Happy Birthday, Mort Sahl.

Gotta love the internet.
Not an original thought, but the notion was driven home again yesterday.

One of my comic heroes, Mort Sahl, just had a small write up in the New York Times. (Thanks to Brian McKim and Traci Skene / SheckyMagazine.com "Why Comedians Don't Retire" for turning me on to it). The occasion was Mort's 81st birthday.

I liked the name Mort Sahl before I ever knew his comedy; he was an occasional punchline in Mad Magazine, of which I was a rabid fan. I remember as a high-school junior, I also used his name as a punchline, in English class, and the teacher, whom I admired, stopped in his tracks and asked me if I was a fan of Sahl. I had to admit I wasn't, but I was intrigued.
Later I became a fan, partly from a taped 2-hr radio feature on the life of Woody Allen. Woody credited Mort as an influence, and the show featured about 5 minutes of Sahl's standup act for background. Very funny.

When I went to the NYT site yesterday, I saw not only the article, but also a video clip of a few of Mort's recent standup jokes, and some backstage stuff which included Mr Sahl chatting with Elaine May, Dick Cavett and Woody Allen.
Good stuff.

I don't have time for more than one newspaper; it is enough for me to read my Philadelphia Inquirer each day.
Without the internet, I would not even know that Mort Sahl was still performing (and teaching 2 classes at a college, too). But yesterday I learned the latest on him, and, as a bonus, saw a bit of his most recent stand-up material.
Wonderful.

-ej