Mort Sahl, whose comedy career spanned the second half of the 20th century and influenced a generation of comedians, died Tuesday at his home in Mill Valley, California. He was 94. Sahl is credited with creating the “earliest example of modern stand-up comedy on record,” as the Library of Congress describes his first album, 1955’s At Sunset. The citation in the library reads, “No comedian before Mort Sahl had ventured very far from the clownish mother-in-law joke or other such vaudevillian patter. Sahl broke new ground performing stand-up in a quick, literary way, molded in part by the rhythms of jazz and poetry of San Francisco.” In addition to performing across the country, often to audiences of his fellow celebrities, Sahl starred in films, hosted the Oscars, and wrote jokes for John F. Kennedy’s campaign.