Lampoon Celebrates 125th Anniversary

Harvard Lampoon alumni, staff members and honorary celebrity members gathered last week to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine.

"We came together to celebrate 125 years of frivolity, comedy and our contribution to public service," said Lampoon president Stephen C. Hely '02.

The festivities kicked off on Mar. 23 at the Lampoon Castle with drinks and introductions. Participants in the anniversary events each received a medallion, but younger members opted against sporting the gaudy gold souvenirs.

As more alums arrived at the Castle, revelers were chauffeured in black and white Rolls Royce limousines to Loeb House. Under a white tent, Poonsters sampled catered food and imbibed pricey liquors.

Following the receptions at Loeb House and the Lampoon Castle, some partygoers headed to the House of Blues for music and mingling, while others relaxed in the Longfellow Room in the Charles Hotel.

There, alumni like David C. Fogg '56 and Charles Brumwell '39 and Michael L. Reiss '81 made brief appearances. Reiss, who is known for catapulting the Simpsons television show to untold popularity, headed to the Charles Hotel after exhausting his energy at the House of Blues.

As some observers noted, the humor of the Lampoon alums was sorely less than expected. One Charles Hotel bartender said he had been bragging to his coworkers and friends about working the Lampoon anniversary bash but was disappointed by the participants.

"I loved their magazine and their movies and I really expected this to be a riot," he said said. "But it turns out that I'm funnier than most of these guys."

Later that night, alums headed back to the Castle to finish their first evening on a more subdued and private note.

The Poonsters continued partying the next evening, beginning with a formal dinner at Park Plaza Castle in Boston. The highlight of Saturday's dinner came when late night talk show host Conan C. O'Brien '85 addressed the crowd. Following the dinner, guests returned to the Lampoon Castle for drinks, music and dancing.

Though O'Brien did not stay for the party, Hollywood notables such as Michael L. Reiss '81 did return to the Castle. Security was tight as two uniformed Harvard University Police officers stood inside the entrance to prevent party-crashers or any other disturbances.

The weekend's extravagant festivities came at a high cost to the Lampoon, costing the magazine an estimated "eight or nine billion dollars," according to Hely. But he said that the expenses were well worth it.

"It was great, we had John Updike '56, Lorne Michaels, Andy Richter, Jay Leno, 'Macho Man' Randy Savage, Robin Williams and Conan O'Brien," Hely boasted.

On the second level of the building, proud Poonsters displayed The Crimson's president's chair in the Secular Library. The chair was stolen from the Crimson the previous day.

The chair, along with a large bronze statue of Pegasus, the centerpiece of the Castle's mantel, a nude-centerfold of Henry A. Kissinger '50, jester costumes, and numerous crimson parodies all disappeared mysteriously from the Lampoon building two days later.

On the third-level of the building, guests gathered in the Great Hall, a large room designed to look like a medieval mead-hall complete with high ceilings, long tables, dark wood paneling colorful banners and chandeliers.

Guests gathered around the bar set up near the fireplace and danced atop the tables, smashing beer bottles against the floor and richly-decorated walls, narrowly missing bystanders, including Crimson editor Jonathan H. Esensten '04.

"There were a lot of drunken middle-age people dancing on top of the table in the Great Hall. They were batting around chandeliers and smashing beer-bottles and I was almost hit by one half-full bottle," Esensten said.

The revelers amused themselves with fond retellings of various pranks committed in their days at the Lampoon, looking at the various staff photos and past issues on the walls.

Alums also relived their glory days by participating in "steps," a time-honored Lampoon party tradition in which party-goers in various degrees of drunkenness stand on the steps outside of the Castle and sing until inclement weather, boredom or the police force them back inside.

The scene was a bit more subdued on the fourth level of the building. Dubbed the Ibis Room, the small, circular room sits inside of the "head" which faces oncoming traffic on Mt. Auburn St.

At about five a.m. the party began to slow as many headed back to their hotel rooms to shower and change before the final event of the weekend, a large brunch at the Charles Hotel.

"It was great," said Hely, "good times for everyone with plenty of drunkenness and debauchery."