When Mark Russell appeared in the spotlight Saturday at the Maine Center for the Arts, he revealed a little-discussed fact about Orono. It is regularly featured in crossword puzzles as “Maine’s pretty town” — an across clue that often intersects (at four possible points) with the down clue “Yoko’s last name.”

It’s an inside joke, for sure, but Russell, who is 64, has made a career out of taking what goes on inside — usually in political circles — and turning it inside out. Whether or not you catch the nuances of his subtle satire, you’re still bent over in great big laughter.

Russell is best known for comedy shows on public TV, but as a live performer he has a truly rare gift for being crisply funny and completely intelligent for 90 minutes straight.

Actually, that’s not exactly true. About 85 minutes into the show, he left the stage momentarily during a full round of applause. “That was my intermission,” he said facetiously when he came back seconds later. He offered a few final jokes, and ended the show to bounding applause. Folks in the audience could have gone on for a while longer — judging by the belly laughs, cackles and hoots Russell inspired throughout the evening. But that’s a lot to expect from an entertainer, even if he is an old pro.

The predominance of Russell’s humor was about the recent presidential election. “The Democrats couldn’t have won the election without the Republicans,” he teased. Even though Russell clearly has an allegiance to democratic values, no political figure escaped his scrutiny. He lamented that four more years with President Clinton means four more years of watching the jogging president’s flapping thighs in too-small shorts. Among the many jabs Russell took at former Sen. Bob Dole was: “Yes, the media was unfair to Bob Dole and in the worst possible way. They quoted him directly.”

Here are a few other Russell humdingers.

On old age: “Seventy-three is not old anymore. Seventy-three is the square root of Strom Thurmond.”

On being a C-SPAN junkie: “I watch it mostly for the music. I think Congress is easier to take with Mozart wafting in the background.”

On Harvard University’s public position for famous alum, the Unabomber: “He’s a reflection of the rich diversity of Harvard alumni.”

On Jesuits: “They were the original McLaughlin Group.”

On the Catholic Church accepting the theory of evolution: “Once they pardoned Galileo, I knew Darwin would walk as well.”

Russell took a couple good shots at Maine politics, too. Temporarily forgetting the name of Sen.-elect Susan Collins, he called her “Margaret Chase Collins.” He applauded Maine as a state where “the Democrats are Democrats, and so are the Republicans,” and added that it offered “meaningful employment to retired politicians.”

Though he may have a sharp tongue when it comes to satirizing politicians and topical issues, Mark Russell is a stand-up comedian of extraordinary warmth and sparkling presence. Whether he’s marching in place at the piano and singing about gun-owning crazies, or chiding activists lobbying for generic prayers in public schools (as in: “Our Father, or Mother, who art in Heaven, Jerusalem, Mecca, or Salt Lake City”), Russell is a consummate funny man. He lives in Washington, he says, “for the same reason a coal miner lives near the shaft.” And it’s true, Mark Russell is a blast.