Strange case of the joking judge no laughing matter for New Jersey supreme court And after he left court, he went to work as the warm-up routine for the audience at The Daily Show, the satirical news programme hosted by comic Jon Stewart. He draws heavily on his upbringing as an Italian American for his material. Mr Sicari appears regularly on the ABC network's Primetime show as an actor making offensive comments to prompt reactions from passers-by in a segment called "What Would You Do?" But he is also a trained lawyer who oversees traffic ticket and disorderly conduct cases in his other role as a judge in the South Hackensack municipal court. That job pays him just $13,000 a year, while he earns considerably more in his performances under the stage name Vince August. His own lawyer, Drew Britcher, argued that Mr Sicari kept his dual professions separate, never cracks jokes from the bench and does not tell gags about the legal system on stage. "It's important to recognise that whether he be comedian or actor, he is in roles where he is not expressing his opinion," he told the court. However, Kim Ringler, arguing in favour of the ban from the state attorney general's office, noted that municipal judges are the public's most frequent point of contact with the judicial system. His performances "detract from the dignity of his judicial office and may reflect adversely on the judge's impartiality," she said. Stuart Rabner, the chief justice, asked whether Mr Sicari's routines featured subjects that are commonplace in the comedy world -- such as "remarks demeaning individuals on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation or socio-economic status" - which are prohibited under judge's rules of conduct. Mr Britcher said that if his client were forced to choose, he would resign from the bench, reluctantly and sadly. "He has told me point blank -- the proudest moment of his entire life was when he took the oath as municipal court judge," he said. The supreme court has not yet issued its ruling on whether Mr Sicari's two professional lives are incompatible. But Tuesday's session was his toughest crowd yet as he argued that his dual roles were no laughing matter.