Were you connected to him beyond being a fan? I almost get a sense sometimes you worked for him in some way?
Or has it just been fandom? Lifelong?
Just curious. Nothing wrong with being a massive fan of someone.
Mort Sahl was the Citizen Kane of comedy. What he did doesn’t seem that special now but that’s because now everyone does what he did but literally no one did before him. Comics all had an act. Often written by someone else. Once the act was perfected they just did the act over and over. Sometimes for years. Sahl constantly changed and riffed. Sometimes he brought a newspaper on stage and just riffed on what was in the news. It was revolutionary. It’s very rare to find one guy who completely changed the shape of his art form. Sahl was that guy in comedy.
I traveled thousands of miles to see him 4 times, talked to him 3 times after the show. We talked through Facebook messenger, too. I got a text from his friend who took care of him on the day he died, saying he always looked forward to me contacting him, and the day itself…
I didn’t officially work for him, but 5-6 yrs ago, the live shows would expire after 24 hours, so I made sure to find a way to save them and make them available on YouTube.
Why was it so bad for you to speak to Sahl in person? Especially if it was the last time?
I think he’s saying that the day that Mort died was the worst day of his life.
Makes me think of the movie Clue.
“He had threatened to kill me…in public.”
“Why would he kill you in public?”
“No, I think she means he threatened ‘in public’ to kill her.”
What hajario said