Sean Kelly, the wrath master of a literary and musical parody that helped inject National Lampoon He died on July 11th in Manhattan, with sharp edges and often crude humor that became known. He was 81 years old.
His wife, Patricia Todd, said the cause of his death in the hospital was heart and kidney failure.
Kelly began writing Lamphun shortly after the start of 1970. This is because it has increased its reputation for unlimited disrespect for politics, gender and popular culture, and has increased the humor of baby boomers beyond the boundaries set by Mad Magazine. He later became an editor and was appointed editor-in-chief in 1975.
“In the first five years at Lamphun, no one has said to anyone else,” No, it’s not fun “or” It’s overkill. ” ” Kelly said in an interview With Erinstein, author of “It’s Not Fun, It’s Ill: The National Lampoon and Comedy Rebels Capturing the Mainstream” at the Strand Bookstore in New York in 2013.
“We respected each other, so if someone was joking that they thought it tasted terrible, you knew what Michael Odonohue was doing, so you let it go. “He added, referring to the magazine’s most incendiary writers.
Mr. Kelly’s satire was wide-ranging.
Together with Michelle Chocket, he devised and wrote a map of paranoia in the world. “Son-o’-God Comics“About the sneaky Jew who replaces the superhero Jesus, drawn by Neal Adams, who was best known at the time for drawing Batman.
He imitated James Joyce’s peculiar use of English in “Finnegans Wake,” reprinted in James Joyce’s quarterly magazine.And with Tony Hendra, he did a parody Elephant Babar A children’s book about the story of the monkey uprising ending with Babal and his wife, Celeste, was tied to a meat hook.
Christopher Surf, who worked for Lamphun and later collaborated on the sequel book (1990) parody “TS Elliott’s” Wasteland “Theme Park,” said in a telephone interview: Chew, but he found the exact place to drive it. Odonohue will blow everything up. Sean carefully placed the explosives. “
Known for his song parody, Kelly wrote most of the lyrics. “National Lampoon Lemmings” A 1973 Off-Broadway review that ridiculed the 1969 Woodstock Festival and introduced future “Saturday Night Live” performers John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and Christopher Guest to the audience. Kelly won the Drama Desk Award as the most promising lyricist.
“We didn’t” tune in “the parody. That’s okay, but it’s a little Catskill, “he told Stein. “The music itself was a parody of music.”
Kelly, along with Hendra, was promoted from Editor-in-Chief to Editor-in-Chief in 1975.They replaced Henry Beard When Doug Kenny, The person who bought it. Kelly and Hendra were fired three years after clashing with magazine owner Matty Simmons. PJ Ouroke, who died in February.. Kelly returned as chief editor after Oroke resigned in 1981 and continued to teach staff until 1984.
Sean Charles Kelly was born on July 22, 1940 in Cushing, Quebec, and grew up in Montreal, Ontario and Owen Sound. His mother, Grace (Welehan) Kelly, was a librarian. His father, Charles, was a draftsman for RCA Victor Records. Young Sean temporarily became a Canadian star when he earned a fair amount of money on a children’s radio quiz show.
After graduating from Loyola College in Montreal (now Concordia University) in 1963, Kelly was a radio actor, advertising copywriter and teacher. In 1970, his upstairs neighbor Choquette heard about Lampoon and told Kelly he wanted to write for it.
“I thought I might be able to come to New York and become famous for being rich and get lots of drugs and sex, but neither of them worked,” Kelly said. “Brilliant Dead of Drunk Stone” A 2015 documentary on the history of Lamphun.
While in Lamphun, and for decades to come, Kelly was a prolific writer. His books include “Boom Baby Moon” (1993). This disguised the children’s classic “Goodnight Moon” with lines like “Goodnight intercom in my crib / Goodnightfireprooffeeding bib”.
In partnership with Rosemary Rogers, Kelly said, “Saints protect us! Everything you need to know about all the saints you need so far” (1993), “Who is in hell?” …: A Guide to the Whole Bunch of Damn ”(1996) and“ How to Become an Irish (even if you are already) ”(1999).
His television writing credits include: In the Daytime Emmy Award-winning PBS children’s series “Lions and English,” Surf said he had adopted Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s First Baseman?” A routine to teach children the concept of who, what, when, where, and why. He also contributed to “Shining Time Station” and “Goose Bumps”, and in 1980 “Saturday Night Live”.
From 2001 to 2016, Kelly taught creative writing, satire and children’s literature at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.
In addition to his wife who lived in Brooklyn, he has survived by his daughters Erin Kelly, Shioban Kelly, and Honore Merchant Kelly. Charles, his son, Christopher, writer for HBO’s “Real-time with Bill Maher.” Nine granddaughters. One grandchild. And his sisters Anne and Rosemary Kelly. His marriage to Valerie Merchant and Norma Lewis ended with a divorce.
Kelly frequently collaborated with Rick Meyerowitz, Lampoon’s leading illustrator. The two united their eclectic and bizarre interests and were convinced that there was no off-limits subject.
One day, Meerowitz showed Kelly an illustration of Paul Bunyan and Smokey Bear.
“I had this idea. What if Bunyan, who wants to cut down trees, and Smoky, who wants to save the forest, meet and fight?” Meerowitz said on the phone. “It was pretty bloody, and Sean wrote’Pulp and Paper Ballad’.” It read partially,
But one winter day he hacked
Next to Babe, his big blue cow,
This scary bear barked from his hideout
And I challenged Paul to the box.
“You are stupid, bad, and crazy about money.
And your harvest is rack and ruin,
But you will deal with me before your next tree! “
Shouted eco-crazy atrocities.
