“Good evening. It’s lunch time at the sex shop.”

That’s how Bruce Springsteen began his music and comedy set Monday, Nov. 8, at the 15th annual Stand Up for Heroes benefit, which raises funds for the Woodruff Foundation in support of veterans.

The show took place at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. Yes, Springsteen, who’s performed at 14 of the Stand Up for Heroes, told jokes. 

“I play the guitar, too, but I tell some bad jokes before I do,” Springsteen explained, before returning to his sex shop joke. The boss told four jokes, all wonderfully filthy, seemingly taken from a dog-eared ’60s-era X-rated joke book.

There was a sex shop joke, a “cathouse” joke, a voodoo penis, and a joke about a songwriter who gives his songs X-rated names.

Bruce Springsteen at the 15th annual Stand Up For Heroes benefit Nov. 8 at Alice Tully Hall in New York City.

The jokes work so well because they play against the Boss’ public persona. You just don’t expect to hear Bruce Springsteen delivering such crude material.

“The Boss can’t lose, you’re going to laugh,” said comedian Donnell Rawlings, who also performed on Monday. “I’m going to see if he tells a joke and if it doesn’t work, how quickly he starts singing ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ ”

It didn’t happen.

“Most guys who reach the fame he has, which aren’t a lot, can captivate an audience, can communicate with a sense of humor,” Rawlings said. 

After each Springsteen joke, there was a dead stop. Kind of like a dead pan. Then Springsteen would go into a song: “I’ll Work for Your Love,” “Letter to You,” “Hungry Heart” and “Dancing in the Dark.”

 It’s all about timing and each song played on an aspect of the night. 

Bob Woodruff, Lee Woodruff, Donnell Rawlings, Nate Bargatze, Bruce Springsteen, Nikki Glaser, Jim Gaffigan, Caroline Hirsch, Andrew Fox and Anne Marie Dougherty Nov. 8 at the 15th annual Stand Up For Heroes benefit at Alice Tully Hall in New York City.

“I’ll Work For Your Love” and “Letter to You” addressed the many veterans in the audience, and the collective debt owed to them; “Hungry Heart” was a play on the wacky, sex-crazy characters in the jokes; and “Dancing in the Dark” set the scene in the concert hall, complete with a “joke” on Springsteen.

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The setup worked for Marine Staff Sgt. Brad Lang, who lost his legs in a 2011 improvised explosive device attack.

“He makes me laugh regardless,” said Lang before the show.

On stage Monday, former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason presented Lang and his wife with two tickets to the upcoming Super Bowl.

Jon Stewart, Nikki Glaser, Jim Gaffigan and Nate Bargatze also did stand-up, as did Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist. Brandi Carlisle, Grace Gaustad and Sing Harlem performed songs.

The night, part of the New York Comedy Festival, raised $4.6 million for the Woodruff Foundation, which forges partnerships and unites leaders in government, the military, business and philanthropy in support of veterans. Woodruff is an ABC correspondent who was wounded in Iraq.

“Even though there aren’t wars in the headlines every day, there are crises all over the world where our troops are still protecting us. We owe them and their families so much for what they do.” said Woodruff in a statement after the show. “Stand Up for Heroes is an incredible opportunity to raise awareness for our foundation’s mission to help these veterans thrive when they come home.”

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; [email protected].

Source: Asbury Park

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