March 5, 2004

Knock, Knock. Who's Not There? College Humor.

By CARLIN ROMANO

How many author-professors does it take to screw up a piquant literary tradition? Several generations, it seems.

Seventy years ago, in March 1934, a national magazine titled College Humor -- yes, a national magazine -- suspended publication. Many a wit wrote for it: S.J. Perelman, James Thurber, and even Groucho before Horse Feathers. While it never published college humor exclusively, its title alone legitimized the comic territory, and professors occasionally sashayed in.