Born in Canada , raised in America, Mort Sahl , above , right , a political satirist with a huge international reputation , the first stand up comic to make the cover of Time magazine, warned Australia about ultra-right groups.
He was photographed during a visit to Australia being embraced by Melbourne journalist , university newspaper editor (Farrago and Lot's Wife), publisher , former ALP MHR, Pete Steedman , in the l980s.
The shot was taken at Steedman's Hurstbridge residence , in the hills north of Melbourne, the former residence of playwright David Williamson ( Don's Party ) , where Sahl was taken by author Shane Maloney . Maloney was thought to have been running the Comedy Company at the time and Sahl was booked to appear in his one-man stand up act .
During a luncheon of about five and a half hours , Steedman provided Sahl with a colourful , highly animated briefing on the Australian political scene and details of right wing groups in the country . Steedman had clashed with right wingers in the university publications , as editor of Broadside , a national publication, which launched cartoonists Michael Leunig and Peter Burleigh , in parliament , and as editor of the Victorian ALP newspaper , Labor Star .
Mort responded to the unusual and invaluable briefing by autographing Steedman's collection of Sahl recordings.
During a performance, at the Astor Theatre , St. Kilda, before an audience which included members of the Jewish community, some survivors of the Holocaust , Sahl said people should heed what Steedman-present- had warned about the right wing forces in the nation .
Recalling the occasion, Steedman told this blog he had been rapt by the famous satirist mentioning him to the gathering .
He was photographed during a visit to Australia being embraced by Melbourne journalist , university newspaper editor (Farrago and Lot's Wife), publisher , former ALP MHR, Pete Steedman , in the l980s.
The shot was taken at Steedman's Hurstbridge residence , in the hills north of Melbourne, the former residence of playwright David Williamson ( Don's Party ) , where Sahl was taken by author Shane Maloney . Maloney was thought to have been running the Comedy Company at the time and Sahl was booked to appear in his one-man stand up act .
During a luncheon of about five and a half hours , Steedman provided Sahl with a colourful , highly animated briefing on the Australian political scene and details of right wing groups in the country . Steedman had clashed with right wingers in the university publications , as editor of Broadside , a national publication, which launched cartoonists Michael Leunig and Peter Burleigh , in parliament , and as editor of the Victorian ALP newspaper , Labor Star .
Mort responded to the unusual and invaluable briefing by autographing Steedman's collection of Sahl recordings.
During a performance, at the Astor Theatre , St. Kilda, before an audience which included members of the Jewish community, some survivors of the Holocaust , Sahl said people should heed what Steedman-present- had warned about the right wing forces in the nation .
Recalling the occasion, Steedman told this blog he had been rapt by the famous satirist mentioning him to the gathering .
Sahl received many accolades-one the greatest political satirists of all time . Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., said his popularity was due to " the public's yearning for youth, irreverence , trenchancy , satire and a clear cut with the past" . On a Steve Allen Show in America he was introduced as " the only real political philosopher we have in modern comedy". John F. Kennedy asked Sahl to provide him with a bank of jokes to use on the campaign trail .
Following the 1963 assassination of Kennedy ,who was greatly admired by Sahl , he often included readings of and commentary on the Warren Commission Report into the event , consistently disputing the accuracy . He also became a deputised member of New Orlean's district attorney Jim Garrison's team to investigate the assassination.
It is interesting to note that Sahl was not impressed by television news , saying it spoon fed the public , therefore responsible for the corruption and ignorance that may sink America.
Following the 1963 assassination of Kennedy ,who was greatly admired by Sahl , he often included readings of and commentary on the Warren Commission Report into the event , consistently disputing the accuracy . He also became a deputised member of New Orlean's district attorney Jim Garrison's team to investigate the assassination.
It is interesting to note that Sahl was not impressed by television news , saying it spoon fed the public , therefore responsible for the corruption and ignorance that may sink America.
Mort ( Morton) usually just came on stage with a daily newspaper or magazine and read from the publication , delivering a powerful , pungent , biting and hilarious, rapid-fire monologue. A Google entry says Sahl, now in his nineties , still makes a weekly appearance at Mill Hill , San Francisco, in what is described as a take no prisoners session in answers to questions from a live audience , Donald Trump one of those he gives the rhubarb treatment .
During his university days , Steedman campaigned against the Vietnam War and conscription , receiving death threats and the animosity of government , which considered bringing in special legislation to charge him with subversion . Steedman also made contact with Pulitzer Prize award winning Canadian-American author , Saul Bellow.
* SHANE MALONEY : Creator of the Australian Murray Whelan crime novels , winner of the Ned Kelly Prize for Crime Fiction , two made into telemovies , which feature a political fixer, said to be hopelessly romantic , who gets involved in all kinds of mayhem , some murderous . Steedman rated a mention by the author in the first book. Shane was the subject of a 2005 Archibald Prize painting by Rick Amor.
During his university days , Steedman campaigned against the Vietnam War and conscription , receiving death threats and the animosity of government , which considered bringing in special legislation to charge him with subversion . Steedman also made contact with Pulitzer Prize award winning Canadian-American author , Saul Bellow.
* SHANE MALONEY : Creator of the Australian Murray Whelan crime novels , winner of the Ned Kelly Prize for Crime Fiction , two made into telemovies , which feature a political fixer, said to be hopelessly romantic , who gets involved in all kinds of mayhem , some murderous . Steedman rated a mention by the author in the first book. Shane was the subject of a 2005 Archibald Prize painting by Rick Amor.
