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National Lampoon Announces maniaTV Partnership for Lemmings Comedy Troupe Tour, America 2.0

Posted on: Friday, 22 February 2008, 09:00 CST

National Lampoon Inc. (AMEX: NLN), the most widely recognized brand in comedy, today announced that it will be partnering with maniaTV on the upcoming America 2.0 tour from National Lampoon's Lemmings Comedy Troupe. maniaTV, the birthplace of hit web TV shows Dave Navarro's Spread Entertainment and Tom Green Live, will shoot behind the scenes footage for the upcoming internet TV series, The Lemmings.

The multi-city Lemmings tour kicks off February 22nd in Chicago, and includes further dates in Washington D.C., Maryland and Los Angeles. A Lemmings college tour is currently being booked for Fall 2008.

"The original Lemmings was a groundbreaking event in comedy and National Lampoon's 37 year history," said Daniel Laikin, Chief Executive Officer at National Lampoon. "With the new Lemmings tour and show we are making a bold statement that National Lampoon is committed to developing the next generation of brilliant writers and performers. Partnering with maniaTV is the perfect way for Lemmings to connect with an entirely new legion of fans."

"As part of our TV 2.0 mantra, maniaTV is increasingly finding ways to bring the online TV experience to life," said maniaTV Chief Marketing Officer, Peter Clemente. "With the Lemmings TV show in production, the America 2.0 tour will do just that."

National Lampoon re-entered live production in Fall 2007, forming the National Lampoon Lemmings Comedy Troupe. The Lemmings premiered their debut show, America 2.0, at the renowned Acme Comedy Theater. Following a successful residency at the world famous Los Angeles Improv Theater, National Lampoon partnered with maniaTV on the upcoming Lemmings tour.

A satire on today's blown out tabloid world, America 2.0 skewers the madness of modern American life from left to right and from the ridiculous to the sublime. Between sketches, hilarity stays at fever pitch with the Lemmings' award-winning short films. In the best traditions of National Lampoon, the Lemmings show unleashes a whole new pantheon of unforgettable sketch routines in one evening of live, multi-media, cutting-edge comedy.

National Lampoon's Lemmings originally formed in 1973. The stage production Lemmings instantly became an off-Broadway cult sensation, launching the careers of some of the biggest names in American Comedy and a hugely popular record album, Lemmings. John Belushi, Christopher Guest, and Chevy Chase were just a few of the megastars who got their start in National Lampoon's ground breaking live production. Similarly to its 1970s counterpart, the reformed National Lampoon Lemmings Comedy Troupe showcases the very best young sketch comedians working today.

About National Lampoon

National Lampoon, Inc. (AMEX: NLN) has been a dominant force in the US comedy world for almost 40 years, and is currently active in a broad array of media and entertainment segments. These include feature films, television programming, online and interactive entertainment, home video, audio, and book publishing. The Company also owns interests in all major National Lampoon properties, including National Lampoon's Animal House, the National Lampoon Vacation series and National Lampoon's Van Wilder. National Lampoon reaches nearly one in four of all 18 to 24 year old college students in America today. The Company has three core operating divisions: National Lampoon Films, which includes production along with theatrical and video distribution of feature films; College Marketing Division; and National Lampoon Networks, providing humor content through a number of platforms. These include its National Lampoon College TV network, the National Lampoon Humor Network - the most trafficked humor sites on the web, Toga TV.com - the company's broadband channel, the Drunk University Network, and the National Lampoon Video Network, which includes channels on YouTube, AOL, Yahoo, Joost, and a number of digital video platforms across the Internet. These are all anchored by the award winning comedy website www.nationallampoon.com

About maniaTV

maniaTV's mission is to be the best in the world at delivering premium internet TV experiences to audiences and extraordinary value to advertisers. maniaTV launched in 2004 as the world's first LIVE 24-hour Internet TV network aimed at the youth and young adult audiences. Since then, maniaTV has attracted an audience of millions each month and gained international recognition as the birthplace of web TV hits Tom Green Live, Dave Navarro's Spread Entertainment, and the Daily Independent. As part of the TV 2.0 movement, maniaTV has re-defined the boundaries of TV and advertising by creatively integrating brands directly into programs for over 100 blue chip advertisers in all major categories. maniaTV recently re-located its head quarters to Los Angeles to pursue partnerships with major Hollywood producers, studios and talent. The network had 85 million visitors in 2007 and distributes content to Yahoo, YouTube, Artist Direct, Paltalk, Window Media and Comcast the Fan.

Source: Business Wire

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