Lemmings (National Lampoon)

Lemmings was a 1973 stage show created by National Lampoon, a humor magazine and media company known for its satirical and often irreverent comedy. The show was a rock musical satire that skewered a variety of targets, most notably the Woodstock generation and the counterculture movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The title Lemmings is a reference to the popular, but scientifically inaccurate, belief that lemmings commit mass suicide by jumping off cliffs. This imagery was used to represent the perceived conformist tendencies within the counterculture, suggesting that its adherents were blindly following a trend rather than thinking for themselves.

The show featured a cast of performers who would later become well-known comedians and actors, including John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and Christopher Guest. It consisted of a series of sketches and musical numbers, each satirizing different aspects of youth culture, music festivals, drug use, and political activism.

Lemmings was a critical and commercial success, playing to sold-out audiences and contributing to the growing popularity of National Lampoon. Its humor was often considered edgy and controversial for its time, but it also helped to define the comedic sensibility of a generation. The show is now regarded as a significant piece of comedic theater and a reflection of the cultural landscape of the early 1970s.