Dan Gross: False alarm for Gardner

6ABC ANCHOR Jim Gardner pursued a big story Saturday night in Center City as he investigated why a fire alarm was going off at the Arts Condo (1324 Locust), where his daughter's bat mitzvah reception was taking place.

"A burnt fuse on the 11th floor of the building tripped the fire alarm, which provided some great sound effects," Gardner recalled yesterday by email.

"We almost had the firefighters light a candle in the candle-lighting ceremony," Gardner joked before adding, "Seriously, it was no big deal. There was no disruption of our party."

Writer Laura Goldman at NakedPhiladelphian.blogspot.com was in the building at the time and snapped a pic of Gardner, with his old friend, retired "Action News" weatherman Dave Roberts, a bat mitzvah guest, and firemen.

The alarm had a spoken message, "There is a fire. Please evacuate," wrote Goldman, who is not related to Gardner, whose real last name is Goldman.

Gardner, meanwhile, is surprisingly funny on Twitter, where people are getting to understand a new side of him (@Jim_Gardner).

Comic comes out

Paoli-native comedian Todd Glass came out as a homosexual on yesterday's "WTF" podcast by Marc Maron, who records in-depth interviews with comics.

You can hear it online at wtfpod.com or through iTunes.

Close friends of Glass, 47, have known that the Conestoga High graduate was gay, but his announcement yesterday was his first public declaration and was made in response to the recent string of suicides connected to gay teens' being bullied.

"I cannot listen to stories about kids killing themselves any longer," Glass said, adding that he has wanted to come out for a year.

Glass, who plays Helium Comedy Club (2031 Sansom) March 21-24, said he hopes to help kids, whether it is starting a campaign or finally being honest on stage.

Glass' credits include two seasons of "Last Comic Standing," as well as his own Comedy Central special and appearances on "The Sarah Silverman Program" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

Representing on MTV

Narberth's Aneesa Ferreira and locally raised Mark Long will compete on MTV's "The Challenge: Battle of the Exes," which premieres at 10 p.m. Jan 25.