Mort Sahl - Official Site
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Acclaim

"I went back to Mister Kelly's the other night to catch Mort Sahl again[...]and watched the finest, quickest, most intelligent comic mind in America at work."
--Roger Ebert

“He dragged comedy into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming.”
--Adlai Stevenson

"I saw him perform and it was the greatest thing I had ever seen.  I would have never been a cabaret comedian at all if it hadn't been for him.  I was a writer.  I had no interest in being a performer.  But when I saw him, it was inspirational.  It felt like something worth doing.  He had sort of opened a door.  He's a genius."
-- Woody Allen

"For me, I owe debts to people like George Carlin, Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce."
-- Bill Maher

"He matters. And he'll never stop mattering."
-- Shelley Berman
Picture
80th Birthday Celebration, Honoring Mort Sahl: Shelley Berman, Richard Lewis, Jay Leno, Jonathan Winters, Norm Crosby, Kevin Nealon, Hugh Hefner, George Carlin, Ross Shafer, Mort Sahl, Drew Carey, Harry Shearer, Albert Brooks

NOTABLE

  • First nightclub comic on the cover of Time
  • First modern comedy album (now in the Library of Congress)
  • First comic perform on the college circuit
  • First satirist to address the National Press Club in Washington
  • Emceed Monterrey Jazz Festival 1958 and 2008
  • Emceed the first Playboy Jazz Festival to 60,000 paid attendees
  • Emceed the Academy Awards in 1959
  • Recorded twelve albums constituting an oral history of politics in America
  • Had a three year engagement at the Las Vegas Hilton
  • Had his own special on BBC
  • First comedian to tour with Dave Brubeck, Stan Kenton, Count Basie, Duke Ellington Orchestras
  • Hosted the Tonight Show for a week, booking George Carlin for his first appearance
  • Subject of PBS's American Masters series
  • Wrote for John F Kennedy, Adlai Stevenson, Eugene McCarthy, Alexander Haig
  • Established and worked at the hungry i in SF for 15 years and has been doing political satire for 60 years.
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