Mort Sahl pioneered the type of biting satirical political humor that inspired so many other comics who came after him, from Lennie Bruce to Jay Leno. Appearing first in nightclubs during the late 1950s, Sahl did not follow earlier comics who told mother-in-law jokes or stuck to ribbing their show business cronies. Instead, he adopted the style of jazz musicians who begin with a theme, are reminded of another idea, and then circle back to the original theme.

Sahl was born May 11, 1927, in Montreal, Canada, but soon moved to Los Angeles, where his father eventually worked as a clerk for the F.B.I. Sahl was a high school member of R.O.T.C. and was stationed, after being drafted, in Alaska. There, he got into trouble as editor of the base paper, "Poop from the Group," and claimed to have served 83 days...