Event

Inner Circle Show 2015

The Inner Circle Show is an annual charity event where New York City's political reporters spoof the mayor and top politicos in the state and Washington and in turn take a comedic hit in song, dance and sketches from the mayor himself.

Held each spring at the New York Hilton Hotel, the evening begins with a cocktail hour and photo opportunity for the cast and audience alike. Dinner is served afterwards.

Then on with the show! In song and dance, the reporters, including many who can actually sing and dance, and a few who make a valiant effort, review the news with jokes and songs. Mayor Bill de Blasio is the center of attention as the members of the print, broadcast and digital media take to the stage to make light of his reign at the top. The governor and the president are not spared either.

Tradition requires the mayor to answer the reporters' jibes with a review of his own, with a little help from his show business friends. Last year Mayor de Blasio brought along Emmy-nominated actor Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire) and Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) for a series of comic sketches, and even showed the crowd a video of himself dancing at his 1994 wedding reception.

Past shows have included appearances by Eli Manning, Caroline Kennedy and the casts of Chicago, Mamma Mia! and Mary Poppins (guests of Mayor Bloomberg); Julie Andrews, the cast of The Sporano's, and "Rudia," better known as Rudy Giuliani in drag (guests of Mayor Giuliani). Mayor Dinkins rode a horse into the ballroom to attend one show. Mayor Koch entered dressed in a gold lamé suit with a mechanical bird on his head.

The Inner Circle has been entertaining New Yorkers since 1922, when reporters based in City Hall began holding dinners to satirize the politicians they covered. It has been going strong ever since.

The Inner Circle is a 501(c)3 charity; profits are distributed to small, neighborhood charities in the New York City area.