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Contact: Marilynn Fryer
(517) 796-8466
e-mail: FryerMarilynT@jccmi.edu
October 25th, 2006
For immediate release

‘Capitol Steps’ poke satirical humor at today’s top newsmakers

Who better to make fun of the U.S. government than the staffers who used to work there? The Potter Center at Jackson Community College will welcome the comic stylings of the Washington-based Capitol Steps, at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28.

This troupe of former (but not disgruntled) Congressional staffers travels the country satirizing the very people and places that once employed them, poking fun at the headlines and hot topics of the day. Since they began, the Capitol Steps have recorded 26 albums, including six during the Clinton Presidency: “Unzippin' My Doo-Dah,” “Sixteen Scandals,” “Return to Center,” “A Whole Newt World,” “Lord of the Fries,” and “The Joy of Sax.” One of their latest, following the Rep. Mark Foley scandal, is “Hang Down Your Head, Mark Foley,” to the tune of “Tom Dooley.”

The Capitol Steps began 25 years ago, back in 1981, when a group of Senate staffers were asked to provide entertainment for a Christmas party. The group dug into the headlines and newsmakers of the day, putting together their own comic lyrics to popular familiar tunes. The Steps perform over 400 shows a year, covering territory from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon. Over the past 16 years, the Capitol Steps have been featured on three national PBS specials, “Good Morning America,” “Entertainment Tonight,” “NBC Nightly News,” and CNN's “Inside Politics.” Their song parodies have been played dozens of times on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.”

Tickets for Capitol Steps are $20, $23 or $26 and may be purchased by calling either the Potter Center Ticket Office at 517.796.8600, or online at www.jccmi.edu/events.