VIDEO: Mayor Frets Over Upcoming 'Inner Circle' Performance, Considers Using 'De Blasio Impersonator'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio is warming up for the annual Inner Circle parody show.
In a promotional video released Thursday, de Blasio seems to have cold feet about appearing in the show, saying "the press corps is going to eat me alive" and "I'm too tall for dancing."
His aide comes up with the perfect solution: hiring "a professional de Blasio impersonator."
"My God, it's like looking a mirror, it's like we're twins," de Blasio tells the much shorter, bearded stand-in before quizzing him on how he'd handle questions about shutting down the city for a "fake blizzard," his pre-K program and his Spanish.
The Inner Circle is an organization of political journalists who put on a comedy show skewering elected officials. At the end of the show, the mayor typically offers a rebuttal.
At last year's show, de Blasio was portrayed in the first act as a steal-from-the-rich Robin Hood and elicited big laughs in his rebuttal performance by poking fun of his own shortcomings with the help of some celebrity guests, including Steve Buscemi.
The Inner Circle show is New York City's answer to the White House Correspondents dinner. In previous years, mayors have put on elaborate performances: Rudolph Giuliani donned drag, Ed Koch stepped out of the mouth of a man-eating plant and Michael Bloomberg wore a harness, flying 20 feet in the air while dressed as Spiderman.
This year's show, called "Going to Pot," will be held March 28 at the New York Hilton Hotel. You can order tickets here.
The Inner Circle show raises money for a number of local charities.
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
