National Lampoon was a ground-breaking American humor magazine. It started in 1970 as an offshoot of the Harvard Lampoon. Each issue included long written humor pieces, shorter written pieces, cartoons, comic strips, and often also included photo funnies or fumetti.

Parody of every kind was a mainstay of the magazine, but sick humor and surrealist humor were also central to its appeal. At its best the humor was intelligent, imaginative, and cutting edge, and it often pushed far beyond the boundaries of what might be considered appropriate and acceptable. As co-founder Henry Beard described the experience years later: "There was this big door that said, 'Thou shalt not.' We touched it, and it fell off its hinges."

The magazine reached its height of popularity during the mid-to-late 1970s, but it had a disproportionately far-reaching effect on American humor. The magazine also directly spawned films, radio, live theatre, various kinds of recordings, and books.

Many members of the creative staff from the magazine subsequently went on to perform in, or write for, or otherwise contribute creatively to successful films, television shows, books, and other media forms.

The magazine declined during the late 1980s. It was kept barely alive for a number of years for brand name reasons, but it ceased publication altogether in 1998.