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Before the 108th Congress has a chance to get down to serious business, the Capitol Steps will be highlighting the funny business on the Showroom stage at the Oneida Indian Nation's Turning Stone Casino Resort.

The comedy troupe - which calls itself "the only group in American that attempts to be funnier than the Congress" - appears at the Showroom on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20, $25 and $35.

The Capitol Steps is a group of current and former Congressional staffers who monitor politics and current events in Washington and around the world, then put a 90-degree spin on reality to come up with their satirical interpretation of the powerful and prestigious. The comedy troupe performs four times a year on National Public Radio and has issued 22 albums and CDs since 1984, including the recent "When Bush Comes to Shove," a musical comedy chronicle of the president's first year in office.

The Capitol Steps' recent songs include "Talk 'Bout Saddam," (sung to the tune of the Four Seasons hit "Walk Like a Man") in which George Bush Sr. advises his son to ignore the nation's shaky economic and budgetary outlook and instead talk to voters about the Iraqi dictator. Democrats take their hits, too, with "The Wreck of the Walter Fritz Mondale," (sung to the tune of Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald") and "The Briber of the Hill" ("Barber of Seville"), about New Jersey Sen. Robert Torricelli's ethics troubles. The troupe also sends up the stock market with "401k" ("Y.M.C.A."), Richard Reid with "Shoe Bomb" ("Sh-Boom"), and the West Nile virus with "Danger in the Bite" ("Strangers in the Night").

Two members of the troupe, William Strauss and Elaina Newport, have authored a book about The Capitol Steps' 20-year career titled "Sixteen Scandals: Twenty Years of Sex, Lies and Other Habits of Our Great Leaders." The book is accompanied by a greatest-hits CDs featuring such parodies as "Superfranticunproductivenothinglegislation," "Thank God I'm a Contra Boy," and "Livin' Libido Loco."

For more information about The Capitol Steps, or to hear some of their song parodies, log onto their web site.

Tickets for The Capitol Steps are available by calling the Showroom box office, phone: 361-SHOW or toll-free, 877-833-SHOW. Tickets also are available through any Ticketmaster outlet, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone or online.