Elsasser formed an annual one-pitch softball tournament in the early 1980s that is still held to raise money for the FDNY’s Widows and Orphans Fund, a fund that collects money for the families of firefighters who die while off-duty. The most recent tournament was held on Oct. 4 in Cunningham Park, and Denis said, “Each firehouse comes up with $300 to enter this round robin thing. You’ve got nine guys in the field, and then everybody gets one pitch. You either get a hit or you’re out . . . It’s quick, it’s fun, and it always raises a lot of money. Now that tournament is named for Tommy.”

Elsasser died of cancer in 1990, according to Denis, who said, “It just seemed appropriate to name this scholarship fund after him. He always wanted to help those families. He always thought that was the right thing to do.”

Denis may seem like a comic pro now, but he said it took “lots of work,” to learn stand up, and said, “It’s infinitely harder than it looks.” He said “stupid little things” like wearing a belt on stage and not playing with the microphone chord are important. He said, “If you’re not wearing a belt, people will be thinking, ‘Hey, why isn’t this moron wearing a belt,’ instead of listening to the jokes.”

Firefighter Thomas Elsasser’s memory is kept alive with a plaque that hangs in his South Jamaica firehouse and a comedy benefit to he held this year at Queens College. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen

Denis, who now lives on Long Island, said writing jokes is difficult, and said, “You’ve got to make the jokes quick and kind of stick to one subject. Me, my jokes are sort of not usually appropriate for publication. I tend to be a little dirty, you know.”

Denis proved that when he was talking about an operation he had several years ago to mend two herniated discs in his back. He said a doctor inserted a metal plate and five screws into his back through his throat, and after saying, “He must of inserted a funny bone too because people laugh at me now,” he added, “Now I can tell people I was screwed five times in one day by a man in the throat.”

Firefighter Steve Alleva, a Bayside resident who works for Ladder Company 7 in Manhattan, is another comedian on the bill for the Oct. 25 show, and said he was always the class clown in school. He said, “My teacher actually wrote that on my report card . . . The first time I did stand up, though, was for this benefit three years ago. I should have done it earlier, man, I love it. It’s something I always wanted to do.”

Although Alleva, whose material often focuses on his parents’ divorce,  said he doesn’t like being asked to say something funny, saying, “It’s like telling a chef, ‘Hey, cook something for me,’” he did give one example of his material, and said, “My mom’s always asking me about my ex-girlfriends. It’s an annoying habit she has. You know, what ever happened to Jennifer, what ever happened to Stephanie, what ever happened to Susan. Well, one day I finally asked her, ‘Hey mom, what ever happened to dad?’”

Alleva, who has been a firefighter for 11 years, said he “loves making people laugh,” and said has done shows at Comic Strip Live, New York Comedy Club, Stand Up New York and a host of others.

He said, “I love being on stage,” but added, “There’s nothing worse than telling a joke and hearing silence in the room. My God, I’d rather fight fires in that instance.”

Firefighter Ed Murray of Ladder Company 164 in Douglaston has always gotten chuckles out of the guys at his firehouse, but said, “I never would get on stage. I’m deathly afraid of it.”

When Murray, who lives in Floral Park, saw an ad for Denis’ comedy benefit in a Fire Department newsletter in 2000, though, he decided to give it a try. He said, “I don’t know how I got up there, but I did it, and once I did, I knew that’s the place I wanted to be.” Murray has only performed stand-up at the previous two benefits, and said, “I’m going to think of every excuse I can to get out of this one. But I know I’ll end up on stage. I’ll just be petrified.”

Murray said he tends to “stick to sex” in his stand up work, and said his wife Donna will be hearing his material for the first time on Oct. 25. He said, “That’ll be something. Let me tell you, it may be worth it to go to see that.”

Denis said he put comedy aside for a while after Sept. 11, and said, “I just couldn’t do it. There are so many guys now who you call, and there’s just nobody on the other end.” Denis, who kissed his wife for the first time between the North Tower and the World Financial Center building where she worked, said, “Sure, it was hard to see that. It’s kind of hard to tell jokes when you’re heart’s aching.”

Denis’ father also worked for the Port Authority for 35 years, so Denis has a photo of himself with the original model of the World Trade Center. He said, “There I am in my Nehru jacket next to the model. It’s crazy to think back on that.”

Alleva said he “stepped away from comedy for a while after Sept. 11,” and said, “Now I think of it as a distraction. Things are never going to be the same, ever, but we can honor those lost by continuing our lives as best we can.”

At his Douglaston firehouse, Murray is the senior firefighter, and said, “I told the guys a few months after Sept. 11 that it’s alright to laugh. For a while, in all honesty, it didn’t seem alright to laugh. It seemed wrong. But we’re going to survive this. We have to try to act normal.”

Besides Denis, Alleva and Murray, Queens resident Jimmy Lawrence of Ladder 126 in South Jamaica and Ed Sullivan of Engine 211 in Ozone Park will be performing, along with Manhattan firefighter Adam Lake.