Fusing comedy and political knowledge in its standup acts, The Capitol Steps will make its way into State College for a night of humor.

At 4 and 8 p.m on Sunday, the State Theatre presents the group and its newest comical act that prepares for President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration.

Because the group is performing in State College days before Obama's inauguration, there will be new skits that haven't been added to its Web site.

"The timing couldn't be more perfect since its days before the inauguration. They have a lot of political material to work off of," Mike Negra, executive director for the State Theatre, said.

The group, made up of mostly Senate staffers, formed the comedy group 25 years ago. The Capitol Steps satirize political groups and constantly update its acts to current events, Kristy Cyone, marketing director for the State Theatre, said.

According to The Capitol Steps' Web site, throughout the past few decades The Capitol Steps have released 27 CDs, its newest titled Springtime for Liberals, and have been featured on CBS, ABC, NBC and PBS. It also performs four times a year on National Public Radio, specifically on Halloween, New Year's celebrations, April Fool's Day and the Fourth of July. Each radio show is recorded live in Washington, D.C.

The group has performed at the State Theatre twice in the past and each show was sold out, Cyone said, adding that during each show, the audience had positive feedback.

Because there are multiple troupes on tour with The Capitol Steps, there have been a variety of performers within the group that have come to the State Theatre the past few years, Negra said.

"We got wrenching laughter," Negra said. "It's very funny stuff."

President of Full Ammo Improv Troupe, Ryan Simmons (senior-media studies) said Penn State students are constantly thinking about athletic events and people rarely leave their comfort zone to see different styles of shows.

"Political comedy is weird; you are bringing a lot of people into it. People involved in politics already have made up their mind on who they support," Simmons said. "Bringing politics into comedy, you are going to joke about things that people already agree with you about. You won't like it if they are making fun of your guy. But if they are touching on universal things, then most people will get a kick out of it."

Because The Capitol Steps performers have worked in politics and are well educated on the subject matter, it allows them to expand their acts. They are also not all Republican or Democrat, and the group calls themselves "equal opportunity offenders," Cyone said.

"They all work in politics and are a blend of all parties, so it's fun -- they obviously are able to laugh at themselves," Cyone said. "They don't come down on one party or another."

Each skit is original and written by The Capitol Steps group members. With a minimum of five performers at every show, as well as a pianist, the shows are a mix of skits and songs. They are sung along to popular tunes people will know, Cyone said.

Mark Eaton, writer and performer for The Capitol Steps, was the last Senate staffer hired to work full-time with the group.

"The group is made up like the country -- half are Democrat, half Republican, some people are very liberal and others are conservative, some are in the middle of the road and are moderate," Eaton said. "We reflect, like, the rest of the country."

After working on Capitol Hill, Eaton began performing part-time locally in D.C.

"We have to be ready to travel," Eaton said. "When we were on The Hill, our bosses started noticing when we weren't at work."

The group performed 700 shows last year and would usually have multiple shows in one night, Eaton said.

People can listen to several of the group's parody songs on its Web site. The newest song deals with the recent incident of shoes being thrown at President George W. Bush and Sarah Palin's pricey fashion expenses.

The skit about the shoe event stems from the incident when an Iraqi journalist threw shoes at Bush in Iraq and is titled "Chap Who Threw His Two Shoes."

It is sung to the tunes of "Chattanooga-Choo-Choo," and is performed by a man who imitates the voice of Bush, according to the group's Web site.

According to the site, the character voices stand to add more humor to the group's act as the lyrics show: "I went to give a friendly speech, but here's what happened instead: I had to duck a shoe-bomb that was aimed at my head. I do not deserve this and what made me nervous, what the hell happened to the Secret Service?"

"They focus on current events and turn it into a song," Negra said. "For example, the current issue with the automobile bailout, they do a skit that is set to the Beach Boys song 'Help Me Rhonda,' but they titled their song 'Help Me Honda.' "

Jesse Cramer (junior-English), a member of the campus group Improv Incubator, said people will usually be more open-minded when it comes to topics discussed through comedy acts.

"It's a good medium to discuss politics in comedy because people come ready to laugh," Cramer said. "People might be able to see political points better through comedy. Using comedy to talk about politics could be really effective."

Negra added that seeing The Capitol Steps live is a different experience than listening to its acts on CD. He said the group uses props and dresses up to look like the person respective members are imitating, adding a political, cartoonish flair to the way members dress, do their makeup and style their hair.

The group rarely receives any negative feedback from the audience, but some people have gotten up from their seat to state their opinion, Eaton said.

"We've had rare instances of people that have come up and said, 'How do you treat the president in that way? He's our leader,' " Eaton said. "And I wonder, 'Why are people going to a political comedy show with that type of attitude?' "

The Capitol Steps Web site also provides links that take the page-viewer to YouTube videos showing the actual occurring news events. The site helps those who are unaware of the events learn about recent breaks in the world of political news.

"I don't follow everything in politics and I understood the majority of what they did [in skits]," Cyone said. "They go off of stuff everyone hears in the news."

There are different styles of comical acts performed, improv and stand-up proving the most popular. Simmons said improv could be described as an "in-the-moment" experience. When performing improv acts, the comedian is making up jokes on the spot. The Capitol Steps members rely on each other when improvising on stage and those performing improv often practice their comical skills before the show.

Comedians can craft every word in their joke when performing standup routines, Simmons said. This type of performance is thought out and prepared before the show.

"The things that people laugh about in comedy acts are the things people can identify with," Simmons said. "People say, 'It's so funny, because it's so true,' and people are laughing because they are identifying with it."

Eaton added the group will add acts to its show when new events happen.

"As the headlines change, and politicians screw up, we will add to the act," Eaton said. "We are hoping Obama will do something funny for us. He's making it tough on us and other comedians. But he has surrounded us with people that will continue to provide us some humor."