Elaine May

Mark Green had a laugh at his opponents' expense at last night's fund-raiser at Caroline's Comedy Club featuring the irascible faux-news curmudgeon Lewis Black and the significantly less funny Paul Mecurio. (Mecurio, for those unfamiliar with his act, is the rather aggressive audience "fluffer" on the Daily Show who stomps around the stage before each episode in an effort to rev the crowd into a clapping, screaming frenzy.)

Mecurio did manage to get a rise out of the audience -- which included Broadway laughstress Elaine May, Democratic lady-donor Sally Minard, Singin' in the Rain director Stanley Donen, actor (and MC) Bob Balaban, and metals magnate Henry Jarecki -- with a few topical political jokes. Like the one he told about Jeanine Pirro mulling a run for state senate because the campaign speeches are short (an allusion to her infamous "do you have page 10?" gaffe last year). Or when he pointed to a guy in the audience and said he looked like an Andrew Cuomo handler except that his neck wasn't thick enough.

Most of the other jokes were generic political satire -- you know, standard rants about airport security, Dick Cheney, quail hunting, the Axis of Evil, etc.

The event raised some $250,000, according to the Green folks. Now he just has to figure out how to turn that money into 18 percentage points.

-- Lizzy Ratner

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