David Letterman Puts the Joke on Himself

Oct. 7, 2009— -- You're a comedian caught in a sex scandal. What do you do? Apologize sincerely? Tell a joke? Or both?

David Letterman has straddled the line between remorse and humor ever since he revealed that he was the victim of an alleged extortion plot by a CBS News producer who threatened to expose his sexual affairs with staff members.

Fellow comedians say he has struck the right balance.

"It's such a dicey situation for him. I think his self-deprecating attitude helps him to win the day," Sara Benincasa, a political satirist and host of a sex talk show on Sirius radio, told ABCNews.com. "I think he has to lampoon himself, understanding that he has spent a large part of his career lampooning others' affairs. ... He has to mock himself in order to avoid accusations of hypocrisy."

On Monday night's show, Letterman opened with a reference to South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, whose own extramarital affair had made him a previous Letterman target.

"I mean, I'll be honest with you folks — right now, I would give anything to be hiking on the Appalachian Trail," he joked about Sanford's infamous phony alibi.

"I got into the car this morning," he continued, "and the navigation lady wasn't speaking to me. Ouch."

Comedian Steve Martin, one of Letterman's guests Monday night, later gave consolation telling Letterman, "It proves that you're a human being. And we weren't really that sure before."

Tuesday on ABC's "The View," Martin said, "I think he [Letterman] is handling it superbly. … When he sat down at the desk and really addressed the people in a very sincere way, I found him very moving."

Martin told "The View" that he and comedian Martin Short had tossed around the idea of playing a joke on Letterman. Martin would confess to having had his own workplace romance and then ask Short to come out on stage. Short would hug Martin and Martin would say, "See, that's why it's not going to work, you're too needy."