Arlen Specter takes stage at comedy club

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PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter took to the stage at a Philadelphia comedy club to lob jokes at targets including Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain.

Specter, 81, a longtime Pennsylvania Republican who became a Democrat late in his career, delivered jabs at politicians from both parties as well as the government itself, calling the Senate a venue for "sit-down comedy," during his set Tuesday at the Helium Comedy Club, the Philadelphia Daily News reported Wednesday.

"I called Clinton up on his 65th birthday and I said, 'Bill, congratulations on being 65. How do you feel?' He said, 'I feel like a teenager. The problem is, I can't find one,'" Specter quipped.

The former senator said he was once on a train with Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich and a minister when a waitress asked what they wanted to drink. "The minister said, 'I'm a man of the cloth and drinking is a sin. I would commit adultery first.' ... Gingrich jumped up and said, 'Wait, wait, I didn't know that was one of the choices.'"

On the subject of former Republican presidential contender Herman Cain, Specter joked: "What people don't know is that Cain had a longstanding problem since he was an adolescent: No matter how hard his teachers tried, they couldn't persuade Herman Cain that harass was one word."

Specter told the Philadelphia Inquirer he took to the stage because he believes "humor is elevating" and he wanted to "try it out."

"I might be invited back," Specter said.