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Last Man Standing: Mort Sahl and the Birth of Modern Comedy
Author: James Curtis
File Type: pdf
On December 22, 1953, Mort Sahl took the stage at San Franciscois hungry i and changed comedy forever. Before him, standup was about everything but hard news and politics. In his wake, a new generation of smart comics emergediShelley Berman, Mike Nichols and Elaine May, Lenny Bruce, Bob Newhart, Dick Gregory, Woody Allen, and the Smothers Brothers, among others. He opened up jazz-inflected satire to a loose network of clubs, cut the first modern comedy album, and appeared on the cover of Time surrounded by caricatures of some of his frequent targets such as Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Adlai Stevenson, and John F. Kennedy. Through the extraordinary details of Sahlis life, author James Curtis deftly illustrates why Sahl was dubbed by Steve Allen as ithe only real political philosopher we have in modern comedy.i Sahl came on the scene the same year Eisenhower and Nixon entered the White House, the year Playboy first hit the nationis newsstands. Clad in an open collar and pullover sweater, he adopted the persona of a graduate student ruminating on current events. iIt was like nothing Iid ever seen,i said Woody Allen, iand Iive never seen anything like it after.i Sahl was billed, variously, as the Nationis Conscience, Americais Only Working Philosopher, and, most tellingly, the Next President of the United States. Yet he was also a satirist so savage the editors of Time once dubbed him iWill Rogers with fangs.i Here, for the first time, is the whole story of Mort Sahl, Americais iconoclastic father of modern standup comedy. Written with Sahlis full cooperation and the participation of many of his friends and contemporaries, it delves deeply into the influences that shaped him, the heady times in which he soared, and the depths to which he fell during the turbulent sixties when he took on the Warren Commission and nearly paid for it with his career. **Review In an entertaining, abundantly . . . detailed biography, Curtis, biographer of Spencer Tracy, Preston Sturges, and W. C. Fields, makes a strong case for Sahls influence. For Woody Allen, Sahl opened up a whole new style of humor that led him to become a performer rather than just a writer. Dick Cavett called Sahls performances stunning. Among early admirers were Jack Benny, Groucho Marx, and Milton Berle. . . . A sympathetic, evenhanded biography of a man notorious for his savage wit. Kirkus Reviews James Curtis has superbly chronicled the emergence and career of a comic genius who revolutionized standup comedy and changed it forever. If you werent there at the time, its hard to realize the enormity of the impact Mort Sahl had on Americaboth as writer and performerand this book takes you through it in an exciting narrative that teems with examples of Morts dazzling wit. Woody Allen Mort Sahl has never found a truth he wouldnt tell or a bridge he wouldnt torch. Hes brilliant, hes insufferable, hes the living connection to Bill Hicks, Bill Maher, and all the other modern comics whose purpose goes deeper than extracting laughs. Its a life without compromise, almost fatally so, and James Curtiss Last Man Standing is as unflinching as its subject. Its a great book about a great comedian. Scott Eyman, author of John Wayne The Life and Legend The book is a triumph. Of prose style, engrossing, lively story-telling, and emotionally moving incidents in that complex geniuss strange and dramatic life. Also, once you put it down, you can pick it upfor re-reading. All books should be so good. Dick Cavett Last Man Standing is a magnificent, flawless, and perceptive biography of the great Mort Sahl. I loved the book and laughed out loud as I read it. Mark Russell About the Author James Curtis, Brea, California, was a senior executive in the health care and computer industries before turning full-time to writing. He is the author of William Cameron Menzies The Shape of Films to Come Spencer Tracy A Biography W. C. Fields A Biography (winner of the 2004 Theatre Library Association Award, Special Jury Prize) James Whale A New World of Gods and Monsters and Between Flops A Biography of Preston Sturges.
File Type: pdf
On December 22, 1953, Mort Sahl took the stage at San Franciscois hungry i and changed comedy forever. Before him, standup was about everything but hard news and politics. In his wake, a new generation of smart comics emergediShelley Berman, Mike Nichols and Elaine May, Lenny Bruce, Bob Newhart, Dick Gregory, Woody Allen, and the Smothers Brothers, among others. He opened up jazz-inflected satire to a loose network of clubs, cut the first modern comedy album, and appeared on the cover of Time surrounded by caricatures of some of his frequent targets such as Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Adlai Stevenson, and John F. Kennedy. Through the extraordinary details of Sahlis life, author James Curtis deftly illustrates why Sahl was dubbed by Steve Allen as ithe only real political philosopher we have in modern comedy.i Sahl came on the scene the same year Eisenhower and Nixon entered the White House, the year Playboy first hit the nationis newsstands. Clad in an open collar and pullover sweater, he adopted the persona of a graduate student ruminating on current events. iIt was like nothing Iid ever seen,i said Woody Allen, iand Iive never seen anything like it after.i Sahl was billed, variously, as the Nationis Conscience, Americais Only Working Philosopher, and, most tellingly, the Next President of the United States. Yet he was also a satirist so savage the editors of Time once dubbed him iWill Rogers with fangs.i Here, for the first time, is the whole story of Mort Sahl, Americais iconoclastic father of modern standup comedy. Written with Sahlis full cooperation and the participation of many of his friends and contemporaries, it delves deeply into the influences that shaped him, the heady times in which he soared, and the depths to which he fell during the turbulent sixties when he took on the Warren Commission and nearly paid for it with his career. **Review In an entertaining, abundantly . . . detailed biography, Curtis, biographer of Spencer Tracy, Preston Sturges, and W. C. Fields, makes a strong case for Sahls influence. For Woody Allen, Sahl opened up a whole new style of humor that led him to become a performer rather than just a writer. Dick Cavett called Sahls performances stunning. Among early admirers were Jack Benny, Groucho Marx, and Milton Berle. . . . A sympathetic, evenhanded biography of a man notorious for his savage wit. Kirkus Reviews James Curtis has superbly chronicled the emergence and career of a comic genius who revolutionized standup comedy and changed it forever. If you werent there at the time, its hard to realize the enormity of the impact Mort Sahl had on Americaboth as writer and performerand this book takes you through it in an exciting narrative that teems with examples of Morts dazzling wit. Woody Allen Mort Sahl has never found a truth he wouldnt tell or a bridge he wouldnt torch. Hes brilliant, hes insufferable, hes the living connection to Bill Hicks, Bill Maher, and all the other modern comics whose purpose goes deeper than extracting laughs. Its a life without compromise, almost fatally so, and James Curtiss Last Man Standing is as unflinching as its subject. Its a great book about a great comedian. Scott Eyman, author of John Wayne The Life and Legend The book is a triumph. Of prose style, engrossing, lively story-telling, and emotionally moving incidents in that complex geniuss strange and dramatic life. Also, once you put it down, you can pick it upfor re-reading. All books should be so good. Dick Cavett Last Man Standing is a magnificent, flawless, and perceptive biography of the great Mort Sahl. I loved the book and laughed out loud as I read it. Mark Russell About the Author James Curtis, Brea, California, was a senior executive in the health care and computer industries before turning full-time to writing. He is the author of William Cameron Menzies The Shape of Films to Come Spencer Tracy A Biography W. C. Fields A Biography (winner of the 2004 Theatre Library Association Award, Special Jury Prize) James Whale A New World of Gods and Monsters and Between Flops A Biography of Preston Sturges.
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