Governor Greg Abbott snickers and nudges Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick to place slumbering House Speaker Dade Phelan’s fingers in a glass of warm water. The three politicians are having a sleepover, and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, clearly not getting the message, keeps trying to invite himself in. Just as the old prank goes, Phelan wizzes himself, and Abbott instructs Patrick to use the urine stains as inspiration for the next time they redraw Texas’ district maps.
Thankfully, this is fiction, but its outrageousness may not be far from the truth.
Enter political satire Over the Lege (a la #texlege), which began its sixth season last weekend and wasted no time in rolling out the Goddess of Liberty in a wheelchair front and center. Dance numbers, skits, and interviews with political personalities make up the sketch comedy. Best described as if Saturday Night Live had an unwanted pregnancy with The Colbert Report and its right to abortion was revoked, it aims to both educate and entertain—or “edutain” as Stephanie Chiarello, the show’s creator and a longtime legislative staffer, wisecracked. Chiarello bears the lion’s share of responsibility for production, and a small cast and team of writers donate their time to make it happen.
