Springtime for Spitzer, or Thunderballs 2007: The 107th New York Legislative Correspondents Association show

It was so much fun to see the Legislative Correspondents Association show this weekend in Albany, which was a James Bond-themed satire of state politics and national events. It is amazing to me all the work the performers put into the show. They’re not being paid. They’re just doing it for fun. And the good time they’re having really comes across to the audience.

The show centered around the premise of New York Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver plotting to laser remove what’s left of Governor Eliot Spitzer’s hair, in hopes that it will force Spitzer to do their bidding.

The show was performed twice. The Friday night performance was a lot of fun. There were many young people in the audience. I believe many of them were legislative aides, or friends and family members of the performers. People felt free to laugh at jokes about the governor and the myriad of political figures who were mocked.

Saturday night was a black-tie dinner event. Spitzer and Bruno were in attendance, along with several state senators and assembly members. And frankly, it was a lot harder to laugh about Spitzer’s know-it-all attitude when he was sitting, literally, two feet behind me. I kept turning around to take sneak peeks at him, and he seemed to be laughing and taking it all in stride. And after Phil Bayly’s impressive performance of “Thunderballs,” a song about Spitzer’s, well, you can figure it out, I heard the governor comment that at least the song was complimentary.

There were three rebuttals after the Saturday night performance, all delightful in their own way. Sen. Malcolm Smith and several other politicos performed “ZOPA Cabana.” From the best I can gather, ZOPA stands for zone of potential agreement. It’s a political term describing when legislators step over party lines in order to get funding for a particular issue. And Spitzer showed a very charming little film, which can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ8W19E4O54. But the guy who really brought down the house was Chris Callaghan, who performed a medley of satirical songs about him losing the comptroller election, a portion of which can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry0NuyoFl2c.

The show could not have come together without all the hard work of the members and alumni of the LCA, especially show chair Melissa Mansfield, who made a great Paula Abdul and dairy princess Kirsten Gillibrand.

I wanted to share the lyrics with you for one of my favorite songs in the show, “Kiss Eliot’s Behind,” which is sung to the tune of “This Little Light of Mine.”

"Come on folks it time, to kiss Eliot’s behind. You may think he’s slime, but kiss Eliot’s behind. Let’s all get in line, and kiss Eliot’s behind. Get behind, get behind, Spitzer’s behind. You can vote for Bush, but kiss Eliot’s fat tush. Your bills may need a push, so kiss Eliot’s fat tush. Don’t forget to gush, then kiss Eliot’s fat tush. Get behind, get behind, Spitzer’s behind. Come on folks it’s time, to kiss Eliot’s behind. You may think he’s slime, but kiss Eliot’s behind. Let’s all get in line, and kiss Eliot’s behind. Get behind, get behind, Spitzer’s behind.”