It was A Capitol Evening

[puppetmaker]

I think the first Capitol Steps special I ever heard was a fourth of July special. I remember laughing very hard. After that I looked forward to each and every performance that came on NPR. The Capitol Steps are a comedy troop made up, mostly, of people who have worked for various congressmen and senators over the years. It started as a gag at a Christmas party and is now a thriving business. Their website is www.capsteps.com and they have some of their songs up to listen to if you have no idea what I am babbling about.

Peter found out that the Capitol Steps would be coming to a local theater and got tickets for it. Last night we went to the performance and this morning my sides still hurt. There was a whole Lirty Dies section that once you got how it was done, you could translate it in your brain that was just one of the funniest things I have heard in a long time and remember I was at the Colbert Report about two weeks ago. I was also very partial to a song called "10 pills and you're fine" about the commercials you see on TV produced by the drug companies.

We got a CD afterwards and chatted with the group about various subjects including the Mets.

We were thinking about going into the city today but considering that the weather is flipping between ice and rain, I think we are going to bag that idea and find something to do around the house.

I am grateful that I was able to see the Capitol Steps live.

Comments

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

Have you ever seen Forbidden Broadway?

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Oh yes and laughed very very hard too.

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

Just out of curiosity, did you think either Capitol Steps or Forbidden Broadway was funnier than the other?

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm... That is a hard call because in someways they are the same (parody and commentary in song) and in someways they are very different (current Broadway vs. current politics).

I think in general, more people in the US would "get" the Capitol Steps than Forbidden Broadway because of the knowledge you need to make it funny. There are songs in Forbidden Broadway I know I don't get all of because it is a show that I don't know very well or at all. Most of the Capitol Steps work is straight out of the headlines so I have a better idea of what the spoof is.

I do enjoy both very much but I have the background for both.

[celticboy.livejournal.com]

Capitol Steps were on the first episode of "Stephen Fry in America" on UK tv. quite funny from what was shown

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

They are. They also know how far to go without going too far or too long. And if something isn't working with the crowd, they have ways of cutting it short and moving onto the next bit.

[querldox.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear the quality's held up after their co-founder, Bill Strauss, died a couple of years ago. Realized that I'd not heard them since that unfortunate event, and I believe he did most of the song writing.

[popfiend.livejournal.com]

I've seen a special or 2 of theirs on PBS.

I enjoy their work.

[rosenhaus.livejournal.com]

I had the pleasure of writing a musical with the late Bill Strauss (the show is "Free-the-Music.Com"), who was one of the founders of the Capitol Steps and the creator of the "Lirty Dies."

Bill also wrote, with Neil Howe, several books about the cycles of generations, all rather fascinating.

Unfortunately Bill died last year after several years of fighting cancer. He'll be missed.

Steven