Mort Sahl, whose political comedy set the bar for future humorists, dies at 94

Mort Sahl, the comic whose caustic and fearlessly observant routines about Cold War politics in the button-down 1950s transformed American comedy and paved the way for generations of acid-witted humorists, not least Jon Stewart and Bill Maher, died Oct. 26 at his home in Mill Valley, Calif. He was 94.

His friend Lucy Mercer confirmed the death but did not cite an immediate cause.