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National Lampoon releases its first original album in more than 35 years — “Are There Any Triggers Here Tonight?” on Friday, September 9th. The album has been created by key Lampoon veteran Tony Hendra and his brilliant satirical team at The Final Edition Radio Hour.
With its uncompromising satirical thrust and healthy disregard for establishment assumptions, “Are There Any Triggers Here Tonight?,” sets out to recapture the spirit of National Lampoon’s glory years, and apply it to the pretensions, hypocrisies, injustices and inequities of 21st century America.
“Are There Any Triggers Here Tonight?” is available by going to http://www.thefinaledition.com, CD Baby and iTunes.
“Are There Any Triggers Here Tonight?” uses The Final Edition Radio Hour’s distinctive format of immersive, absurdist comedy, closely modeled on the audio style of the Lampoon which Hendra launched in 1972 with “Radio Dinner” (co-produced and co-written with Michael O’Donoghue) and “Lemmings”, (nominated for Best Comedy Album of 1974, which he produced and co-wrote with the cast) and which culminated in the legendary National Lampoon Radio Hour.
“Are There Any Triggers Here Tonight?” is a satirical tour de force, taking on contemporary targets from Bernie Sanders to the CIA to abortion restrictions, affirmative consent, the NYPD, the TSA, combat roles for women and, of course, Kim Kardashian’s butt and Elmo’s cocaine habit. It does so within a wider satire of hypersensitivity to such issues – in particular, demands for trigger warnings, safe spaces and absurd limits on free speech.
The album takes the form of a “live” performance at a small Ohio college in three parts (Side One, Side Two & Side Three). The reaction of the audience grows more and more negative and riotous as the Final Edition cast escalates their no-holds-barred satire and, by the time of the surprise ending, the campus auditorium is trashed and empty… because, yes, there were some triggers here tonight. Real triggers.
Hendra states, “In the midst of mindless, shrill conversations about comedy, culture and other C-words, we’re just trying to be ferociously disrespectful and funny as hell.”
It may be too soon to say the National Lampoon is back, but with Hendra, The Final Edition and “Are There Any Triggers Here Tonight?” it’s certainly on its way.