Mort Sahl, one of the all-time greats of comedy, was nursing a cup of afternoon coffee the other day in a booth at Piazza D'Angelo, an Italian restaurant and occasional celebrity hangout that has become his place of choice for interviews in Mill Valley, his new hometown.

The 83-year-old grandfather of political humor left Southern California a year or so ago and moved into an apartment in Mill Valley to get back on his feet after the breakup of his 10-year marriage, his third.

"I wish it had worked," he said sadly, describing his recent divorce as "acrimonious."

"When I met her, I had such a devout wish for it all," he sighed. "But that doesn't make it come true. It's very elusive, very elusive."

Sahl met his now ex-wife at a time of terrible sorrow for him. He was on a plane, flying home from a wake for his 19-year-old son, Mort Sahl Jr., who died in 1996, "another young victim of drug addiction," as columnist Army Archerd reported in Daily Variety at the time.

"He had a great sense of humor," Sahl said, smiling at the memory. He was a musician. His big thing was Guns N' Roses. It wiped me out when he died. I withdrew."

Sahl was married to the mother of his son, China (pronounced Chee-na) Lee, the first Asian Playboy centerfold, for 27 years. They divorced in 1991.

"When they interviewed her once, they asked her if I was a romantic, and she said, very disdainfully, 'Mort is in love with love.' What a criticism."

A decade and a half after the emotional devastation of losing his only child, Sahl is recovering from the heartbreak of a divorce and the lingering physical effects of a minor stroke.

Age and frailty aside, he's kept his post-collegiate look and image. He had on his trademark V-neck sweater, this one a handsome turquoise. He still has a full head of hair, once dark, now pewter.

And in the age of the 24-hour news cycle, he stays on top of current events, just as he did in the 1950s and early '60s, when he was revolutionizing stand-up comedy with a new brand of irreverent contemporary humor, stalking the stage with a rolled up newspaper in his fist, ripping into friends and foes alike.

"Mentally, he can run circles around people," said Lucy Mercer, founder and director of the 142 Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley, where Sahl will perform Aug. 14. "He's always current."

Sahl graciously credits her with helping him find a place to live, and giving him a place to perform. She's booked him frequently at her downtown theater, both solo and pairing him with cohort Dick Gregory.

"Whenever I've had him here, he sells out," she said. "Audiences are very positive. They tend to be people who remember him, and they tend to be pretty intelligent."

Sahl may have paved the way for hip topical comics like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but he finds their humor "kind of soft." They don't draw blood like he did in his heyday, he complains. And when reverential younger comics ask his advice, he tells them to "take more chances."

He's a regular at Mark Pitta's Tuesday comedy night at the Throckmorton Theatre, and cringes at some of the X-rated language and explicit sexual material that is a staple of much contemporary comedy in the era of cable TV.

"I was over at the theater last night, and it wasn't especially dirty, which I appreciated," he said. "But those guys in their Big 5 clothes aren't very adventurous. They're in neutral sociologically. More comedians, less humor."

Back in the day, Sahl got his start in San Francisco, breaking through nationally while working at Enrico Banducci's Hungry i in North Beach and living for a time in Sausalito.

A year or so ago, he heard about the Mill Valley theater through his friend Woody Allen, who performed there with his band. It would become his sanctuary from the turmoil of his life in Southern California.

"Everything was falling apart for me in L.A. professionally and personally, too," he said. "I lived in the same house in Beverly Hills for 43 years, but L.A. has gotten out of reach. So I came up to where I could talk to people. It was lucky for me here the first time."

Sahl hangs out with Robin Williams, who lives in Marin, and stays in touch with lifelong friend Clint Eastwood, but most of his old friends are "on the other side of the ground," as he puts it, and he's now faced with living alone in a new town.

"I had four dogs in L.A., but they all went on to their maker," he said. "They were the best. Every day I go to the pet adoptions in the back of the IJ and ask myself, 'Am I gonna make a commitment?'"

Saul considers himself a "radical" politically. And unlike most of his Marin neighbors, he did not support Barack Obama. When he points out what he sees as the disappointments of the Obama administration, Throckmorton audiences sometimes have a hard time laughing.

"The last time I was at the theater for Lucy, I went out there and opened up, saying, 'No, he can't.' But they weren't going to acknowledge it. It was like being in a church. There wasn't a sound."

By and large, though, Marin has embraced its newest celebrity resident, respecting his legendary status in the world of comedy.

Asked how he likes his new home so far, he didn't miss a beat.

"You can't not like it here," he said. "Everybody is pretty civilized. Anyway, what you think you don't like is stuff you don't like in yourself. It's not in your surroundings."

IF YOU GO

- What: Mort Sahl

- When: 8 p.m. Aug. 14

- Where: 142 Throckmorton Theatre, Mill Valley

- Tickets: $30, $40

- Information: 383-9600, www.142throckmortontheatre.com

Contact Paul Liberatore via e-mail at liberatore@marinij.com; follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LibLarge. Follow his blog at http://blogs.marinij.com/ad_lib.