Bravest Comedy Night to Aid FDNY Widows

Firefighters and professional comedians will take the stage May 18 for the 8th Annual Bravest Night of Comedy to benefit the widows and children of FDNY members who die outside the line of duty. Comedian Mike Bower of Sirius Radio and Bobby Collins, who has performed on HBO and Comedy Central, will join half a dozen active and retired firefighters to raise money for the Thomas Elsasser Scholarship Fund. Ed Sullivan, a retiree from Engine 211 who plays Billy Warren on "Rescue Me," will also appear.

The fund helps pay for the education of children of firefighters like John Halverson, who was shot in the chest while jogging in 1997. He had two years on the job and his wife Rosalie was pregnant with twins. Benefits for firefighters who die on the job are significant, but are drastically reduced if the death is not job-related.

The show starts at 8 p.m. at Queensboro College Performing Arts Center, with tax-deductible tickets on sale for $25. More information can be obtained at www.BravestNightComedy.com, or by calling (631) 846-1159.