Funniest Celebrity contest, did an impromptu stand-up routine at the Hotel Fort Des Moines on New Year’s Eve.

Cooper, whose name ID skyrocketed thanks to the Plamegate scandal, was generous enough to bring his topical humor to Iowans even though he bluntly told them right at the get-go: “I’m not sure I trust you people to pick our next president.

“We should take this ‘first caucus’ thing away from you and give it to Nevada. Then we’d all be listening to Chris Rock on New Year’s Eve instead of me.”

Sticking to the Vegas theme, Cooper imagined a world in which Sen. John Edwards was campaigning in Sin City.

“He’d be like, ‘Somewhere there is a croupier without health insurance. There’s a hooker who can’t afford in-state tuition. There’s a stripper without hope, and that’s wrong.”