Bykofsky's last laugh
The joke's over for Philly pols and a Daily News columnist as a tradition that's raised more than $550,000 for a kids' charity ends its 25-year run.
TO STEAL a line from Carnac the Magnificent, a/k/a Johnny Carson, I have here in my hand the story of the last Stu Bykofsky Candidates' Comedy Night.
Thunderous applause!
OK, maybe that's a little unfair, even here in Santa-Claus-Snowball City. After all, in its rarely glorious 25-year run, the amateur stand-up event accomplished two remarkable things. It showed that Philadelphia's politicos can (occasionally) be intentionally funny, in the tough-crowd arena of stand-up comedy. More importantly, the veteran Daily News columnist and his patrons have raised an impressive $550,000-plus over the years for the Delaware Valley chapter of Variety - the children's charity, which aids kids with disabilities.
"I feel it is one of the things that will keep me from going to hell," said Bykofsky before the show, which has been graced (if that's the word) by most of Pennsylvania's most prominent pols, not to mention a presidential candidate (Libertarian Bob Barr in 2008) and even a New Jersey senator, Cory Booker, dragged in under duress by then-Daily News owner George Norcross.
How does it feel to end his run? "Good to have done so much good for the children with disabilities," Bykofsky said. "Happiness and relief I did it 25 years, nine more than Jon Stewart. Disappointment that it looks like it will end here. Pride that there's one in Pittsburgh that was sparked by this."
Because it was the grand finale, the event - held before more than 100 or so luminaries or near luminaries at Galdo's in South Philadelphia - turned into an impromptu roast of Bykofsky.
"Stu always looks like he bought his clothes from the Sky Mall . . . in 1989," quipped GOP City Council at-large candidate Terry Tracy, in one of a number of barbs fired at the columnist's Hawaiian shirts, Trump-lite hair, and love of travel in Thailand.
Indeed, Republicans may be outnumbered 7-to-1 or more in the Philadelphia electorate, but they stole the show last night, suggesting that humor's just another word for nothing left to lose. "Well at least I'll be first one time this election season," said GOP mayoral hopeful Melissa Murray Bailey, the initial candidate to take the stage.
Indeed, Murray was so funny and so poised it made some in the audience probably wish that Philadelphia had a two-party political system.
"I feel like a fire hydrant looking at a pack of dogs," she joked of the Democratic enrollment edge.
There was one sour note on the last night as the city's political star of 2015, Democratic mayoral nominee Jim Kenney, failed to appear - although Bykofsky said he did make a contribution to Variety. (Ditto for City Council at-large candidate Helen Gym, a longtime adversary.)
"It's personal," said Bykofsky, whose columns differ sharply from the mayoral wannabe's stands on hot-button issues like immigration, shrugging when pressed: "It's political." But the columnist sought the last laugh from the podium.
Kenney's "idea of 'cursive' is Twitter," Byko quipped. He said Kenney is "a man of the people - people like John Dougherty," his hardball union supporter.
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