8. “The Mad Vandal”

January 5, 1998

Q: I use to listen to the National Lampoon Radio Hour in the mid-’70s with my brother. We were trying to remember a skit called “The Mad Vandal” and if it was part of the NLRH.

A: Yes, there was indeed a “Mad Vandal” bit, in fact, it was a two-show serial and was broadcast in June of ’74 and was written by Doug Kenney. It was based on the 1964 High School Yearbook Parody which had an ongoing gag in which a “mad vandal” terrorized the school by playing practical jokes on students and faculty invariably featuring human excrement. In the yearbook parody, no one knew who it was, but it’s apparent that it was the school’s principal. In the Radio Hour serial, the Mad Vandal is unveiled in the end.

Comments

According to the High School Yearbook parody, it was 'The Mad Crapper' not Vandal and it was the school principal Humphrey J. Cornholt. He even 'signed' Larry Kroger's signature book with a s**t smear and "Ha Ha The Mad Crapper Strikes Again."

—David Watkins

October 9, 2011 10:10 pm

I noticed that too when it was first broadcast. The only thing I can guess is that the word "crapper" was considered inappropriate for airplay in the Seventies, so they changed it to "vandal".

—Mark

October 9, 2011 10:16 pm

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