brien’s “Nader’s Raiders of the Lost Ark” and Colin Jost’s “Advice from a Car Thief” where these bits sound like those they do for Conan on TBS and Saturday Night Live Weekend Update respectively.
Amidst the overwhelmingly white, male and politically incorrect collection, it was telling to see where the first woman’s entry came from 1963 and the first woman member’s one was from 1974. Thus, it was some consolation to see the first non-white woman Lampoon president, Alexis Wilkinson’s “Study Buddies” from 2015 as the last of the articles. (A Lampoon profile by CBS TV’s 60 Minutes done this past season is also informative in this regard.)
When I saw the inclusions by Josh Lieb (such as “Missy Manners”) who had been with David Javerbaum writing for Jon Stewart (see my review of "The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History as Told by Jon Stewart, the Correspondents, Staff and Guests") before producing for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, I had hoped to have a little more reflection on the type of comedy issuing from the Lampoon (e.g. in the other book Javerbaum had commented on Horatian and Juvenalian comedy). However, I will have to find another source for more considered thought about roots and more intellectual connections (e.g. to works like that of Louis Menands "The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America").
None the less, a few pieces like “WASP Jokes” from 1974 by Thomas R. Feran, Jr. (long time Cleveland Plain Dealer journalist) provide us with some clues: “In clawing their way to their current position in American society, our Anglo-Saxon forebears learned that laughter is indeed the best medicine. In doing so, they developed a brand of humor all their own, a light-hearted sometimes sardonic way of looking at themselves and their foibles. It wasn’t long before other groups joined in the fun and this proud and colorful people found itself the butt of good natured jibes at its customs and traits. In a free country such as ours, where no sacred cow is safe from having toes stepped on, the WASPs soon joined in the laughter. We hope you will, too, no matter what your nationality.” Indeed!
The book contents include an Introduction from comedian and writer Simon Rich which although comic does provide some useful information, e.g. the Lampoon dates from 1876, modeled after British magazine Punch. There are some 123 articles or pieces in chronological order from 1886 over 246 pages or an average of 2 pages each, with most items being short in length. A helpful listing of brief contributor bios is included over 8 pages at the end.
In terms of content, the Lampoon covers and subscription solicitation ads from over the years are fascinating as they give some common basis to see how the publication has changed over time. As I read through, some articles didn’t affect me while with others I was chuckling. The ones that were particularly meaningful were those where I was familiar or had seen mention of the authors previously and it was curious to see their college work. For instance, the pieces by George Plimpton and John Updike who both were associates and inspirations for Garrison Keillor (see my review of "The Keillor Reader: Looking Back at Forty Years of Stories: Where Did They All Come From?") were affecting: Plimpton’s later athletic farces (e.g. "Paper Lion") seem to be a departure from his tuba and sax player shorts, whereas Updyke’s “The Different One” seems in an odd way to prefigure his Rabbit series (e.g. Rabbit, Run). Then there were Conan O’Brien’s “Nader’s Raiders of the Lost Ark” and Colin Jost’s “Advice from a Car Thief” where these bits sound like those they do for Conan on TBS and Saturday Night Live Weekend Update respectively.
Amidst the overwhelmingly white, male and politically incorrect collection, it was telling to see where the first woman’s entry came from 1963 and the first woman member’s one was from 1974. Thus, it was some consolation to see the first non-white woman Lampoon president, Alexis Wilkinson’s “Study Buddies” from 2015 as the last of the articles. (A Lampoon profile by CBS TV’s 60 Minutes done this past season is also informative in this regard.)
When I saw the inclusions by Josh Lieb (such as “Missy Manners”) who had been with David Javerbaum writing for Jon Stewart (see my review of "The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History as Told by Jon Stewart, the Correspondents, Staff and Guests") before producing for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, I had hoped to have a little more reflection on the type of comedy issuing from the Lampoon (e.g. in the other book Javerbaum had commented on Horatian and Juvenalian comedy). However, I will have to find another source for more considered thought about roots and more intellectual connections (e.g. to works like that of Louis Menands "The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America").
None the less, a few pieces like “WASP Jokes” from 1974 by Thomas R. Feran, Jr. (long time Cleveland Plain Dealer journalist) provide us with some clues: “In clawing their way to their current position in American society, our Anglo-Saxon forebears learned that laughter is indeed the best medicine. In doing so, they developed a brand of humor all their own, a light-hearted sometimes sardonic way of looking at themselves and their foibles. It wasn’t long before other groups joined in the fun and this proud and colorful people found itself the butt of good natured jibes at its customs and traits. In a free country such as ours, where no sacred cow is safe from having toes stepped on, the WASPs soon joined in the laughter. We hope you will, too, no matter what your nationality.” Indeed!
August 16, 2021
Are there funny bits? Yes.
Did it make me laugh out loud roughly four times? Yes.
Does it get funnier near the end of the book? Yes.
Am I going to give it only one star? Yes.
Is that because I refuse to conform to what I believe is a dumb, pathetic, and pointless multi-star rating system and so always rate things as either five stars or one star, essentially saying that either something is worth reading or not worth reading? Yes.
Do I find people who rate things with four stars or two stars pretentious, because really why would something that you consider four stars not just as well be considered five stars and why would something that you consider two stars not just as well be considered one star, and on that train of thought why bother with three star things either, since they're basically one star things too? Yes.
All that being said, am I giving this book one star because really, even though it was funny in a couple moments, on the whole it felt grossly full of itself and posh in a way that left a bad taste in my mouth? Yes.
Is the format of my review also posh and full of itself and therefore no better than the book in question, but also a sort of clever commentary on the voice of the book, but in acknowledging that the review is a sort of clever commentary on the voice of the book essentially ruining the impact of said clever commentary, but in acknowledging that I acknowledged it and ruined it, somehow saving it again? Yes.
Should I stop writing this now, as if I go literally any further with this bit I will be doing nothing other than beating a dead horse? Yes.
But if I wrote one more question, simply so I wouldn't end on that last one, as a way to sort of subvert people's expectations, would that be OK? Yes.
And, completely off topic, but since I have you here and we're discussing this book, wouldn't you agree that people from big fancy schools like Harvard are rather cringe and only think they're funny because they're in a place like Harvard, and everybody else from Harvard assures them that they're funny because they're at Harvard too, when in actuality none of them are funny at all, and besides, you're not completely convinced Harvard is even a real place, and if it isn't real, then all those cringe people from Harvard are going to feel pretty stupid when they find out their big, fancy school isn't a real place and this whole time that they've been thinking they're better than everyone, they've actually been no better than any of us common peasants? Yes.
Thank you. That's all I wanted to know.
Did it make me laugh out loud roughly four times? Yes.
Does it get funnier near the end of the book? Yes.
Am I going to give it only one star? Yes.
Is that because I refuse to conform to what I believe is a dumb, pathetic, and pointless multi-star rating system and so always rate things as either five stars or one star, essentially saying that either something is worth reading or not worth reading? Yes.
Do I find people who rate things with four stars or two stars pretentious, because really why would something that you consider four stars not just as well be considered five stars and why would something that you consider two stars not just as well be considered one star, and on that train of thought why bother with three star things either, since they're basically one star things too? Yes.
All that being said, am I giving this book one star because really, even though it was funny in a couple moments, on the whole it felt grossly full of itself and posh in a way that left a bad taste in my mouth? Yes.
Is the format of my review also posh and full of itself and therefore no better than the book in question, but also a sort of clever commentary on the voice of the book, but in acknowledging that the review is a sort of clever commentary on the voice of the book essentially ruining the impact of said clever commentary, but in acknowledging that I acknowledged it and ruined it, somehow saving it again? Yes.
Should I stop writing this now, as if I go literally any further with this bit I will be doing nothing other than beating a dead horse? Yes.
But if I wrote one more question, simply so I wouldn't end on that last one, as a way to sort of subvert people's expectations, would that be OK? Yes.
And, completely off topic, but since I have you here and we're discussing this book, wouldn't you agree that people from big fancy schools like Harvard are rather cringe and only think they're funny because they're in a place like Harvard, and everybody else from Harvard assures them that they're funny because they're at Harvard too, when in actuality none of them are funny at all, and besides, you're not completely convinced Harvard is even a real place, and if it isn't real, then all those cringe people from Harvard are going to feel pretty stupid when they find out their big, fancy school isn't a real place and this whole time that they've been thinking they're better than everyone, they've actually been no better than any of us common peasants? Yes.
Thank you. That's all I wanted to know.
November 29, 2016
Full disclosure, I didn’t know much about the Harvard Lampoon before I started this book. I was primarily drawn to it because of the lengthy list of contributors.
We start off in the late 1800s/early 1900s, which is significantly earlier than I would have expected this journey to start. I personally really enjoyed “Worst Aid to the Injured” and “How I Was Taken at the Cleaners”. I very much appreciated seeing humor that I wouldn’t have otherwise associated with this time period.
Now, because this is a collection of tales written by a number of various people, it’s hit or miss. There are stories that are great and made me laugh out loud and then there were others that I skimmed through because they simply didn’t interest me. In addition to this, a number of these stories were very much written in different times and because of that, they aren’t all as inclusive as I hope for in my current stories.
I mentioned at the beginning of this review that I mainly read this because I recognized a number of the names of the contributors. That doesn’t start to kick in until about two-thirds of the way through the book, which would be about the mid-1980s. However, those names don’t seem to stick around very long.
Honestly, for me, this book was more miss than hit. I think if you’re more familiar with the Harvard Lampoon and their work, you’ll probably enjoy this a lot more. I was kindly provided a copy of this book by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Originally posted on The Reading Raindoe
We start off in the late 1800s/early 1900s, which is significantly earlier than I would have expected this journey to start. I personally really enjoyed “Worst Aid to the Injured” and “How I Was Taken at the Cleaners”. I very much appreciated seeing humor that I wouldn’t have otherwise associated with this time period.
Now, because this is a collection of tales written by a number of various people, it’s hit or miss. There are stories that are great and made me laugh out loud and then there were others that I skimmed through because they simply didn’t interest me. In addition to this, a number of these stories were very much written in different times and because of that, they aren’t all as inclusive as I hope for in my current stories.
I mentioned at the beginning of this review that I mainly read this because I recognized a number of the names of the contributors. That doesn’t start to kick in until about two-thirds of the way through the book, which would be about the mid-1980s. However, those names don’t seem to stick around very long.
Honestly, for me, this book was more miss than hit. I think if you’re more familiar with the Harvard Lampoon and their work, you’ll probably enjoy this a lot more. I was kindly provided a copy of this book by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Originally posted on The Reading Raindoe
December 14, 2016
Love all the Harvard Lampoon books! Their 1876-1973 Centennial is the funniest book ever!
Want to Read
September 29, 2016Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
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