On stage at the Scottish Rite Theatre, two voluntary actors play young school children using tourniquets to stop the bleeding on a giant stuffed teddy bear named Tourniquet Teddy. The audience erupts in laughter when one of the children ties the tourniquet incorrectly, resulting in a spurt of a stream of paper “blood” from the brown fuzzy toy.
This sketch, taking a stab at legislation that promotes gun wound care education for young children, is part of the 2016 political satire show, “Over the Lege,” created by Stephanie Chiarello, a 2008 graduate from the LBJ School of Public Affairs. The show premiered its seventh season from Oct. 11-13. Each of the sketches are based on the biggest fights in legislative sessions, house bills or snide remarks made by legislators.
“It’s frustrating,” Tourniquet Teddy actor Aaron Salinas said. “I judge (University Interscholastic League) so I go to schools a lot. My heart (breaks) when I’m inside an elementary school and I (see) bleed kits. I’m seeing posters of how to use a tourniquet (inside of a kindergarten class).”
“Over the Lege Part 7: The Last Laughs” involved 10-minute sketches of actors creating caricatures of local political figures. Special guest speakers included state representatives like Lulu Flores and Vikki Goodwin and Texas Freedom Network political director Rocío Fierro-Pérez.
“We call it edutain,” Chiarello said. “Educate and entertain. … We haven’t passed a single gun law since Uvalde. The solution that the legislatures passed was (putting) bleeding kits in schools so that children can help their best friend if they get shot.”
Actors flaunt receding hairlines and poorly fitted suits to mimic political figures such as Attorney General Ken Paxton, Texas representative Shelby Slawson and Senator Ted Cruz. Fierro-Pérez said making light of heavy political topics proves the best way to spread awareness about them.
“Oftentimes, people drown out the news and what’s going on in the media because it’s heavy,” Fierro-Pérez said. “They did such a beautiful job of talking about all of the things that are actually going on in the legislature in a funny (and informative) way.”
A big fan of “Saturday Night Live” and “The Daily Show,” Chiarello said she felt inspired to create the comedy as she watched committee hearings in her current role as chief of staff to state representative Bobby Guerra.
“There’s another man who was a state representative and is now a senator who was at a hearing and said, ‘Well, I don’t want to Jew you down,’” Chiarello said. “These are the things I saw that inspired me, these people have to be held accountable. They just get away with it because nobody’s paying attention.”
Chiarello said she hopes viewers of “Over the Lege” take away an urgency to vote in local elections.
“There’s a very accessible government, especially if you’re here in Austin,” Chiarello said. “You could have a much bigger impact on (local elections) than this one vote you cast every four years for president.”
