A Futile and Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever is an American book by Josh Karp that was published in 2006.

As the book recounts, at that time the National Lampoon's performers included John Belushi, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner, all of whom subsequently went on to appear on Saturday Night Live and have careers in other media, including film.

Writers and artists included John Hughes, Sean Kelly, Chris Miller, P. J. O'Rourke, Tony Hendra, and Bruce McCall.

The main title of the book is a quote from Animal House, part of a line spoken by the character Otter.

David Wain directed from a script by Michael Colton and John Aboud, with Will Forte playing Doug Kenney and Domhnall Gleeson as Henry Beard.