Even love can't soften this comic's sarcasm

When Wendy Liebman started playing the Comedy Connection on Valentine's Day eight years ago, she was single and sarcastic. She thought of the holiday the way most comedians do, as a superficial, commercial event, and targeted her rapid-fire one-liners accordingly. Then, three years ago, she tied the knot. Now she's married and sarcastic.

''I thought I was going to be an old maid," she says. ''But I got married. So now I'm a maid."

She has missed only one Feb. 14 the past seven years at the Connection, and marriage has made her a little better able to face an audience full of couples in love. Liebman sounds positively cheery mentioning a twosome who were engaged on Valentine's Day four years ago and have been regulars ever since, even if she can't resist a self-deprecating dig.

''I think I was a little more cynical before I was with my husband, about this holiday," she says. ''But now it's kind of sweet and romantic. And I'm not that romantic. I mean, I like candlelight, but because I look better in the dark."

Liebman married writer Jeffrey Sherman, and the two are collaborating on a new sitcom idea. Sherman has naturally found his way into Liebman's act. She says Sherman doesn't mind being ''the 'Fang' for the 21st century," referring to Phyllis Diller's infamous, and fictitious, ex-husband, the butt of many of her jokes. Liebman does give her husband credit for his romantic etiquette.

''I still make fun of my husband because he deserves it," she says. ''But this is the first man I've ever been with who ever got me presents. One boyfriend on Valentine's Day once gave me flour."

Liebman, who started stand-up as a psychology major at Wellesley College, is happy to return each year to her comedy roots. ''I love my audience, I love my friends," she says. ''And now, I've figured out I have to love myself. Twenty years of therapy later, I can stand myself. Or I'm just about standing myself."

Wendy Liebman performs Tuesday at 8, Thursday at 8 and 10:15 p.m., and Feb. 18 at 10:30 p.m. at the Comedy Connection. Call 617-248-9700 or visit www.comedyconnectionboston.com.

Ron White, ''You Can't Fix Stupid" (Image Entertainment): White is the only member of the Blue Collar Comedy crowd whose image seems natural and effortless. He's a cool, sarcastic Texan, and ''You Can't Fix Stupid" captures him at his best on his home turf of Dallas. He started his stand-up in nearby Arlington, and jokes, ''In 19 short years, I've made it all the way over here. That's over 25 miles, folks." The familiar setting pays off. The recording sounds intimate, as if the audience were sitting around a table, with White telling them stories about a bachelorette party that came to his show or about growing up with his grandma. The title comes from White's advice not to marry for looks. Surgery can fix the effects of aging, from failing eyes to pot bellies, he reasons. ''But let me tell you something, folks, you can't fix stupid," he says. ''There's not a pill you can take, there's not a class you can go to. Stupid is fo-evah." White is still at the height of his comic powers, and this disc is proof.

Jim Gaffigan, ''Beyond the Pale" (Comedy Central Records): Gaffigan is on the verge of becoming ubiquitous this year, starting with his new CD and one-hour DVD special, ''Beyond the Pale," and continuing later this year with roles in several movies. It's mostly solid stuff, trading on Gaffigan's ghostly pallor and large, doughy frame. ''I didn't know he was going to be so pale," he says in the falsetto whisper of an imagined audience member. Gaffigan can mine pedestrian comic themes for hysterical material. Take, for example, his inner dialogue rationalizing conditions under which eating a Cinnabon would be acceptable. ''I'm about to get on a plane," he says, ''how 'bout eight pounds of cake?" Catch Gaffigan this weekend at the Comedy Connection, before he graduates to bigger stages.

''Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson: Uncensored" (Comedy Central DVD): Comedy Central did about everything it could to ensure its latest roast would be as offensive as possible, starting with the choice of subject, Anderson, and comics such as Lisa Lampanelli and Sarah Silverman. Just for fun, they made Tommy Lee and Courtney Love presenters and put Anna Nicole Smith in the audience. The roast is what you'd expect, with abundant jokes about Anderson's infamous sex tape and her questionable acting ability. It's surprisingly good fun, with capable sets from Greg Giraldo and Nick DiPaolo. And Bea Arthur reading racy lines from one of Anderson's novels (yes, she has written two) is brilliant. Jeffrey Ross steals the show, returning to Comedy Central to prove why he's the king of roasts. He comes to the stage wearing a full-length fur coat (Anderson devoted her check from the roast to PETA), and cracks: ''How is it possible that Courtney Love looks worse than Kurt Cobain?" Sometimes, Anderson actually looks shocked. Maybe she can act after all.

On Valentine's Day at Avalon, Steven Wright, Lenny Clarke, and Tony V. take part in ''A Funny Kind of Love," a benefit for Autism Speaks.