44 Years Ago In Time

Before Jon Stewart, Bill Maher and Al Franken, there was MORT SAHL, who revitalized stand-up comedy in the 1950s with his trenchant political wit. TIME joined the laughter in a 1960 cover story on the verge of an election.

The citizen has certain misgivings. "Politics aside," he wonders, "is Richard Nixon worth [a salary of] $100,000? I admit his chances look pretty good, but what about ours?" Waging a sort of personal third campaign, he has a captious eye on Hyannisport as well: "The choice is between the lesser of two evils, anyway," he says. "Some people claim Nixon is trying to sell the country, and Kennedy is trying to buy it." ... With one eye on world news and the other on Variety, [Sahl] is a volatile mixture of show business and politics, of exhibitionistic self-dedication and a seemingly sincere passion to change the world. The best of the New Comedians, he is also the first notable American political satirist since Will Rogers. "Whenever there is a political bloat, Mort sticks a pin in it," says Hubert Humphrey ... Says Sahl mockingly: "I'm the intellectual voice of the era — which is a good measure of the era."

--TIME, Aug. 15, 1960