Joy Behar: ‘Hurricane Sandy? How About Hurricane Santorum?’

Hurricane Sandy brings anything but happy memories to mind, but Current host Joy Behar successfully made light of the traumatic event with “Comics with Benefits,” a benefit comedy show that featured esteemed comedians such as “Seinfeld” mastermind Larry David, “Saturday Night Live” alum Darrell Hammond, Sherrod Small, “Sex and the City” cast member Mario Cantone, and many others at the 92nd Street Y on Monday evening.

Though Behar anticipated the hurricane and got out of the natural disaster relatively unscathed, she told The Jane Dough before the show that she knew many people whose lives were ruined by the unusual storm, “Well, I knew it was coming so I stayed in my [Upper West Side] apartment, so we were not really hit [up there]. My friends had move out of their apartment in Greenwich Village, I know people in Staten Island who were devastated and without power for two or three weeks. One person I know in Staten Island still has boarders, still has people living in her house because they do not have a house. They do not have a home, their house was raised, flooded, whatever, they cannot get back in their house. It’s a very sad situation, so that’s why we’re trying to raise money.”

Behar added that a lot of the comedians at the Comics with Benefits gathering hail from New York, therefore Hurricane Sandy felt very “personal” and close to home to all of them. A lifelong New Yorker, Behar loves the city and joked that her favorite memory is encountering a subway flasher.

“A flasher on the subway once, that really turned me on,” she said.

Behar made similar remarks during the show, when she said that subway closures forced train creepsters to harass people elsewhere and brought politics into the mix by joking that the storm should have been named after former presidential candidate Rick Santorum:

“Subway gropers had to switch to the bus. I’m pretty sure I saw Schwarzenegger on [one of the buses]!…Hurricane Sandy? How about Hurricane Santorum?!”

The co-host of “Thew View” was far from the only comic to weave sexually charged jokes into the event. Stand-up comedian Sherrod Small told The Jane Dough about what he did as the storm passed:

“I’m in Manhattan, in my apartment, crying and masturbating at the same time.”

Though Small expected the worst, he didn’t lose power or heat in his Upper East Side residence and performed in front of a completely full comedy show at the Comedy Cellar several days after the hurricane.

Darrell Hammond, who famously portrayed former President Bill Clinton on “Saturday Night Live” for many years, told The Jane Dough he’s experienced lots of hurricanes as a result of growing up in Florida but never seen anything like Sandy.

“I mean, I’m sitting on my couch warm and dry and enjoying my sandwich while I’m watching the Atlantic Ocean [on television] coming up 1st Avenue and not really asking permission about it. It’s one of those things I still can’t really wrap my mind around…It’s larger than I can grasp.”

The night wasn’t all about Sandy, though. Prior to the show, “Sex and the City” actor Mario Cantone, who had turned 53 the previous day, applauded Blake Lively’s performance in “The Town” and gushed about “Girls” creator Lena Dunham.

“I think [Dunham] is magnificent. She quoted me once in a magazine…Yeah, I love Lena and watch that show ‘Girls,’ it’s a great show,” Cantone told The Jane Dough. “She’s got this talent that just belies her age. It’s incredible.”

Sherri Shepherd of “The View,” who has lived in the NYC area for five years, experienced minimal home damage during the storm but didn’t like to see the city and its residents in such a vulnerable state. Switching gears, she admitted that her dream co-star would be Sexiest Man Alive Channing Tatum and that she’d gladly throw a “Magic Mike” party in his honor.

“[I'd invite] all my girls from ‘The View.’ I’ll see if I can get my Elisabeth Hasselbeck friend, she’s a good Christian girl, but I’ll see if I can get her there. Elisabeth can party but she’s a good Christian girl. Even at my bachelorette party, she got the stripper but she left the room. This was in Chicago when I got married…I don’t know how she got him. I told her I wanted Chocolate Thunder, a cute black guy, but she got me like Filipino Dessert. Cute little Filipino guy.”

The packed show, which is set to air on Current Friday at 9 p.m. ET, will give all proceeds to charity. To donate $10 to Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, text SANDY to 80108. Text STOP to 80108 to STOP. Here’s a sneak preview of the event:

TAGS: comics with benefits | hurricane sandy | joy behar

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