Seinfeld's Comic Relief for New York

By Stephen M. Silverman

10/03/2001 at 10:00 AM EDT

Tuesday morning on the "Today" show, a subdued but still very wry Jerry Seinfeld, with Chris Rock at his side (Rock wasn't subdued at all), was asked by host Katie Couric if it was all right to be funny at a time like this. Breaking into a wide grin, Seinfeld, 47, made reference to Bob Hope's shows for servicemen, which started during World War II, and noted that Americans are the only ones who ever bring humor directly to the battlefield. So, with that in mind, he, Rock, Bill Cosby, Will Ferrell, Colin Quinn, George Wallace and Alan King will perform a comedy benefit called "Stand Up for New York" Monday night at Carnegie Hall, with all proceeds going to the Twin Towers Fund and the New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund. It was Seinfeld himself, notes The New York Times, who pulled the event together. He got Porsche to sponsor (the comic is an avid collector of the German sports car) and the Hall to open its stage to the laugh-makers. "The only thing they said was we could only do an event that required noting but a microphone," The Times quotes Seinfeld as saying. "They are all set up that afternoon for another concert, with a cellist, and the only thing that they could accommodate on such short notice was a strictly standup performance." When Couric asked him if he already had all his material ready for Monday, or if he was still working on it, Seinfeld stared at her, causing Katie to laugh. "Oh, yes," he told her assuringly, "there's material."