He was a giant.
Hey, sorry, @MortSahlFan. I know you were a true fan.
George Carlin said Mort paved the way for all comedians, including him. Mort was the guest host of the tonight show the first time Carlin was on.
He wasn’t the very first stand-up comedian, but he really modernized it into the form we think of.
The fourth time I saw him, and the last time I spoke to him in person. Worst day of my life.
I saw this in the New York Times and immediately thought of you. I’m sorry. I know from reading here how much he meant to you.
All I knew of him was that he was some sort of comedian, and he had at least one big fan.
Sorry for your loss.
(Your screen name is a nice tribute. I bet he’d be pleased.)
Mort Sahl’s dry, irreverent humor appealed to me even as a kid 60 years ago. I thought of him not two or three days ago after I happened upon a clip of musical satirist Tom Lehrer performing his song about Werner Von Braun. I recalled Mort Sahl’s quip about the title of Von Braun’s biography, “I Aim at the Stars.” Sahl added “But sometimes I hit London.”
Thank you all… I only know of one comedy board, but I’ve always been fucked with, ONLY because I like Mort Sahl. And probably because I said it was the worst day in my life, despite going through three generations of death in my family in the last year. There were so many insults, I cut and paste a few from another sites.
“Is there any group I haven’t offended yet?”
Y’know, I admit I kind of missed him growing up; saw a few TV appearances but was not really drawn into it. But after reading this thread I dialed up a YouTube of one of his old records, “Mort Sahl at Sunset”, and man it really clicked. That cat could riff.
So suddenly it’s clear what they mean when they say he was influential. He was like the Big Bang of a school of standup - so if it makes you feel any better, your post got me primed to investigate.
I think it was Carlin’s interview with Jon Stewart to celebrate his 40th year of entertainment where George listed Mort Sahl as the most important comedian to pave the way for all standups. He was the first one, according to George, to engage in a conversation of sorts with the audience. Talk to the audience, not just do a routine.
Mort and George both had a real intelligence and quickness of mind that is hard to beat.
With George gone and now Mort, what great grandfathers of stand-up do we have?
He stopped doing stand-up many decades ago, but Woody Allen was someone else greatly influenced by Mort. Not sure who he influenced though.
(Maybe Richard Lewis?)
Two who are still living, and who come to mind, are Bob Newhart and Bill Cosby. Newhart first rose to prominence as a stand-up comedian in the early '60s, though his work was mostly as a comic actor from the 1970s onward. Cosby, of course, is now disgraced, but he was hugely popular and influential as a stand-up comedian, as well as an actor.
Sorry for your loss, @MortSahlFan.
I’m not sure who is left of that era other than Newhart and Cosby. Woody Allen is still around, although his stand-up days are long, long behind him. We lost Jackie Mason about three months ago and Jerry Stiller last year. Mel Brooks was never really a stand-up comedy guy. Can’t think of anyone else from the Borscht Belt era still around.
(Tom Lehrer’s still alive, btw, although he wasn’t really a “stand-up comedian”.)
I’m happy to report that Elaine May is still alive. Nichols & May were very funny and part of the new wave of comedy.
Mel Brooks did a little bit of stand-up kind of stuff as the 2000 year old man with Carl Reiner. But not part of the new wave, just very funny. Also he did perform on the Borscht Belt before his writing gig on the Show of Shows.
Shecky Greene is still alive, he’s 95 now. He might count. But not the new wave.
Is Robert Kline old enough to count. He is 79 now. Started with standup in 1965. I think he would count as New Wave.
I don’t even know who Freddie Roman is and I’m into old comics. But he is 84 and still alive and still performing apparently. I would guess he was of marginal fame but has longevity.
And, Stiller’s wife and partner, Anne Meara, died several years ago.
I thought of Lehrer, too – I love his work, and he, too, used humor (and music) for some biting social commentary. But, as you note, he wasn’t technically stand-up.
You might notice that most of these old-timers were in the Silent Generation. When Buck Henry and then Charles Grodin passed, I thought about what a smarter place they had made the world in their time. Not just comedians but also bebop musicians and pop artists and method actors.
The Smothers Brothers are still with us, as is their tyro writer Steve Martin: born two weeks before the surrender of Japan and so is included.
Thank you. I really appreciate that.
He lived a good, long life. His memory will live on in all the performers he influenced, and the people who appreciated his work.
I hope so. I’m guessing the first 48 hours of his passing will be influential… I’ve already seen people run with misinformation… No rest…