The Capitol Steps, the political comedy troupe that CNN’s Larry King calls “the best,” will bring its hilarious perspective on the hot political issues of the day to the Yavapai College Performance Hall on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m.

The show is presented by Yavapai College Community Events and sponsored by KDDL 94.3 FM, KKLD 95.9 FM, KQNA 1130 AM, Yavapai Gaming Agency and the Performing Arts Charitable Endowment (PACE). Tickets are $30, $28 and $26.

The Yavapai College Performance Hall is located on the Prescott campus at 1100 E. Sheldon St. Tickets are available at the YC Community Events Ticket Office (928-776-2000; toll-free 1-877-928-4253), located in the Lobby of the YC Performance Hall, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are also available online anytime at www.tickets.com (search for “Yavapai College”).

The Capitol Steps began in 1981 when some Senate staffers were planning entertainment for a Christmas party. Co-founders Elaina Newport, Bill Strauss and Jim Aidala say that because Ronald Reagan was President at the time, they figured that if entertainers could become politicians, then politicians could become entertainers.

Thus the Capitol Steps were born, setting out to satirize the very people and places that employed them. They began by digging into the headlines of the day and creating song parodies and skits that conveyed a special brand of satirical humor that was as popular in Peoria as it was on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Although not all of the current members of the Steps are former Capitol Hill staffers, taken together the performers have worked in 18 Congressional offices and represent 62 years of collective House and Senate staff experience. Some have worked for Democrats, some for Republicans, and others for politicians who, they say, “firmly straddle the fence.”

Since they began, the Capitol Steps have recorded 27 albums, including their latest, “Springtime for Liberals.” They’ve been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS, and can be heard four times a year on National Public Radio stations nationwide during their “Politics Takes a Holiday” radio specials.

The Capitol Steps’ longevity is based on constantly creating fresh material and being, in their own words, “equal opportunity offenders.” As The Arizona Republic noted, “Their repertoire is so fresh, they don’t even know which of their bits they’ll perform on a given evening: It depends on the day’s news.”

Recent targets include the Democrats’ infatuation with Barack Obama (in “A Leader Like Barack” sung to “The Leader of the Pack”), the latest opinion from Ann Coulter (“Loonies of the Right”) and President Bush and the Prime Minister of Japan reconciling their differences in the touching “Stand By Japan.”

The group relies on the fact that no matter who holds office, there’s never a shortage of material. Explains Capitol Steps co-founder Elaina Newport, “Typically the Republicans goof up, and the Democrats party. Then the Democrats goof up, and the Republicans party. That’s what we call the two-party system.”

“Forget Mark Russell,” writes The Arizona Republic. “These guys actually are hilarious. They have a handle on what’s really true of Washington.”