Episode #232 : Michael Simmons (Matty Simmons)

Today on another encore episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast this Earth Day, we are talking to journalist Michael Simmons, son of National Lampoon co-founder & film producer Matt Simmons. We loved talking to Michael because there is so much history in the (almost) forgotten history of American humor magazine turned pop culture juggernaut, National Lampoon.

Michael gives us behind the scenes stories about the fabled National Lampoon editorial offices in Manhattan circa 1974 which was a breeding ground for comedy and specifically Saturday Night Live writers and performers. We discuss National Lampoon stage shows with Chevy Chase, Harold Ramis, John Belushi & Gilda Radner that Michael was road manager when it hit the road. We hear about his dad’s strange history as one of the founders the first credit card company, Diner’s Club in the 1950s & how it led to National Lampoon. We even get into the history of how National Lampoon came into existence, birthed out of the Harvard Lampoon and even before that.

Michael gives us a firsthand account of what it was like being in the offices of National Lampoon before and after films like National Lampoon’s Animal House & National Lampoon’s Vacation launched the brand mainstream. What’s more we hear stories about Harold Ramis got nervous flyer Gilda Radner on a plane she didn’t want to get on, Wilt Chamberlain giving him a ride on his shoulders and how he became an award winning journalist in Los Angeles writing about vice squad busts and later, music journalism. So sit back and take a listen to a fascinating story about how National Lampoon begat everything from Second City and This is Spinal Tap to SCTV and The Credibility Gap. It’s all here on the Rarified Heir Podcast. Take a listen.