Megadeath by Laughter
By T.E.K.
NATIONAL LAMPOON'S LEMMINGS
A ROCK MUSICAL REVIEW
The young in recent years have seemed so angry, serious, self-absorbed and just plain blue that one could scarcely guess that they had it in them to produce an uproariously funny spoof of the rock scene and its counterculture folk heroes. Nonetheless, National Lampoon staffers have done just that on the off-Broadway stage, and with wicked precision.
The first half of this satirical revue consists of topical skits done in the style of old vaudeville, neobur-lesque, superior college humor, and the antic, abrasive tradition of Lenny Bruce. Many one-liners flick at their subjects with rapid deflationary humor: "In times of stress, remember the Pueblo." A drug raid is announced: dauntless police have just "seized two ounces of marijuana with a street value of $35,000."
The second half of Lemmings is a brilliantly sustained rock parody called the Woodshuck Festival. One million young people have gathered to "off" themselves (commit suicide) in mass protest. But first they hear from their secular gods. Joan Baez (Mary-Jennifer Mitchell) takes the mike holding babe in arms: "Pull the triggers, niggers, we're with you all the way...just across the Bay...I'm the world's Madonna...I'm needed from Belfast to Bangladesh."
A sulky Bob Dylan (Christopher Guest), lurking offstage like Achilles in his tent, comes bounding before the spotlight when fistfuls of greenbacks are offered. The dynamic, petite and greatly gifted Alice Playten makes a spastic dithyramb of her takeoff on Mick Jagger. The mimicking of motorcycle addicts and musicians so stoned that they hold onto their mike stands as if they were swaying lampposts is all well-etched commentary, held together by an endearingly bumbling announcer (John Belushi) who sometimes cannot read the slips in his hand.
Finally, the Megadeath group comes on and slays huge portions of the crowd--with its amplifiers. Lemmings will slay many many more with its high-voltage humor. <