Capitol Steps at the Carpenter Center (Long Beach, CA) - 1/11/2020

The Pitch:
The Capitol Steps return with fresh political satire, song parodies, and sketches that take aim at the outrageous goings-on at the White House, in Congress, and on the never-ending campaign trail. Their trademark no-holds-barred approach to the headlines of the day is guaranteed to keep both sides of the aisle laughing, bringing down the House—and the Senate!

The Pros: 

• The singing was on-point
• The stage work was OK (e.g. when a bill was killed and pulled out a bunch of red cloth)
• It was mildly amusing to see how the group would remix existing songs 
• EX: "All About That Bass" --> "All About That Base (So Liberal)"
• EX: "Beat It" --> "Tweet It" (as sung by the Donald)

The Cons:

• It was sometimes difficult to hear / parse the wordplay of various skits and performers
• There were plenty of tired jokes on offer, like ageism for Sanders, anti-feminism for Warren ("I'll tell you every joke a feminist finds funny," followed by silence), and a sign calling AOC "She Guevara" 
• The extended bit of pseudo pig latin before the 1st intermission was a gimmick at best.  If the only thing funny about a monologue is some mixed up syllables, the monologue isn't particularly funny.

The Conclusion:
I didn't find the show offensive enough to dismiss outright, even if a lot of the jokes were cringe-inducing.  I was put off by the appeal to the, "lowest common denominator," however.  While programs like the Daily Show draw laughs by lampooning the decisions politicians and celebrities make, Capitol Steps chooses to create and attack caricatures instead.  In the end, the biggest reaction the show got from me was, "yikes."  It's not a show I would recommend to others, nor is it a show I'd see again. 

Final Score:
3.5/10