Mort Sahl tells of time Robin Williams was his one fan

By Ronnie Cohen MILL VALLEY Calif. (Reuters) – Robin Williams was the only person who came backstage to see him when satirist Mort Sahl gave a show 17 years ago, and the 87-year-old comic said it marked the start of a close friendship that ended with the comedian's apparent suicide this week. Sahl, sometimes considered the godfather of stand-up political comedy, told about 80 people at an informal tribute to Williams on Thursday night that he had been expecting hordes of fans eager to tell him how much they had loved his show. "Just one guy came and knocked on the door," Sahl said in a room at a theater where Williams used to perform. He looked down at his shoes, and he says, 'I always wanted to meet you.'" Sahl, whose razor-sharp wit and knack for social satire influenced Lenny Bruce and Woody Allen and landed him on the cover of Time magazine in 1960, leaned on a cane and a friend's arm as he walked into the room at the Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley, north of San Francisco.