By Dylan Bailey

Sentry Staff Reporter

One of the most controversial and discussed topics in the United States and around the world is politics. People in today’s world tend to laugh and make jokes about the legal system that guides us. The Capitol Steps group does  just that in a delightful and innovating way. They perform humorous  song parodies and skits that make fun of current events dealing with politics and our popular culture. The Capitol Steps recently performed at Yorktown on January 13 and brought many jokes with them.

This satirical comedy began in December of 1981 and has been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS. They have brought enjoyment to the D.C area for 30 years, as well as places all across the nation.  Emily Spitz, the piano player of The Capitol Steps says,

“We performed in Alaska, we also played in Puerto Rico, London and Hawaii. We also like to play at high schools and other establishments, such as Yorktown, all of the time.”

The pure talent that goes into writing these songs is genius. It is impossible to go a minute without laughing at the number of jokes written into these parodies. It is not just quantity but also the quality of the witty songs that makes you laugh. One of The Capitol Steps’ newest songs makes fun of the recent absence of Twinkies on stores’ shelves that across the nation.  Written to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and sung by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the song begins, “Twinkie, Twinkie luscious snack, How I want to bring you back.”

Another one of the wonderful aspects of The Capitol Steps and their performance are their talented actors. Not only can they sing, but they do impersonations extremely well and can recover from any slip ups. They also can connect well with the audience due to their impulsiveness and silliness on stage. In one of their recent performances one of the actors cracked a joke backstage, which made the actor on stage laugh and mess up, making the audience laugh hysterically.
Spitz says,

“This type of thing makes the song six times funnier than it ever is. When something spontaneous like that happens, the audience feels like they are part of the joke, they are seeing the actors and actresses for who they really are. They really enjoy that and as a performer, you enjoy that.”

The Capitol Steps has not only brought enjoyment to the ordinary citizens of the metropolitan area, but has also had some extremely famous people attend their shows. Almost all of the presidents since the show began have come to see the show, including President George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.  So many political figures have been involved in the show that Spitz says,

“There was a joke on the hill, when famous people come to the show, they would get very offended when there wasn’t something about them. Kind of like ‘What do you mean you aren’t going to make fun of me?’”

In this way, The Capitol Steps have built a reputation in political humor so that politicians always want to be in the show.

Though there are many sketches that make the audience laugh until they cry, there is one that always puts them over the edge. This segment is called “Lirty Dies.” It is a non-musical sketch that involves one of the actors just talking about current events happening in the world, except it is a spoonerism where they can change parts of words around to make a joke. For example, instead of flipping their words they would be whipping their flurds. They have hundreds of these jokes that are much more vulgar than this example and extremely funny. It is truly an original segment and is by far one of the best.

“They can say things that they cannot normally be said but still get away with it and the audience knows it and understands,” says Emily Spitz’s son and avid fan of The Capitol Steps, sophomore Harry Spitz.

This is why this segment can connect to the audience so well and is always a huge hit. He regarded the “Lirty Dies” sketch as his favorite and would classify it as one best segments of the show for a long time.

Overall, this show has a long history of hilarity and bringing smiles to those who see them. The jokes are relatable to all audiences and make everyone laugh. Their performance at Yorktown was a huge hit and those who saw them fell in love with it. It is not late to see their show though, they perform at least once a week in the Ronald Reagan building in Washington D.C, usually on Fridays and Satudays. If you missed out on the performance in the auditorium, it is highly recommended that you see them for yourself to experience the brilliant musical political satire that is The Capitol Steps.