The greatest show in Alaska, the Whale Fat Follies, finds seemingly endless inspiration from the Palin family.

This courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:

But it was Sarah Palin and her family who provided the most material for the cast, with at least 10 references to or photos of the former governor. 

The other best bit of the show was MacDonald and Morrison as Palin and daughter Bristol, played against a backdrop of news coverage and police photos of last year's infamous birthday party brawl. They sang fast and furiously funny parodies of Queen’s “We Are The Champions” (“We are the Palins, my friend/And we’ll keep on fighting to the end…”) and the Bee Gees tune “Stayin’ Alive” (“Whether you’re the father or whether you’re the other we’ll be startin’ a fight, startin’ a fight…”).

I have seen this show at least four times now, but I admit that my last time was at least five years ago.

Now that I know that these days they are mocking the entire Palin clan, instead of just Sarah Palin, I might have to buy some tickets and make a night of it.

And seriously if you are planning a trip to Alaska it is well worth your while to stop at the Tap Root in Anchorage and take in the show.

(By the way I met Mr. Whitekeys way back in 2009. And he was already doing Palin material back then. Here is one of the songs. )

Author Joe McGinniss, Diane Benson, Mr. Whitekeys, and the "Celebrity table".

As I drove out to Palmer for the "Friends of Mat-Su" fundraiser, I took a moment to drink in the beauty of Alaska in early October.

The trees were exploding with color, the ash colored clouds drifted lazily across the sky, and the snow dappled mountains seemed to painted in bold brushstrokes against the horizon. The majesty of Alaska that constantly surrounds me occasionally catches me by surprise, and today was such a day.

When I arrived in Palmer I was at first surprised, and then pleased, to find that after ten years it had not changed one little bit. The open meadows, and rustic buildings that have always defined Palmer in my mind, were exactly where my memory expected them to be.

Unlike its neighbor, the now gaudy and over developed Wasilla, Palmer still retains its unique identity and welcoming ambiance.

I turned onto the Palmer fairgrounds which, with the all of various booths lined up along the fence, looked desolate and a little lonely. It was not long before I arrived at Raven Hall for an evening with the one and only Mr. Whitekeys.

I have seen Mr. Whitekey's shows numerous times in the past and have always found them enormously entertaining, and tonight would prove no different.

I found the table that our host Phil Munger had reserved for us and sat down with some of his other guests, who I did not know, but who turned out to be fans of both IM and Mudflats. (Oh did I mention that AKM was with me?)

Soon I was introduced to author Joe McGinniss, who is up here researching HIS Sarah Palin book, and who also turned out to be a huge fan of both AKM's and I. (I swear I will NEVER get used to hearing that.)

Mr. McGinniss entertained us with tales of the colorful characters he has met while doing research for the book he is currently working on and back in the 1970's for his novel Going to Extremes.

About then the lights dimmed and Mr. Whitekeys and the Spamtones took the stage. For over 90 minutes Whitekeys had us roaring with laughter as he pounded his keyboard and told endless jokes (often with an adult theme) about the sometimes dumb and colorful things that make up the history of Alaska.

For me the highlight of the show had to be when Whitekeys was joined by the Sarah Palin impersonator, who had us all in stitches as she struck a pose and burst into song about her trials and tribulations in attempting to run our state. AKM, who had never seen a Whitekeys show, was literally tearing up with laughter.

At one point, to the surprise of us all, the screen flashed this picture:



Which loyal Mudflatters will recognize from a May 14, post on Mudflats concerning possible titles for Sarah's new book. (Yes my friends you guessed it, Mr. Whitekeys is indeed a Mudflatter.)

During the show somebody mentioned that our table was occupied with far more people than the other tables in Raven Hall, since it contained AKM and spouse, myself, Phil Munger and his wife Judy, Diane Benson and her husband, Joe McGinniss, and a few other local friends of Phil's.

This inspired somebody to remark that our table was the "celebrity table", at which time AKM nudged me and said "Look, we are at the celebrity table". I leaned over and whispered "You do know that one of the reasons it is considered the celebrity table is because YOU are sitting here". AKM's look of horror and sudden realization was pretty darn funny. All night long people had been coming up to her to congratulate her on her Rachel Maddow appearance and to say what fans they were of the Mudflats, but it had still not occurred to her that she had attained the status of "celebrity".

I also managed to have another one of my conversations with Diane Benson about her plans for running against Congressman Don Young in 2010. She has become so used to these conversations that she actually walked up to me to initiate it instead of waiting for me to corner her as is the usual.

We did talk a little about that subject (no commitment yet), but she also wanted to talk about a small independent film she made called "For the Rights of All". About the Alaskan natives struggle for racial equality and the bravery of Elizabeth Peratrovich, who Diane portrays in the film. It sounded very interesting and I will be keeping an eye out for it.

When we had all said our good byes, it was time for the long drive home, at which time I pondered the amazing journey the Alaskan Bloggers had embarked on, and wondered where it would all lead.

(BTW here is AKM's take on the evenings festivities.)

Mr. Whitekeys musical take on Sarah Palin. Followed by a brief explanation of just what the hell a "Mr. Whitekeys" is.

Now if you are not a resident of Anchorage you may have absolutely no idea who that oddly dressed fellow in the video happens to be. So let me explain.

You see before we had a national embarrassment like Sarah Palin making Alaska and Alaskans look completely ridiculous, we had Mr. Whitekeys doing that very same thing. Except he did it for a living.

For many, many, many years Mr. Whitekeys has made up comedy skits, and funny little songs, about Alaska politicians, Alaska weather, Alaska criminals (see politicians), and just about everything Alaskan that you could possibly imagine.

And the amazing part is that Alaskans bought tickets to sit in the audience of his shows for over twenty five years and have their state made fun of right in front of them. And not only that, they often brought their out of state families and friends to laugh at Alaska along with them!

I went to his shows many times and laughed my ass off. There is nothing more therapeutic in the middle of December in Alaska, then attending a "Christmas in Spenard" show by Mr. Whitekeys. When he retired a few years ago it was a great loss for our state.

I am glad that Whitekeys temporarily came out of retirement to do this video. If any political year cried out for a little Alaskan comedy this year is definitely it.

(I have to give a tip of my hat to Kodiak Konfidential who was the first to post this wonderful video.)