Pols show their comedic side

Howard Eskin, the sports broadcaster who is often a target of Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky's barbs, set the tone of Stu's 19th annual Candidates Comedy Night last night with - what else? - a joke:

"This is a night when politicians show their sense of humor by telling us jokes, and we show ours by electing them to office."

The lighthearted charity event at Finnigan's Wake, 3rd and Spring Garden streets, had local politicians parading to the mike to make funny with professional comedian Joe Conklin.

Conklin and the pols earned a combination of yuks and groans at the event, which raises money for the Delaware Valley chapter of Variety, the charity that serves children with disabilities.

Over the years, the Comedy Night has raised more than $350,000 for the cause. The event is also sponsored by the Kal & Lucille Rudman Foundation.

Eskin, the WIP sports-talk veteran, served as co-host.

The humor often went for the jugular rather than the intellect. As might be expected, ex-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin came in for a ribbing when state Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montomgery-Delaware, said he had heard parts of Palin's Katie Couric interview that didn't make the original broadcast.

"She could not name a single member of the band Hall & Oates," Leach said, "and she said that she thought Cheerios were doughnut seeds."

Leach also said he'd gotten a Twitter message from ex-VP Dick Cheney: "Waterboarding may not be torture, but it sure keeps the damn kids off my lawn."

Candidates performing included Democratic City Controller Alan Butkovitz and his Republican challenger, Al Schmidt; Republican candidate for District Attorney Michael Untermeyer.