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The show will go on at One-Liners Comedy Club.

A benefit planned for the popular giggle factory at 50 Airport Parkway is scheduled for tonight, according to Shelly Underwood, general manager at the club.

Fire raged through the building Sunday, postponing the "Stand Up for the Troops" show, originally scheduled for Tuesday.

While the benefit is free, comedy clubs across the country -- more than a dozen had shows planned for Tuesday -- were to solicit donations to raise money for the USO and a Veterans of Foreign Wars phone-cards-for-the-troops program and to take out pro-armed services newspaper ads.

Today's show is at 8 p.m.

Firefighters had to knock holes in the roof at One-Liners to contain the blaze. Club owner Dave Wilson said the fire was confined mostly to an office over a game room in his adjoining bar and restaurant.

Underwood said Wilson was in good spirits despite the setback.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Damage has been estimated at $50,000.

Wilson praised the Greenwood Fire Department, saying firefighters worked hard to save the club's furnishings. They moved pool tables and placed covers over them and relocated collectibles to spare them damage.

Underwood was busy supervising the cleanup on Tuesday.

"I'm making sure everybody is doing their work," she said with a laugh.

An overnight fire forced a Greenwood comedy club to cancel a free benefit tonight in support of America's troops.

Greenwood Fire Department Lt. Tom Kite said the fire was reported about midnight Sunday at the One-Liners Comedy Club, 50 Airport Parkway, and extinguished in about two hours.

Club owner Dave Wilson said the fire was mostly confined to an office over a game room in his adjoining bar and restaurant. However, firefighters had to knock holes in the roof to battle the blaze, and Wilson said he was mopping up water this morning.

Construction crews were already at work today to repair the damage. However, the “Stand up for the Troops” show, which was scheduled for tonight, had to be postponed. Wilson said the club would try to host the benefit Wednesday instead.

More than a dozen clubs nationwide have scheduled shows tonight. While free, the clubs are planning to solicit donations to raise money for the USO and a Veterans of Foreign Wars phone-cards-for-soldiers program, and to take out pro-troop newspaper ads.

Wilson said Greenwood firefighters worked hard to save the club's furnishings. They moved pool tables and placed covers over them. They also relocated collectibles so they would not be damaged. "We were really very fortunate," he said.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, although Wilson said some electrical wiring may be to blame. Kite said damages were estimated at $50,000.

The worlds of comedy and war will blend tonight.

The event is billed as "Standup For the Troops." It's a free show - with donations taken - at various clubs around the country, including Connxtions in Lansing.

"I sent the idea to lots of people," said Wild Bill Bauer, a Minneapolis comedian. "The first person to respond was Frank Stevens."

He's the Connxtions owner. He's also an Army veteran who endorses the general notion.

"There are a lot of different opinions about the war," Stevens said. "But once you make a commitment, you have to get behind it."

That's the idea of the stand-up night, said Bauer, a Vietnam vet.

People assume that show-business opposes the Iraq war, Bauer said. "I'd say that over half the comedy people are in favor of it."

That may be especially true in the Midwest. The stand-up night has lined up 14 comedy clubs, half in Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio.

Comedy and warfare don't always mix, of course.

"They say that the formula for comedy is tragedy-plus-time," Stevens said. "We haven't had the time yet for this war."

So comedians approach the subject gingerly. "There are so many opinions and emotions coming down on this," said Mark Irish, the Connxtions manager.

Rico Bruce Wade, a comedian who lives in Lansing and will perform tonight, echoed that. "The support for the troops is definitely there," Wade said, "but not necessarily support for the war. There are so many different opinions."

Still, Wade said, there's always something that's funny.

"The Iraqi information minister is great for material," he said. "Wouldn't it be great to have that guy with you when you come home late: 'No, no, he is definitely not drunk.' "

War-related material can work in comedy clubs, Stevens said. "When you go through these doors, anything goes," he said. "It's a politically correct world, but between these four walls, it's not."

In the rest of that world, people are cautious. War-related comedy is avoided by some spots, embraced by others, including:

"The Daily Show," on Comedy Central. It mocked TV news coverage, with its ongoing reports, "Iraq: Are We There Yet?"

• "Saturday Night Live." Recently, it had Saddam Hussein "proving" a videotape wasn't made in advance. He did this by holding up a desk calendar.

• "The Bob and Tom Show," which is syndicated on radio. It even claims to have an Iraqi comedian, Shecky Azziz.

"It was different after Sept. 11, when there was an attack on our home front," said Bob Olson, program director for WJXQ (106.1-FM), which airs the show. "Bob and Tom went for weeks without much comedy relief. ... I think what they found is that people really need to laugh."

The idea for the stand-up day started with comedians Craig Allen (who has two siblings stationed overseas) and Bauer. Stevens jumped at it quickly.

Tonight's show will have a 15-minute set by Wade and a 45-minute show by Awkward Silence, a sketch-comedy troupe.

Stevens hasn't been to war, but he has an idea what the soldiers are facing. For 28 months in the late 1970s, he was in a training unit in Panama.

He also has an involvement shared by many local people: His family roots are in the Arab world.

"My grandparents came over here from Lebanon," Stevens said. "We've got quite a few people in the family who speak Arabic. ... I've always appreciated the food and the language."

Stevens often watches news of warfare in his ancestral homeland. "People have been fighting there for generations," he said.

That's a serious business. Tonight, however, there will be time for comedy.

Overheard

The people who are doubles for Saddam Hussein were called in and told there is good news and bad news. The good news: "Our glorious leader is still alive." The bad news: "He's lost his right arm."

-- "The Bob and Tom Show"

Martin Sheen is telling us to oppose the war. Taking political advice from Martin Sheen is like taking parenting advice from Martin Sheen.

-- Wild Bill Bauer, stand-up comic

The Tigers need this Iraq information guy. He'd tell us, "They have not lost a game all year. They have defeated the infidels at every turn."

-- Rico Bruce Wade, stand-up comic who lives in Lansing

The French have helped us after all. We dropped pamphlets on Iraq, telling how to surrender. Actually, that's the first page of the French army manual.

-- "Bob and Tom"

Equipped with nothing but microphones and an arsenal of jokes, a comedy coalition of stand-up comics will take to stages across the country Monday night as clubs open their doors for free shows in support of American troops stationed overseas.

The shows are part of an effort called "Standup for the Troops," which was started a few weeks ago in Minneapolis. Included in the effort locally is Connxtions Comedy Club, on Heatherdowns Boulevard.

Appearing at Connxtions Monday night will be a lineup that includes Chrissy Burns, P.J. Butlind, Mark Knope, Ken Leslie, and Dennis Sheehe.

"Standup for the Troops" was the idea of Minneapolis comedian Craig Allen, whose family has strong ties to the military. "My dad, my aunts, uncles, and cousins have all served," Allen said. "Right now, my little brother, Keith, is stationed on the USS Winston Churchill and my sister is at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"I wanted to do Standup for the Troops on a local level in the Twin Cities, to do something to show my support for the military and my family, but word spread fast and before I knew it we had become a nationwide event."

Another comic, Wild Bill Bauer, helped Allen spread the word. A Vietnam veteran, Bauer assisted in contacting clubs and comics across the country. Dozens of clubs from Florida to California have been enlisted in the cause.

"We’re doing this for the military, we’re doing this for the friends and families they had to leave behind, and the causes we’re supporting will benefit troops long after this is over," Bauer said.

Though the comedians and the clubs involved with Standup for the Troops are donating their time and services, cash donations will be accepted after the shows, with all proceeds going to the USO, which provides entertainment and moral support for military personnel, and to the VFW’s Operation Uplink, which provides free calling cards to military personnel to stay in touch with their families at home.

Ed Pattay, manager of Connxtions, said he hopes to attract "a couple hundred people" to Monday night’s performances. "In addition to the comics, the staff here is all donating their time too that night, and it would be great if we could fill the place up," he added.

Allen said he hopes the night’s comedy brings out audiences regardless of their political affiliations. "We’re not ‘pro-war’ or ‘anti-peace,’" he explained. "We’re just comedians and comedy clubs who love our country and want to do something nice to show our support for the troops."

This is no joke: Standup comics nationwide and locally are taking the stage Monday in free performances to benefit men and women of the armed forces and their families.

The Stand-up for the Troops locally will be at 7 p.m. at Adam’s Lounge in the Holiday Inn-Bossier City near Old Minden Road and Interstate-20. Donations will be accepted to help support the USO and the VFW’s Operation Uplink.

The Laugh Shoppe, a group of local stand-up comedians, was one of the first to join the nationwide effort. Comedians scheduled to perform include Lee Adam’s, James Carley, Beaux Guss, Steve Castello, Alisa Politz Rayburn and Chris Pierce.

The idea behind Stand-up for the Troops, which organizers say is not pro-war or anti-peace, is to show appreciation for active military personnel, reservists, veterans and their families. It was the idea of Minneapolis comedian Craig Allen, whose younger brother is stationed on the USS Winston Churchill and whose sister is at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Fellow comic Wild Bill Bauer, a decorated Vietnam vet, contacted clubs and comics across the country. Currently, 14 clubs from Florida to California will participate.

Donations will help the USO, which provides care packages, child-care services, contingency travel funds and more the VFW’s Operation Uplink purchases phone cards and distributes them to service personnel who are separated from loved ones. Financial support for both organizations is solely from donations.

For more information about Stand-up for the Troops, go to www.standup4troops.com or www.laughshoppe.com.

Laughter may be the best medicine, but some people think it's also a fine form of patriotism.

A pair of Fort Wayne stand-up comics, Pete LaFaucia and Jason Dixie, will take part in "Standup for the Troops," a comedic tribute to our fighting men and women that will take place at 14 locations across the nation Monday evening.

All performances will be offered free of charge.

LaFaucia and Dixie have been assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Base outside of Chicago where they will be two of eight comedians scheduled to crack wise for people who are probably desperate for a furlough from nerves.

They're mostly seamen waiting to be shipped out.

LaFaucia, 31, specifically requested the base because it is where his brother, Eric, is stationed.

At 19, Eric has never been allowed into the sort of alcohol-serving establishments where comedy tends to be performed and, therefore, he has never seen his brother do stand-up.

LaFaucia says he has some Eric-related material, but not anything that would incite subsequent hazing incidents.

"I certainly don't want to embarrass him so much that he curls under his chair," he says.

One of LaFaucia's bits grew out of an argument the two NASCAR Nascar-loving brothers had several years back.

Eric is not one of racer Jeff Gordon's biggest fans, to put in mildly. He spent an hour one afternoon trying to undermine Gordon's manliness through a meticulous analysis of the available evidence.

LaFaucia says the organizers of "Standup for the Troops" haven't issued any guidelines as to the type of comedy that should and should not be performed.

(The event) is meant to support the troops," he says. "It isn't pro-war or anti-war. It is pro-troops."

It is probably safe to assume, however, that you won't hear any comic wonder which blockbuster will be the summer's biggest: "The Matrix" or Damascus, nor will any comedian propose a new game show called "Guess the 51st State," nor will any comic venture to say that the best way to protect Iraq's antiquities is to cover them in oil, nor will any comedian suggest that Donald Rumsfeld is what Ebenezer Scrooge would have been like if he had been visited by the ghosts of Walter Mitty, Torquemada and Poopdeck Pappy.

Material like this would be met with the disdain it undoubtedly deserves.

After Eric samples his brother's vocation, LaFaucia will probably not sample Eric's.

 "I mean, look at me," LaFaucia says, spreading his hands to indicate a bulk he is clearly comfortable with. "What am I going to do? Tell Saddam jokes until he dies laughing? 'Two infidels walk into a bar . . .' "

However, he feels proud to be able to make a small comedic contribution to the present administration's Mideastern campaign.

"Nothing pisses me off more than these anti-war protesters," he says. "I hated seeing those hippie beatniks in front of the courthouse with their signs. When they said, 'No war,' all that conveyed to me is, 'We hate Bush.' "

LaFaucia says his brother will receive his assignment sometime in the next two months. He is a repairer of diesel engines, or - to use the technical term - a grease monkey.

Given Eric's particular skills, the place he will be practicing them and the decisive recent military successes in Iraq, LaFaucia says he does not fear for Eric's safety.

For those who can't make it to Chicago, LaFaucia and Dixie may be fleetingly seen in the May 19 premiere of the new NBC program, "Last Comic Standing."

 It is a reality show, LaFaucia says, that combines "American Idol" with "Big Brother" - comics compete with one another, then live together in a house. Neither LaFaucia nor Dixie made it past the second round, but LaFaucia is almost certain some of his antics will be aired. And he's not sure whether to feel glad or sad about it. 

"They said they wanted to see people moving, being animated, so I did a bit I hadn't quite worked out where I danced like an oompa loompa.

"Remember that girl on 'American Idol' who sang 'Genie in a Bottle' off key, the one they kept showing in the commercials? Well, afterward, I said to Jason, 'You know they're going to want to keep showing the fight guy dancing. I'm going to be the 'Genie in a Bottle' chick! The worst comedian they saw!"

"Stand Up for the Troops benefit set Monday" by Bob von Sternberg

Nearly 50 stand-up comedians will do their acts across the nation Monday on behalf of troops in Iraq.

Proceeds from the Stand Up for the Troops benefit performances, organized by Minneapolis comic Craig Allen, will be donated to the USO and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Locally, participating clubs are the Comedy Gallery, Radisson Hotel and Conference Center in Plymouth, the Comedy Gallery South in Bloomington and the Minnesota Comedy Club in Maplewood.

"Comic stands up for troops" by David Burke

“Wild” Bill Bauer wants to send out a message to troops in Iraq.

That message, the Minneapolis comedian says, is that there are people in the entertainment industry who do support them.

“You’d think everyone in the entertainment business was a communist by the way we’re acting,” Bauer said in a telephone interview. “The media only seems interested in covering the Dixie Chicks or Ed Asner or (he said in a groan) Martin Sheen. There’s a lot of us who may not be pro-war, but we’re relatively supportive of people over in Iraq.”

Bauer is one of two organizers of “Stand Up for the Troops,” a conglomeration of 45 comics and 14 comedy clubs nationwide, all of whom will combine for shows on Monday night. Penguins Comedy Club in Bettendorf — where Bauer is performing five shows this weekend — is not participating, Bauer said, because of the difficulty of scheduling a number of comedians for the one performance.

He and comic Craig Allen, who has a brother and sister stationed in Iraq, put together the benefit shows as fund-raisers for the USO and Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Operation Uplink.

A Vietnam War veteran, Bauer said he wants to send out a message letting soldiers in Iraq know they’re getting support.

“There is nothing more disheartening than reading about a bunch of knuckleheads protesting your presence,” he said. “It just brings you down.”

Much of the money to support the project is being paid by Bauer and Allen, including starting the Web site at www.standup4troops.com.

“When it’s a national project like this, you very quickly realize how incapable you are. It’s a lot of responsibility,” he said.

Talking about the war is a small part of the 52-year-old Bauer’s act. He riffs on travel agencies offering package tours to Vietnam.

“Why would I want to vacation there when I go there every night?” he said, followed by a faux scream.

A former paramedic, Bauer is a 20-year veteran of standup comedy. Among his credits are a writing job on the Tom Arnold movie “Carpool” in 1996, and two guest-star spots on “Roseanne.” The second time came as Arnold and wife Roseanne had separated.

“She went through all the episodes of ‘Roseanne’ and cut out all of Tom’s friends,” he said. “Not a very pleasant person.”

Bauer is one of a number of comedians who collaborated on the concept album “Idiot Box,” which, like his act, is very adult without using four-letter words.

“The payoff is so much sweeter,” he said of working relatively clean. “I learned to work clean when I worked for television. I only cursed a couple of times anyway.

“I have a brother who’s a priest and a sister who’s a nun. People ask if it’s difficult to be a comedian in the same town where my brother’s a priest. I say yes, I’m in constant fear he’s going to do something to embarrass me.”

Bauer said he sometimes tires of the two decades of airplanes (though he’s driving here from the Twin Cities), fast food and hotel rooms.

“Once I step on stage, that’s forgotten,” he said.

Lansing State Journal

Two local favorites, hypnotist Chuck King and stand-up comedian Rico Bruce Wade, are at Connxtions Comedy Club today.  Wade will be back Monday (extending the weekend by a day), as part of a national "Standup For the Troops" effort. He and the Awkward Silence sketch group perform at 8 p.m. at Connxtions; there's no admission charge; donations will go for such groups as USO and the VFW's "Operation Uplink."