Editing Mad Libs (section)

==History==
Mad Libs was invented in 1953<ref>{{cite web |date=April 16, 2008 |title=As Mad Libs turn 50, play an exclusive game |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/mad-libs-turn-50-play-exclusive-game-wbna24160656 |access-date=June 30, 2019 |work=Today |publisher=MSNBC}}</ref> by Leonard Stern and Roger Price. Stern and Price created the game, but could not agree on a name for their invention.<ref name=time/> No name was chosen until five years later (1958), when Stern and Price were eating [[Eggs Benedict]] at a restaurant in [[New York City]].  
While eating, the two overheard an argument at a neighboring table between a [[talent agent]] and an actor.<ref name=time/> According to Price and Stern, during the overheard argument, the actor said that he wanted to "[[ad-lib]]" an upcoming [[interview]]. The agent, who clearly disagreed with the actor's suggestion, retorted that ad-libbing an interview would be "mad".<ref name=time/> Stern and Price used that [[eavesdrop]]ped conversation to create, at length, the name "Mad Libs".<ref name=time/> In 1958, the duo released the first book of ''Mad Libs'', which resembled the earlier games<ref>{{cite web|author=Weekend Edition Saturday |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7584979 |title='Revelations' About a Precursor to 'Mad Libs' |publisher=NPR |date=2007-02-24 |access-date=2012-01-23}}</ref> of [[Consequences (game)|consequences]] and [[exquisite corpse]].

Stern was head writer and comedy director for ''[[The Steve Allen Show]]'', and suggested to the show's host that guests be introduced using Mad Libs completed by the audience. Four days after an episode introduced "our guest NOUN, Bob Hope", bookstores sold out of ''Mad Libs'' books.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last1=Stern|first1=Leonard|title=The History of Mad Libs|url=http://www.madlibs.com/history/|website=www.madlibs.com|access-date=22 March 2017}}</ref>

Stern and Price next partnered with [[Larry Sloan]], a high school friend who was working as a [[publicist]] at the time, to continue publishing ''Mad Libs''.<ref name=pw>{{cite news|first=Wendy|last=Werris|title=Obituary: Larry Sloan, 89 |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/obituaries/article/54394-obituary-larry-sloan-89.html |work=[[Publishers Weekly]] |date=2012-10-15 |access-date=2012-11-17}}</ref>  Together, the three founded the publishing firm [[Price Stern Sloan]] in the early 1960s as a way to release ''Mad Libs''.<ref name=latimes/>  In addition to releasing more than 70 editions of ''Mad Libs'' under Sloan, the company also published 150 softcover books, including such notable titles as ''[[How to Be a Jewish Mother]]'', first released in 1964; ''Droodles'', which was also created by Roger Price; ''The VIP Desk Diary''; and the series ''World's Worst Jokes''.<ref name=time/><ref name=pw/>

Price died in 1990, and three years later, Sloan and Stern sold Price Stern Sloan, including ''Mad Libs'', to the former Putnam Berkley Group, which is now known as [[Penguin Random House]].<ref name=pw/> ''Mad Libs'' books are still published by [[Penguin Random House]]; however, all references to Price Stern Sloan have been removed from the company's official website. Stern died at age 88 on June 7, 2011,<ref name="nytobit">{{cite news | last = Fox | first = Margalit | date = June 9, 2011 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/10/arts/television/leonard-b-stern-creator-of-mad-libs-dies-at-88.html | title = Leonard B. Stern, Creator of Mad Libs, Dies at 88 | work = [[The New York Times]] }}</ref> and Sloan on October 14, 2012.<ref name=time/><ref name=pw/><ref name=latimes>{{cite news|first=Valerie J.|last=Nelson|title=Larry Sloan dies at 89; co-founder of 'Mad Libs' publisher|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2012-oct-17-la-me-larry-sloan-20121017-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=2012-10-17 |access-date=2012-11-17}}</ref>

More than 110 million copies of ''Mad Libs'' have been sold since the game series was first published in 1958.<ref name=time/>