Inspired by Mort Sahl

Woody Allen says he’s ‘toying with the idea’ of making a return to stand-up.

The writer-director said he was inspired to return to the form that made him famous after seeing 85-year-old stand-up pioneer Mort Sahl play three late shows.

Allen, 77, said: ‘Watching him, I had the same feeling now, in 2013, as I had when I saw him in 1950-something. Of, “Hey, I’d like to get back on stage and do stand-up again.”

‘He inspired me then to be a standup comic, and all these years later, I thought of it again because of him. He makes that phenomenon so enticing.’

When the New York Times asked if he could fit a live tour into his schedule of making a movie a year, Allen said: ‘I was thinking of it. Since I saw him, I’ve just been toying with the idea. I would love to see if I could. Just getting together an hour of stuff to talk  about would be a lot of work.’

Published: 17 Jul 2013