A skit on the Secret Service scandal involving Colombian escorts.

From a spoof on Arizona’s controversial immigration law to parodies on the Supreme Court and Transportation Security Administration pat-downs, no politician or political entity was above satirizing on September 12 when The Capitol Steps brought its unique brand of bipartisan political comedy to the University of Miami.

President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Republican presidential nominee Governor Mitt Romney, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, President George W. Bush, Herman Cain, President Bill Clinton, and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan were among the many political figures satirized during the show, held inside UM’s Gusman Concert Hall.

The Capitol Steps began in 1981 as a group of Senate staffers who set out to satirize the very people and places that employed them. Today the Capitol Steps are still performing clever and ever-changing parodies.

While not all of the current members are former Capitol Hill staffers, taken together the performers have worked in a total of 18 Congressional offices and represent 62 years of collective House and Senate staff experience.

Janet Gordon, left, plays the Octomom.

Over the past 30 years they have recorded more than 30 albums. They have been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS, and can be heard at various times throughout the year on National Public Radio stations.

The Washington, D.C.-based troupe regularly refreshes their material. Matt Pearson, who satirized President Obama, said he watched hundreds of hours of video from Obama’s 2004 Senate campaign and 2008 presidential campaign to perfect the commander in chief’s voice, expressions, and behavior.

“He [Obama] has some words and phrases that he uses often, so I isolated those words,” Pearson said after the show, when asked how he is able to mimic Obama so well. “But I still have to practice.”

To learn more about the Capitol Steps, click here.