James DiEugenio Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 (edited) One of the finest of all modern comedians, who refined what stand up was. And one of the very few entertainment figures who gave two bits about the murder of JFK. In fact, he almost lost it all because of his devotion to that cause, see his duel with Johnny Carson. http://ctka.net/2016/mort/mort.html This subject radicalized him. Edited October 7, 2016 by James DiEugenio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Cearfoss Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 'red fiend" -- typo nevertheless describes what many thought he was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Brancato Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 According to his website, he does an hour of commentary every Thursday night at 7 pm at the Throckmorton theater in Mill Vally Ca. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James DiEugenio Posted October 7, 2016 Author Share Posted October 7, 2016 I have seen him three times. The first time he did his WR bit. That is, he brought out the Warren Report, read a page of some stupid pointless deposition. He then closed the volume, looked up at the audience and said, "And that is how they found out who killed Jack Kennedy." The last time I saw him he was with Eugene McCarthy. McCarthy was absolutely hilarious when describing how LBJ would bring other politicians down to his ranch and take them out hunting just to see how he could make them uncomfortable shooting rifles. I have also talked to him at small gatherings. One of the very, very few celebrities who gives a damn about the assassinations of the sixties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Newton Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 Wow. I'm 20 min. from that theater and I had no idea. I'll try to attend next Thursday and tell you about it here. I had not heard of Mort's interest. Now that I've looked at James' essay and the interview I have nothing but respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James DiEugenio Posted October 7, 2016 Author Share Posted October 7, 2016 Mort went from being a regular on The Tonight Show to doing Dick Cavett. That is a huge dip in visibility. And that means a lot to a comedian or singer. He also went from making in the high six figures, to about 21.000 bucks a year. I should add, he was interested in the JFK case before Garrison. Because he read the WR and could not buy it. BTW, someone wrote me to say that not only did Mort have a radio show in LA in the sixties, but he had a TV show also. That is how big he was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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