HughE Dillon: Bradley Cooper, Ice Cube, Jason Schwartzman Dine Out in Philly

Last night I attended the 20th Annual Stu Bykofsky Candidates Comedy Night at Finnigan’s Wake. It was a riot for the most part, but some candidates should stick to their day jobs.

One of the first things candidates do is pick from a hat the order in which they will get to do their stand-up routine. Attorney General and Republican candidate for governor, Tom Corbett, was excited to go first and then sit and relax the rest of the evening. His routine was exactly what you want to hear from a politician participating in this event. It was even, steady and peppered with self-deprecating jokes, as well as some targeting his opponent, Dan Onorato. The funniest bit was when he showed a picture of actor Leslie Nielsen and said they were separated at birth. ALSO ABOVE: Stu Bykofsky and Daily News colleague Jenice Armstrong.

The audience included: Montgomery County coroner Dr. Walter Hofman, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (who must have an amazing memory because he remembered me after meeting me just once at Mia Tinari and Dave Fisher’s wedding), Bonnie Squires, Bruce Holick, and Rep. James R. Roebuck, Jr. After Tom Corbett, came Democratic Congressman Patrick Murphy. He said he was nervous and would rather be having a tickle fight with Eric Massa. Murphy said he asked the evening’s sponsor Joey Vento for advice and Vento told him to say “Se llama Patrick Murphy.” Murphy also joked that Republican Mike Fitzpatrick couldn’t be there because he was in Kenya with tea party activists looking for Obama’s birth certificate … and that they’ve almost found it as it’s right next to Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, George Bush’s military records, and Charlie Rangel’s tax returns.

Congressman Chaka Fattah took the stage next. Fattah needed a comedy bailout; he made no effort at being funny, and literally attacked the Republicans with no comedy behind it. I wish I had a gong. Even the Democrats booed him. I was hugely disappointed that a man this powerful and dedicated to his job would basically give a campaign speech for his routine, telling Republicans they should be embarrassed to run for anything after eight years of George Bush. It seemed as if Fattah was actually nervous about losing his job. (And I’m a Democrat!)

Flyers champion Dave “The Hammer” Schultz auctioned off a Del Frisco’s gift certificate and a signed hammer. It went for $500. Then Schultz told the audience that in a few weeks seven of the former Philadelphia Flyers players from the championship team are becoming United States citizens.

Republican congressional candidate for the 8th District, Mike Fitzpatrick, could not appear so he sent Andre Watson as his stand-in. Andre is African-American so just by introducing him as “Fitzpatrick” and then explaining that Andre wasn’t Fitzpatrick brought a big laugh. Watson got the biggest laughter of the night when he said that Fattah alleviated his fears of being the least funniest man in the room. ALSO ABOVE: Beth Hegedus, a “political connector,” was a huge help to me, introducing me to people to be photographed. (Of course, that’s probably why you see more Republicans than Democrats on this page!) Thanks Beth!

My Winner for the Night: Dr. Manan Trivedi, Democratic congressional candidate for the 6th District. He grew up in a rural area of Berks County. He joked that when he was a kid and went cow tipping, he then had to worship the cow. He also said: Since he and his brother were the only Indian-Americans at their school, they had the weight of the entire spelling bee team on their shoulders; he was voted most likely to own a convenience store; and his yearbook quote was “Thank you, come again.”

ABOVE: Republican Pat Meehan and former 6ABC’s Mark Howard. Also at Howard’s table were Jim Tirchon with wife and CBS3 reporter Stephanie Stahl, and Mark Segal. Other political comedians included Bob Brady, Dee Carson Adcock, Pat Toomey and Joe Sestak. Also spotted: Kelly Boyd, Rob Krebs, Jeff Guaracino, Laura Powers, Caitlin Joyce, Christie Honigman, and Senator Larry Farnese. The audience had more Republicans because there was a Democratic fundraiser going on somewhere else with Bill Clinton.

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Last Saturday was chock-full of exciting events starting at 10:30 a.m. with former Eagle and current New Jersey Republican congressional candidate Jon Runyan hosting the Score for the Cure Mini Golf Challenge that benefited The Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson. The event was held at the Comcast Center’s outdoor plaza at 17th and JFK.

It was a beautiful day for a little golf for the Carpenter family from Fox Chase. ABOVE: Dad Raymond putting as wife Christine and kids Aiden and Abigail look on.

Also out enjoying the day was Renee Dubyk and dad Joe Dubyk. Renee was ecstatic that she got a hole in one at the final green.

ABOVE: Nataliia Pestell and Dr. Richard Pestell of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, with Jon Runyan.

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OUT AND ABOUT

Bradley Cooper had lunch with his parents Charlie and Gloria Cooper yesterday at the Palm.

After Monday morning interviews at local radio and TV stations to promote his movie Lottery, rapper/actor Ice Cube stopped by the Broad and Arch streets McDonald’s for lunch before heading to his next city.

Last week actors Michael Cera, Anna Kendrick, Jason Schwartzman and director Edgar Wright dined at Parc on Rittenhouse Square at 11:30 p.m. They were in town to promote the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. The party of eight left a $120 tip on a $397 bill after dining on steak frites, scallops and a few cocktails. (A Philly local connection is actor Mark Webber, who grew up in Philadelphia and also appears in the film; he took former City Paper political writer Mary Patel to the premiere in Los Angeles last week.)

Congratulations to Philadelphia’s Anne Nikolaus for winning a second Lancaster Ladies City-County Better Ball title with her golfing partner Sarah Bejgrowicz. The two have been playing together for about three years, and in their first outing they won the 2008 Lancaster Ladies City-County Better Ball tournament. Anne tells me that “it was such a great feeling to reclaim the title this year!”

And speaking of golf: Monday’s Stars Within Reach’s 3rd Annual Stars Golf Outing at Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey more than doubled last year’s fundraising efforts with more than 120 guests in attendance. Stars golfing included: Johari Rollins, NBC10’s Renee Chenault-Fattah, former Eagle and current 610 WIP host Ike Reese, former Flyer Brian Propp, and State Rep. Tony Payton. Jimmy Rollins might need a raise as Johari Rollins and her mom did a few test drives of the Maseratis, and her mom was eyeballing one model in particular. Her husband (Peter Smith) had to drag her away!

Renee Chenault-Fattah was a standout at the Ladies Golf Clinic, actually assisting the instructors with giving the 20+ ladies in attendance a few pointers.

Check out my blog PhillyChitChat.com and follow me on Twitter @iPhillyChitChat for my latest adventures.