Arlen Specter Mocks Town Halls, Viagra, And Sarah Palin In Comedy Routine (VIDEO)

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Arlen Specter is no stranger to the world of comedy. In fact, next to politics, it may be the field that earns him the most headlines. That's why it was no surprise when Senator Specter took the stage at the Pittsburgh Improv on Thursday night to benefit Allegheny county's Music Festival Fund for children.

Most of the material he used was recycled from the 2007 routine he performed at the "Funniest Celebrity in Washington" contest. (He finished second after Joseph Randazzo, assistant editor of the "The Onion," but ahead of Ana Marie Cox.) But he did throw in jabs at town hall protesters and Sarah Palin.

"Arlen has always loved stand up comics," says Joan Specter. "If he has the chance to go to a comedy show, that's his first choice."

Sometimes this jovial nature gets him in trouble, like when he cracked Polish jokes at New York's Rainbow Room while speaking at the annual meeting of the Commonwealth Club. The "New York Post" reported that Specter began by asking if anyone in the room was Polish. At that, around 10 people raised their hands. He proceeded to tell a few jokes about Polish people until one guest interrupted him, saying, "Hey, careful. I'm Polish!" Specter responded, "That's OK, I'll tell it more slowly." This was met with grumblings of tastlessness, and Specter eventually apologized saying it was a mistake.

Here's Arlen stand-up from this week (in two parts), and below is his routine from the 2007 "Funniest Celebrity in DC Contest":

Comments

[Chilblain]

Much funnier than Patton Oswalt on "The Late Show"

[heroine addict]

"...Specter? I hardly know 'er!...I love this crowd!"

[mmonarch]

Arlen Specter is a joke.

[taotedali]

Love the Trent Lott dig

[lawrencemuh]

he's good..but need some new material.

[janeycat]

arlan was a pretty good at that.you think he missed his calling...should have left politics alone....:)

[zenmonkman]

I enjoy the fact that politics can take off its PC Wardrobe every once in a while and be comedic without remorse. But, it seems that is always difficult to do in public office. Humor is a contagion for fun. I cherish the day ... sometime in the distant future ... when our politicians can reflect the positive sides of our humanity, not merely self-serving and restrictive PC behaviors that minimize perspective in our world. Good job Senator ... regardless of what my political persuasions are ... sometimes it's good to just laugh.

[Leslib]

Can we please get rid of these lame twitter comments? Not worth the bandwidth.

[greygrey]

Senator Spector. I disagree with some of your positions (no pun intended) but you are one fine comic. And a dirty dirty comic as well.

[Gregor53]

I agree completely. I now have a new impression of Specter and although I do not agree with many of his beliefs, I can now appreciate him.

[TXFF5000]

I'm glad Arlen Specter apologized for his so called "Polish Joke". Although I can't understand why he had the bad judgement to make an ethnic slur about a good US ally like Poland or any group/nation to begin with.

The Poles are good people. Poland is one of the few countries which has always liked the US while most other countries, including our so called allies today, have at many times been against the US at various times in US history.

[pjburke]

Arlen Specter can be both lauded and criticized. He's had a very long public career, so there's plenty on both sides of that ledger.

But representing a state in the United States Senate is about what you can do today and tomorrow, not what you did yesterday.

Specter is not the best man for the job of representing Pennsylvanians in the United States Senate going forward. Joe Sestak is... and its not even very close, IMHO.

Full Disclosure: I don't work for Sestak, though I did get to speak with him out here in Southern California this past June (very, very impressive).

Navy NCO's are "two thumbs up" on Sestak. Go ahead and call it bias... but do you really think Blue Tile Brass -- the top executives for those non-Navy folks -- get an 'automatic' from the Goat Locker (where the top enlisted sailors live and work) ??? Are ya kidding me? Look at Sestak's smokin' record of activism for veterans.

I've spoken with Specter on numerous occasions... but I always liked John Heinz better, mostly because Heinz never seemed to be in a hurry to move to the next person like Specter always is. Maybe that's just a 'Pittsburgh -vs- Philly' (warm -- vs -- cold) thing.

Joe Sestak is more like Heinz was... warm, unhurried, engaging, smart, fact-driven, thorough, virulently anti-arrogance (a sharp contrast to Specter)... but fully capable of commanding a very large multi-ship force. Unlike Specter, Sestak ain't joking around..

[beelzabubbleboy]

His funniest joke ever---The Single Bullet Theory !!

[lejourdegloire]

Jokes at the expense of quadraplegics are completely inappropriate and wrong, especially from a US Senator. Look how upset people got when Obama ad libbed something about the Special Olympics. This is far worse than that.

[CubfanBudman]

but he could ring the doorbell...

I'll tell you what I told the Obama over-reactors, Lighten Up. Both jokes were less than harmless.

[RogerBurke]

A little late in the process, but I agree. It's important to be sensitive, but the joke wasn't about the guy, it was about the guy's reaction to the woman -- and just about anything having to do with sex in general. Politics and single bullet theories aside, the guy's timing and delivery were really nice, and especially the memory at that age. Just goes to prove something I've always observed, the only reason half these guys go into politics is they realized Vaudeville was dead.

Now if folks aren't offended enough, here's the litmus test of what consititutes an innocuouos Polish Joke.

Qu. --What does a Polish bride get on here wedding night that's long and hard?
(This is where half of those who even respond attempt to integrade the deli meat Kielbasa into the answer.)

Again Qu. -- What does a Polish bride get on here wedding night that's long and hard?
A. - A new last name.

The litmus test: The overly circumSpectored believe this is a slur; i.e. Polish people are too dumb to spell. The rest of us realize that for most of us, some Polish names are difficult to pronounce. The defense rests your Honor.

[Jezreel]

Specter was funny. I enjoyed his routine both times.

[eddiesengola]

The guy is a joke! Why is he doing this?

[Aquarius]

That's exactly what I was thinking. He doesn't need to open his mouth for people to laugh at him.

[Principaldad]

"Allegheny county's Music Festival Fund for children", that's why.