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
--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
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.
