GREENWICH -- Vinnie Mark has shared the stage with Rodney Dangerfield, inspired laughter on Late Night with David Letterman and ducked mortar fire in Basra.

On Saturday night, the comedian will bring his stand-up routine to Greenwich to support the local chapter of the American Legion and the Elks.

"When someone is in need or there is an organization that needs help, we try to help out. It's just something that we do," said Mark, who will appear Saturday night along with comedians Sheila Kay and Eric James.

A comedy stage veteran of more than 20 years, the Long Island native who lives locally founded the Saratoga Comedy Club and hosts a weekly comedy show in Queensbury.

Last May, Mark embarked on a four-week USO tour to entertain American troops in the Middle East.

As an entertainer, Mark said his expectations were based on comedians like Bob Hope who conducted similar tours a half-century earlier. Emotionally, it was a life-changing experience, Mark said.

"We did the big shows, but we also visited the wounded warriors - guys that were hurt and not dealing with it well. It blindsided me at first," he said. "You don't want them to see you tearing up, but it is emotional at times."

The mission as defined by the USO, Mark said, was to help soldiers forget, even if just for a few hours, the stress of combat and of being so far from home.

"The best part was meeting them afterward - taking pictures, shaking hands, hearing their stories."

Mark also got a chance to fly in a Blackhawk helicopter - a gunner on either side of him - from base to base to visit the troops.

"We stopped at a place about 100 meters from the Iranian border where we did a show for 350 to 400 guys," Mark recalled. "We got fired upon at one of the bases - I think it was in Basra - where they launched a mortar while we were eating lunch in the mess hall at 1:20 in the afternoon.

"People were yelling, ‘Incoming; incoming.' It flew over us and hit about 150 meters away. I remember one of the generals said, ‘You're combat comics now.'"

A comedy fundraiser in 2010 staged at the Middle Falls Firehouse raised about $1,200 for the American Legion, said Adjutant Phil Murphy, of the Sons of The American Legion.

With a larger room this year, Murphy said the hope is to raise a greater amount of funds that the organization can use to provide for local families in need, as well as veterans' care and other causes in the greater Greenwich community.