A gift of best wishes

Homing in on honoree Halle Berry, comedian Brad Garrett kept the wisecracks coming: “I thought ‘Monster’s Ball’ was the sequel to ‘Monsters, Inc.,’ ” he joked, as he stood before the Academy Award-winning actress and hundreds of guests at a benefit for the Los Angeles Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. “See Halle’s and my picture in the program? My wife just told me that’s as close as I’ll ever get to Halle Berry.”

The Emmy Award-winning co-star of “Everybody Loves Raymond” emceed the Oct. 26 event, which featured a gourmet dinner and the chance to watch Berry receive the Celebrity Wish Granter Award. “I received the award last year -- talk about trading up,” Garrett deadpanned.

The actress, dressed in a strapless Armani, came from Vancouver -- where she was shooting the “X-Men” sequel “X2” -- for the affair. Held at the St. Regis Hotel & Spa in Century City, it raised $200,000 to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses.

“I’ve never forgotten the joy of granting a wish,” said Berry, who two years ago helped make teenage aplastic anemia patient Kimberly English’s dream of magazine modeling come true. English said: “It made me feel good that something wonderful came out of my being sick.”