By: Tony Hendra Publisher: Doubleday Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Doubleday Number of Pages: 479 Publication Date: October 06, 1987 Release Date: October 06, 1987
The History of "Sick" Humor in America and More Despite what others might think, this book is a useful history for anyone who wishes to track the development and decline of "edgy" humor in the United States. Hendra is not egotistical but brutally honest when it comes to analyzing the difference between the type of satire that formerly characterized the genre in question and the uninspired descendants that have sapped such humor of its value.
Other Amazon reviewers have taken it upon themselves to psychoanalyze the author and have concluded that his motives here emerge from bitterness and a lack of success--a judgment that suggests that some readers didn't understand Hendra's point and have allowed their own affection for the lesser forms of this humor to take offense at Hendra's analysis. The author, in fact, gives a fairly reasonable argument as to how the form of sick or subversive humor was adopted by imitators like Lorne Michaels without concern for the socially relevant content that allowed National Lampoon to thrive at the end of the youth movement. Most of what followed this generation of humor retained the facade of hipness without the conscience. Sadly, Hendra's comments are as true today as they were in 1987.
Anyone born in the latter half of the twentieth century and beyond who believes they have an irreverent sense of humor and would like to know where it came from would find this an enlightening read.
Psychotic murk compels me to beat up Tony's detractors Hendra's forte is journalism. Not the actual writing of actual comedy. Although he's certainly had his moments. In fact, he even managed to out-poeticize Sean Kelly via DETERIORATA. Tony's analysis of Lenny Bruce is an indispensable supplement to Albert Goldman's book about Bruce. Also included is his description of Chris Ross's brilliant ACID skit. A skit which otherwise might've completely disappeared from public record. (Unless it appeared in a movie called A SESSION WITH THE COMMITTEE.) My favorite thing in the book is a certain phrase that Tony came up with: "the psychotic murk of machismo".
Informative, egotistical, overblown... Yes, the contradictions in the review title describe the way Tony Hendra chose to do his "history" of Boomer humor, which he tracks down from Mort Sahl through Second City, Nichols and May, Lenny Bruce, right up to the National Lampoon and SNL. Witty, welldone, but also reaching in many respects, this is a good primer on the way humor came to shape national consciousness in the Fifties and beyond.
I picked up Hendra's tome for the Lampoon memoir alone (having aspirations of getting published on the web version myself) and hadn't really intended to read the first section dealing with the Fifties and so on. But I decided to do so anyway, and found it to be very interesting and essential to setting up Hendra's own time at National Lampoon.
There are problems I have with the book, starting with the bitching about pretty much everything P.J. O'Rourke did at the Lamp. Hendra, writing this in '87, might very well be telling the truth about his feelings towards the more successful O'Rourke, but it comes off as petty in the book. Hendra is not himself totally without fault. As a previous reviewer points out, Hendra's vehement denials and so forth seem to serve the opposite purpose of giving lie to his statements.
I came away from this book liking Hendra in spite of his more self-absorbed writings. In contrast to the same reviewer whom I cited earlier, I found the descriptions of the various issues of Lampoon to be fascinating (I wish I knew of a store in my area that sold old issues, just so I could see for myself). Also, the portraits that emerge of Hendra's collegues (Doug Kenney, O'Donaghue, Henry Beard, Bruce McCall, Chris Miller and even P.J. O'Rourke to an extent) show them for all their faults to be the best writers at that time for the Lampoon.
All in all, I'd recommend this to anyone interested in the arc of Boomer humor, or just postwar comedy in general. The railing Hendra does against TV should also be of interest to social historians, because it justifies attacks on television as being artifical (contrary to reality shows' bread and butter), and narcotic in its effects. The brief time spent on SNL was illuminating because it revealed what I felt all along: Lorne Michaels is a phony.
True, some will argue that Hendra's speil against Michaels and others is part of some bitterness over not being as successful as his peers. That certainly tempers the book for an informed reader, but it shouldn't distract from the fact that, while associated with the Lampoon, Hendra did some very good work that shouldn't be forgotten or tossed aside. Also, his is the only real "history" of the Lampoon that I would trust for an introduction.
So get this book if you want to learn the real meanings behind Animal House, the story of great writers like Kenney, Beard, et. al, and the contributions of Bruce and Sahl and so many others. A more expansive volume covering the period would be desired, but so far this is the best that's out there. I enjoyed it, and I hope future readers of the book will too. (Fans of Reagan might not like it, but tough luck)
"Nothing is over until we say it is!"
not far enough The premise is that "boomer humor" equals getting a laugh while prodding the sacred cows of post-WW2 America. Along with scattered remarks about other humorists/comedians, Hendra tracks a progression from Saul to Bruce to Second City and the Committee to R. Crumb to the National Lampoon to Saturday Night Live, where he says "boomer humor" becomes co-opted, loses its vitality, and dies. The analysis is very good, his writing is clear and clever, and there are plenty of reprinted examples.
But Hendra gets long-winded and defensive when covering his involvement with the Lampoon and "Lemmings". We get far too many pages about his interpersonal dealings with his associates ...,("I did not steal O'Donohue's girlfriend", "I did not introduce Belushi to coke", "I did not rip-off Monty Python") while dozens of great artists are ignored in this 454 page book. Aside from the denial, for example, you get nothing else about Monty Python.
It's an entertaining and informative read, but a very subjective and narrow treatment, given its length. Nevertheless, if you're interested in the subject, it's worth your time.
VERY INTERESTING, BUT... The premise is that "boomer humor" equals getting a laugh while prodding the sacred cows of post-WW2 America.
Along with scattered remarks about other humorists/comedians, Hendra tracks a progression from Saul to Bruce to Second City and the Committee to R. Crumb to the National Lampoon to Saturday Night Live, where he says "boomer humor" becomes co-opted, loses its vitality, and dies. The analysis is very good, his writing is clear and clever, and there are plenty of reprinted examples.
But Hendra gets long-winded and defensive when covering his involvement with the Lampoon and "Lemmings". We get far too many pages about his interpersonal dealings with his associates ("I did not steal O'Donohue's girlfriend", "I did not introduce Belushi to coke", "I did not rip-off Monty Python"), while dozens of great artists are ignored in this 454 page book. Aside from the denial, for example, you get nothing else about Monty Python.
It's an entertaining and informative read, but a very subjective and narrow treatment, given its length. Nevertheless, if you're interested in the subject, it's worth your time.
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