Mort Sahl Collection on Letterman, 1988-2002

Late Night:
1. January 20, 1988
Late Show:
2. November 26, 2001.
3. December 27, 2002. Stand-up.

[@JasonSnell]

Mort lived in my town and performed a weekly show at a local theater, streamed live to the internet, until COVID hit. Still doing standup (sitting down) in his 90s. Which shows you how much he loved it.

[@Joseph_Greco]

I saw him there too....it was like sitting in a living room with a living legend, for those of us who are old enough to remember what a star and influence he was back in the day....RIP Mort

[@joannaedwards6325]

In the seventies I would occasionally see Mort doing his errands in Studio City California. Always looked like he knew something funny that I didn't or he looked like he had just sucked a lemon. Weird guy then.

[@bf6379]

is there an archive of these performances?

[@Libertariun]

Amazing how much he grew to resemble Tony Blair around 2001.

[@LoyalOpposition]

@@bf6379 I have them all. I uploaded some on my channel.

[@katherinea.rodgers8366]

I have loved Mort Sahl since I was 14. Bought his album Looking Back in Anger. He got me interested in current events and politics. Never got to see him live. RIP. Thank you Don for sharing.

[@LoyalOpposition]

I have 200 videos of Mort Sahl on my channel.

[@ryetim32]

"Nobody was laughing, I created a new kind of comedy" LOL

[@BobbyTaylor-io1od]

lol

[@destroygaryfunky7053]

Mort was the rare guy that when he opened his mouth all you had to do was sit back and be terribly well entertained,......he was that "once in a lifetime" talent. RIP.

[@WarholSuperstar]

FANTASTIC. Thank you, Don.

[@EdDunkle]

Thanks for posting this. I saw Mort when he did a show for the students at UC San Diego. He was hysterical, and I think college audiences tended to like him.

[@LoyalOpposition]

Do you have a copy to upload onto KZbin?

[@buccos2004]

This is the best damn channel on KZbin.

[@GolfAfter50]

RIP Mort -- thanks for well, everything!

[@anotherworldviewispossible]

I was lucky enough to see Mort perform, back in the 1980's, and probably on a few of these guest spots, too. He was such a sharp wit, and an amazing talent. I doubt we'll see anyone else come close what he did, so naturally.

[@JackSilbert]

I missed (or have forgotten) the original airings of these, so Mr. Sahl was just a great name of comedy past to me. So thank you, Don, for bringing him to life, and how thrilling (and special of Dave and crew) to see him do stand-up.

[@drrobert8678]

Mort was a very important topical comic that never got the credit for it as Lenny and descendant comics did. He didn't seem to mind. As always, Dave gives an intelligent interview and letting the guest take over. These are great. Essential stuff that is SO deserving of preservation. Still biting in the 2000s. Thanks SO much for these. The George Miller references are quite funny. And that stand up, wow. Classic. Geez, I could go on and on....

[@lewisc215]

He got a lot of credit.

[@dezertfox3130]

He got credit. Pay attention.

[@drrobert8678]

Yes, he likely did. I guess when you are a fan you feel like he always deserved more than he got. Wasn't intended to be disrespectful.

[@jamestkirk3126]

Agreed. If Lenny did not commit suicide and just faded I doubt he would have received nearly as much attention.

[@winonafrog]

💯

[@joemartines3545]

Bravely spoke out against the Warren Commission when it was dangerous to do so and it cost him...

[@kathygibbons5302]

God bless him. Rest in Peace and perpetual light, Mort 🙏.

[@Libertariun]

And now we hear the CIA was involved.

[@LoyalOpposition]

I have those videos on my channel.

[@tonybmusic1166]

My favorite Mort Sahl line is when he commented: “Werner Von Braun has a new book “I Aim For the Stars” but un zum times I hit London.” Mort had a brilliant mind…..would buy a newspaper on his way to a gig and just improvise material while reading it aloud. Lenny Bruce used to joke that he would find out where Mort was working and buy up all the newspapers near the gig.

[@christinacascadilla4473]

I told my brother you’d have this up within 24 hours of the New York Times obituary being published. I was right.

[@jaimhaas5170]

Thanks again Don...Paul has such a great variety of stuff he does on the side of his late show gig.

[@hillyardca]

Amazing. You could tell from the start of the interview, David was so excited to be talking with Mort. During the course of the show, Mort makes some very funny , intelligent jokes and observations that most of the audience misses. He was to smart for the general public.

[@dean3434]

Absolutely. Thank You. Letterman was only a prop.

[@dpproductionstoys131]

That would be, " ... TOO smart ... ".

[@Libertariun]

I don’t get the “3 days to learn to swim underwater”.

[@LoyalOpposition]

I have 200 videos of Mort on my channel.

[@456zounds]

or maybe TOO SMART!!!

[@Minnesconi]

We speak your name. Thanks Don!

[@ryetim32]

Mort Sahl was a Brave and stout man

[@kurikokaleidoscope]

Thank you.

[@jamestkirk3126]

Before Mort, comedians did the same thing, set up/punch line. Mort's topical "stream of consciousness" approach was revolutionary.

[@aaronwestendorp7352]

Again I get all my celeberity death news from you, should i be worried?

[@dongiller]

Yes. :)

[@mrheem]

Dennis miller owes this guy.

[@RPMac]

And he's not funny either @@

[@jamesanthony5681]

In a magazine article years ago, Mort talked about his early days in standup, and after a gig when the comics got together to talk about their routines, the audience, what jokes worked, what didn't, they weren't necessarily interested in what he had to say, or his opinions on comedy.

[@sloburnjo]

wow, that DEA joke is killer!

[@markothecomic]

Dave geeking out on a comedy legend.

[@cubswin3838]

"Werhner Von Braun once said: 'I aim for the stars, only I sometimes I hit London.'"

[@LeeKav]

This is one of my favourite jokes ever. It's funny because 'I Aim at the Stars' was the title of a 1960 biographical film about Von Braun, Mort just made the obvious correction.

[@Libertariun]

Genius comedian/ commentator

[@LoyalOpposition]

I have 200 videos of Mort on my channel.

[@markk8194]

This is total respect.

[@SaintMartins]

Comedian Mort Sahl, (1927-2021) Comedian Lenny Bruce (1925-1966), Writer Mordecai Richler (1931-2001), Novelist/Playwright Norman Mailer (1923-2007), Writer Philip Roth (1933-2018), Writer Saul Bellow (1915-2005) & Poet Irving Layton (1912-2006) Were all known collectively as "The Last Of The Wild Jews" a generation of gifted, angry Jewish writers, comedians, poets & intellectuals who influenced much of North America's Social & Philosophical way of thinking from the 1950s to the end of the century.

[@guywhousesapseudonymonyout4272]

I think that was the title of a Richler documentary, but I don't think anyone called them that before the documentary. Oddly enough, three of them in your list, Sahl, Bellow and Richler were all born in Montreal (although of those three, only Richler was raised there), and Layton was born in Europe but raised in M'real. Mailer and Roth were New Yorkers (well, Roth was from Newark, really but spent most of his adult life in NYC).

[@simplenough]

What about Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan?

[@jamesanthony5681]

The 'Last of the Wild Jews'? Who coined that phrase? Probably a Canadian. Outside of Canada, I doubt too many have heard of poet/writer Irving Layton. Yes, he was angry.

[@unfortunatebeam]

They're probably still an influence to this day, whether people know it or not.

[@katharinebuckman2815]

Loved him live. SAHL still holds up under any climate or current situation of the world going to pot.

[@lazur1]

5:48: My band was stiffed by a club. We disguised their furniture with amp covers, & sneaked it into our van.

[@joycejean-baptiste4355]

I remember beatniks, they morphed into hippies when I was a kid.

[@TheSkeetergirl]

RIP

[@anon-kt7dc]

Dennis Miller learn a thing or two from Mort

[@lobstertexas]

Not knowing much about him, I read the NY Times obit in full and I think it somewhat was a disservice to him -- it made him out to be a curmudgeonly sour and bitter man describing his act as if it was delivered in the grumpy style of Andy Rooney. Watching this clip and one where he was on Ed Sullivan, he looks delightfully gleeful in telling his stories and seems generally happy to be on stage, regardless of however politically dark the material was.

[@sloburnjo]

Context

[@lobstertexas]

@@sloburnjo Observation

[@Joseph_Greco]

Best piece on Mort was the PBS American Masters documentary, Mort Sahl "The Loyal Opposition", in 1989...should be available somewhere online. He was brilliant. If there was a Mt. Rushmore for standup comics he would be on it.

[@joannaedwards6325]

It is my belief that he did alternate between being bemused and being slightly filled with distain towards the rest of humanity. Just my observations.

[@vinnyvincent2862]

Venomous !

[@craigplumlee]

We have 30 days to become fireproof

[@jamesanthony5681]

Mort Sahl wrote jokes for JFK and supported him in the 1960 Presidential election, but when Kennedy got elected Sahl began to criticize him in his act at the hungry i in San Francisco, much to the chagrin of his liberal friends. Shortly thereafter, the hungry i was audited by the IRS, initiated Mort believes, by the Kennedy family

[@Libertariun]

So Obama wasn’t the first to use the IRS against his political enemies.

[@LoyalOpposition]

I have 200 videos of Mort on my channel.

[@sosospacesheep2344]

Here after reading Woody Allen ‘Autobiography’

[@guywhousesapseudonymonyout4272]

Wow, I thought he had passed away a while ago. I just checked, thinking that he must have passed away about 10 years ago and I saw that he just died the other day.

[@sloburnjo]

Indeed

[@jimgriffiths9071]

Don! If you can find more Teri Garr footage I will be eternally grateful!

[@dongiller]

I put up every Teri Garr appearance on Dave in 5 parts.

[@jimgriffiths9071]

@@dongiller watched every one several times over. But there were more appearances....just hoping for more footage. I adore that woman!

[@dongiller]

@@jimgriffiths9071 There were no other appearances on Dave. What I uploaded was everything.

[@joannaedwards6325]

@@dongiller Thank you for all the effort and care you put into this channel.

[@dongiller]

@@joannaedwards6325 Thanks!

[@politicaloutsider413]

Nobody in the audience cared that The Beatles might reunite back in 1988, lol.

[@jamesanthony5681]

A Mort Sahl bit from the late '70's: "Here's something I found funny. Did you guys hear about this? The televangelist and self-proclaimed faith healer, Oral Roberts, is trying to raise money to build a hospital."

[@LoyalOpposition]

lol.. Mort is the best. I have over 300 of his performances and interviews are great.

[@commanderkeen3787]

Don could you do a Jerry Lewis compilation? Thank you

[@dongiller]

In time. In the meantime, Here are his 1982 and 1984 appearances - kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJzSeGCtfp6SaMk

[@LouisEmery]

On the David Letterman show it is the music that supports comedy.

[@simplenough]

Paul was his secret weapon. Conan understood this.

[@barflytom3273]

his laugh reminds me of Gianni Russo, the great b.s artist.

[@JavierGonzalez-oe1qq]

He was too intelligent for his own good. He couldn't survive nowadays...Compare the likes of Mort Sahl to what's on tv now or the comics who talk about body fluids and sex like it's garbage.

[@jamesanthony5681]

You've got Bill Maher who makes political jokes. Mort did it better, however.

[@unfortunatebeam]

You still watch tv? lol

[@simonbyrd6518]

I sometimes got him mixed up in my mind with Norm Crosby

[@winonafrog]

Funny stuff, always knew Mort by name but was too old to catch even most of this. So I’m seeing this is where Dennis Miller came from, like Murdoch designed a conservative yuppie clone version of Sahl.

[@know-body2519]

"Hard to get Pizza" joke and friends with Woody Allen? Nothing wierd bout that. Mort- "is funny, like a Woody Allen movie, not a Woody Allen marriage" ~ Norm MacDonald

[@tatechasers2393]

the 88' crowd is shiit, "The scandal was to humanize Hart"

[@RoscoMontana21]

2:00, this was a fantastic joke and people treated it as if he was WRONG?

[@joannaedwards6325]

Mort ALWAYS got mixed reactions. Think he liked all attention. Positive and negative. As long as ppl were listening.

[@dennisddd8243]

When I was a very young kid probably 5 or 6 my older brother bought me a t-shirt that said free Lenny, I didn't know what it meant but much older kids would always comment and seem to really like me they would Pat me on the head give me a nickel or dime they say such a cute kid love the attention. Then one day my mom took it from me. Then they bought me a shirt around maybe eight years old it said I'm Cheech and Chong little brother bong. Same thing same story didn't last long mom eventually figured that out and took it from me. And then a band I believe it was Manfred Mann sing a song called Only Women Bleed. Same story Brothers get the shirt made at the mall that said only women bleed. And I don't have a clue no one ever explained it my brothers got a really big kick out of it and I wore it to church underneath another shirt. After church outside rough housing with the boys I took off my dress shirt so everyone can see my t-shirt. It lasted about 20 minutes until some adult went and got my mom and I seen another side of my mother and the art and craftsmanship she could use with a belt in public I might add. From that moment my mother alone was solely responsible for my wardrobe. After it was explained what the shirt meant I no longer ever trusted an older brother again.

[@randycunningham7318]

😴

[@RPMac]

The elephant in the room ?.... nobody laughs....these are not jokes....they are cleverly humorous observations. Nobody laughs as much as Mort ! Got to admit though.. age made him " funny".... and he thought so too !!