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Mark Russell (born August 23, 1932 in Buffalo, New York) is an American political satirist/comedian. He also sings and plays the piano. Russell is a graduate of Canisius High School in Buffalo, New York. For more than 25 years Russell has appeared on the American public broadcasting network PBS at least four times a year. His comedy specials are a mix of political stand-up comedy covering current events and musical parodies, in which Russell accompanies himself on his trademark piano. Russell's song parodies use melodies from old standards with new humorous lyrics pertinent to the subject matter. For example, in 1990, following the execution of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu, Russell did a parody song on his show to the tune of "Chattanooga Choo-Choo." ("Pardon me, boys / Are you the cats who shot Ceaucescu / You made my day / The way you blew him away.") Russell himself admits that most of his jokes and songs are very topical and have "a shelf life shorter than cottage cheese." While Russell's humor is known for skewering Democrats and Republicans alike, his humorous tirades have also poked fun at third party, independent politicians and other prominent political (and sometimes non-political) figures. Russell has often been asked the question, "Do you have any writers?" His standard response is "Oh, yes...I have 535 writers. 100 in the Senate and 435 in the House of Representatives!" For several years, on the Sunday before Labor Day, he has made an annual appearance on the NBC news program Meet the Press , hosted by Tim Russert, also a Canisius High graduate. He also served in the US Marines. Russell lives in Washington, D.C. but often makes appearances in his native Buffalo. Beginning in the early 1960's he was a regular entertainer at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. He gained national recognition with a series of comedy albums during the Watergate scandal, and did his first public television show in 1975. From 1979 to 1984, he was a semi-regular host on the reality TV show, Real People. In 1994, Russell found himself unexpectedly allied with the rap group 2 Live Crew, when the group was sued for copyright infringement for their parody of the song "Oh, Pretty Woman." The case went to the Supreme Court, where Russell and the members of 2 Live Crew argued that song parodies were protected under the Fair Use act. The Supreme Court agreed, and ruled in favor of Russell and 2 Live Crew.
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