A band of merry pranksters come to Carmel by way of Washington D.C.

Washington D.C.-based comedy troupe Capitol Steps trafficks in the kind of political musical parodies that Mark Russell (who defended song parodies alongside 2 Live Crew in 1994) bangs out on his piano. He’s been doing it longer – 60 years compared to their 35 – but they outnumber him with 26 professional comedians and political insiders, and five pianists going at it. That’s a lot of political humor.

The group started as Republican congressional staffers who came together in 1981 to crack jokes about Washington politics to keep their sanity. But when two of their bosses lost elections, they launched themselves into comedy full-time, eventually growing into a self-sustaining entertainment fixture.

Five of them come to Sunset Center to skewer well-known political figures.

They’ve done Bernie Sanders singing “If There Were No Rich Men,” an adaptation of “If I Were a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof. And Donald Trump exhorting “Shut Up and Vote For Me” instead of Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up and Dance [With Me].”

The jokes come fresh, according to Elaina Newport, one of the original three co-founders: “One time, I texted a new joke to a performer while he was waiting backstage to go on,” she says.

Though the founders all worked for Republicans, they aim at both major parties because, Newport says, “It gives us twice the jokes.”

CAPITOL STEPS 7pm Sunday at Sunset Center, Ninth and San Carlos, Carmel. $49; $59; $69. 620-2048, www.SunsetCenter.org.