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Capitol Steps Keep Comedy Current
Johnson County Community College
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Always an audience favorite, The Capitol Steps makes its fourth stop at the Carlsen Center at 8 p.m.Friday-Saturday, Oct. 13-14, in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College. With politics what they are, the Capitol Steps can’t help but be funny. The daily news holds ample fodder for the group’s lampoonery. Their fast-moving shows include skits that are fresh, clever and up-to-date with the latest debacle. Recent songs include When Bush Come to Shove , What a Difference DeLay Makes and I’m So Indicted .
After 25 years, the Capitol Steps are a Washington, D.C., institution that keep audiences laughing and public figures looking for cover. The troupe of congressional staffers-turned comedians travel the states satirizing the very people and places that once employed them. The troupe performs more than 500 shows a year all over the country. The Steps were born in December 1981, when three staffers for Sen. Charles Percy were planning entertainment for a Christmas party. Their first idea was to stage a nativity play, but in the whole Congress they couldn’t find three wise men or a virgin. So they decided to diginto the headlines of the day and create songs and skits that conveyed a special brand of satirical humor. Ronald Reagan was president when the Steps began, so co-founders Elaina Newport, Bill Strauss and Jim Aidala figured that if entertainers could become politicians, then politicians could become entertainers. The group now has 22 cast members, five of whom are on stage for any one show.
Cast members are firmly bipartisan, finding entertainment at the expense of both Republicans and Democrats. The Capitol Steps have performed for the last five presidents. Many of the performers have worked on Capitol Hill, some for Republicans, some for Democrats, and some for members who sit firmly on the fence. In fact, the current cast of the Capitol Steps has, at one time or another, infested the offices of 11 U.S. senators and seven members of the House of Representatives. Most of these politicians have since been defeated or placed under investigation. This year the Steps found humor in domestic surveillance, Congress’ split on immigration reform and a group of malcontent ex-generals who have dared to critique Donald Rumsfeld.
Tickets for the Capitol Steps are $35 and $25, available by calling the Carlsen Center box office, 913-469-4445, or online at www.jccc.edu/CarlsenCenter.
