Tom Brokaw interview with Mort Sahl-JFK's personality and mind

at Throckmorton Theatre, Mill Valley, August 2013

[@jamesfeldman4234]

Jack Kennedy was an exceptionally witty person. But he happily engaged Mort to write for him, even if Jack's father Joe didn't always appreciate Mort's sense of humor. Here's one of Mort's jokes that Jack told that Joe wasn't too happy with: "I have just received the following wire from my generous daddy: "Dear Jack - Don’t buy a single vote more than necessary - I’ll be damned if I am going to pay for a landslide."" When he first heard Mort propose the joke, Joe gruffly said to Mort, "What is that supposed to mean??" Mort simply said, "It means you're rich." Back in 2007, I had the pleasure to get an invitation to attend Mort's 80th birthday celebration at the Wadsworth Theater in Brentwood, CA. The comedy show was a blast. People who were there still talk about it today. Among the performers appearing that evening were Shelley Berman, George Carlin, Norm Crosby, Albert Brooks, Drew Carey, Jay Leno, Paula Poundstone, Richard Lewis, Bill Maher, Kevin Nealon, and Jonathan Winters. Even the audience was filled with people in the comedy industry, including other performers, writers, producers, etc. Among those in the audience were Tommy Chong, Hugh Hefner, Dick Van Patten, and Rob Reiner. And on my row near the front was Fred Willard and his wife Mary. In addition to performing on stage, George Carlin also had a heart-to-heart with the audience and showed a film of himself that I'd never seen before. George played a film from the 1950s where he was doing a dead-on imitation of Mort, not just Mort's type of comedy, but the verbal delivery and style as well. George had several comic personas over his lifetime and that Mort phase must have been an important one in the development of his own unique brand and style of comedy.

[@alfredfreedomjones5105]

Wow! You seem to have a fun life and many friends. Thanks for sharing 😊

[@davidames1746]

Father of Modern Comedy

[@MapleSyrupPoet]

Thanks Mort ✌

[@spockboy]

That was great. More please.

[@andykerr3803]

Interesting man. He will never be fully understood for sure. His serious side was simply intriguing, the comedy was obvious enough.

[@skakdosmer]

Too short!

[@danielyoung6630]

THE BRAVE COMEDIAN

[@jamesanthony5681]

Mort told a story that when Kennedy was in the White House, he made jokes about JFK in his nightclub act much to the surprise and anger of many of his (Sahl's) liberal friends. "Why are you doing that?", one of them asked. "What, have all the problems in the country miraculously disappeared?", Mort replied. A short time later the *hungry i* in San Francisco, a club where Sahl got his start and was currently performing, became the target of an IRS audit, initiated Mort believes, by Joe Kennedy.

[@MMMarvelous]

86 at this time & still very sharp.

[@LoyalOpposition]

He was sharp til the very end, I have all his shows up until 2020, when COVID closed down all the theaters in SF. I can see why everyone loves Mort. There isn't anyone out there who risked making millions for the truth. Bill Hicks comes closest, and he's gone, and so is Carlin, but there's a lot of new videos on Mort uploaded in the last year. My channel has at least 200 videos on Mort and others like him.

[@MMMarvelous]

@@LoyalOpposition Your post was the first I've heard that Mort Sahl died almost a week ago. It's s shame that he was so old, it wasn't high up on the news feed. Without Mort Sahl, it's arguable that there would be no other social satirists, which is what the best standups do now & have been like Carlin, Pryor, Bruce, Stanhope, Hicks . . . this list is endless. RIP Mort & thanks to him for creating social commentary standup.

[@LoyalOpposition]

@@MMMarvelous Very true. Many of them have said this..... I noticed an upsurge in views for about 48 hours. The interest has waned because the really big comedians haven't said anything in fear of being compared to them and found wanting.

[@teeniebeenie8774]

luv ya man....u the king

[@lafayettemoreira4423]

Whom are you pursuing Mr Kennedy (President), answer: every one (which would include sissy edgard hoover).

[@wealldieatthehandsoflovedones]

Real

[@LoyalOpposition]

He was sharp til the very end, I have all his shows up until 2020, when COVID closed down all the theaters in SF. I can see why everyone loves Mort. There isn't anyone out there who risked making millions for the truth. Bill Hicks comes closest, and he's gone, and so is Carlin, but there's a lot of new videos on Mort uploaded in the last year. My channel has at least 200 videos on Mort and others like him.

[@kendallevans4079]

Mort is the typical very smart guy who just got too obsessive over a particular event. In simple language that is called a "bore"

[@marbury2403]

I really didn't understand what he was saying here.

[@LoyalOpposition]

Is English your first language? I might be able to help you depending on what language you speak.

[@bobyale6159]

ESL (English Secondary Language) here. I understood some. Turned on CC (closed caption) and I understood better. :-) R.I.P. Mr. Sahl.

[@almamedina2902]

I think he has a condition with his eye.

[@slimydick23]

why is he winking at Tom? Is he a homosapien?