One of its creator-performers, Drew Forsythe, says he didn't expect it to be so successful or to last so long. The revue's premiere a decade and a half ago was humble: it was presented on the set on the play in Sydney's Wharf Theatre, The Recruit, in which Forsythe was a cast member, one night after a performance.

Now, of course, the show is a major event in its own right, a prime-time touring attraction that takes up increasing amounts of time both to write and perform.

All three of the show's creators – Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott – will be on stage together this year. While they all work to put the show together, one is often away for the performing season: last year it was Forsythe, who was committed to Strictly Ballroom. But this year he is back with Biggins, Scott and regular colleague Amanda Bishop to take on the not-so-great and the far-from-good.

Forsythe says they always like performing in Canberra at the Playhouse – "It's a beautiful little theatre [and] the audience is more savvy than practically anywhere in the country."

While previous editions have had witty subtitles referencing contemporary events – Pennies from Kevin, Waiting for Garnaut, Debt Defying Acts – this time Forsythe says they've simply opted to mark their achievement in lasting so long, with a show that combines new material with some of their most popular sketches and characters from previous years – some live, some prerecorded (to give them time for costume changes).

There's a Les Miserables-themed segment with Prime Minister Tony Abbott singing a parody of Master of the House charting his rise to power followed by ambitious frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull doing some soul-searching in Must I Lie to the tune of Who Am I.

Former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard make appearances in the wake of the he said/she said documentary The Killing Season and another couple of former Labor prime ministers, Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, also feature, commenting on the state of the country in a nursing home.

"Jonathan Biggins does a fantastic impersonation of Paul Keating," Forsythe says, before adding mischievously, "Paul Keating does a fantastic impersonation of Paul Keating – a lovely mix of vitriol and vaudeville."

That seems as good a place as any to bring up the subject of how their targets have reacted to the show over the years.

"Very few of them come," Forsythe says.

Keating is one who has and was apparently offended by the tie Biggins wore while impersonating him – and that wasn't the only thing that got his goat.

"He said, 'I would've worn a better suit'," Forsythe says. But Zegna wasn't in their budget.

Former Liberal speaker Bronwyn Bishop is another who came and was "pleasant" about it, Forsythe says. Labor speechwriter Bob Ellis, a fan of the revue, urged former foreign minister Bob Carr – another Forsythe character – to go.

"Bob asked for a transcript of the show before he would come. We didn't provide one, he wouldn't come."

But another Labor Bob – Hawke – did go.

"He had a good laugh and invited us to his suite to have oysters. We sat with him and Blanche; he was very friendly."

And Forsythe says only one person has ever threatened to sue over the show – an unnamed News Limited journalist.There have been times when frantic rewrites have been necessary when a politician was dumped or resigned or a government changed just before or even during a run. But there's never been a shortage of material, even if Forsythe acknowledges that at times it can be hard for the satirist, since the politicians do such a good job of making themselves look ridiculous.

Some characters are a challenge for Forsythe like Abbott and Turnbull since he has thicker hair than both. He is playing Turnbull this time and says, "I just rely what he's singing to do the job – using the words to express his inner mind."

He's had a lot of fun doing the show over the years and particularly enjoys playing characters like Ellis, who "can ramble on about anything" or ones with distinctive voices such as Education Minister Christopher Pyne, who does a Grandmaster Flash-style rap in this revue on deregulating universities and advocates going back to phonic learning, all delivered in his distinctive South Australian accent. Mining magnate Gina Rinehart and Palmer United Party leader Clive Palmer also feature. There's even a Goon Show spoof, The Purge of the ABC, or the Case of the Rolling Heads.

And that brings Forsythe to a serious point. He thinks politics and the media have become too polarised and in the case of the latter, too combative and opinionated, citing News Limited's campaign to get rid of the ABC or at least neutralise its publicly funded media competitor and the tendency of certain journalists on both sides of the ideological fence to push barrows, which he finds annoying even if he is sympathetic to the viewpoints expressed.

Next year, the Wharf Revue is going on a regional tour, bringing its brand of mockery to an even bigger public before preparation begins for the 2016 edition.

"What we do is what the cartoonists do in the papers – David Rowe I absolutely love in the Fin Review and Pope in The Canberra Times and some of the others as well," he says.

They hold up a satirical mirror to the follies of the day and enable us to laugh at them – always a worthy function.

The Wharf Revue 2015: Celebrating 15 Years. Written and created by Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott. Musical director Phillip Scott. Sydney Theatre Company. The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre. September 15-25. Tickets $45-$65. Bookings: canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 62752700.