Mark Thomas - Biography

Biography

Mark Thomas was born in South London. His mother was a midwife and his father a self-employed builder (and ex lay preacher). Thomas was educated at Macaulay Church of England Primary School, Victoria Rise, Clapham until 1974, where his party trick was to recite the first verses of the four gospels from memory, and then the independent Christ's Hospital School, where he attained O-levels and A-levels. He went on to be awarded a degree in Theatre Arts at Bretton Hall College.

Prior to his most renowned vehicle, The Mark Thomas Comedy Product, Thomas was a frequent guest comic on the BBC Radio 1 show The Mary Whitehouse Experience, where he would do a routine about a specific topic of the week and involve studio audience members in the discussions. He would also occasionally play parts in sketches written by the show's main performers. He then became the resident stand-up comic on Saturday Zoo, a Channel 4 comedy series first screened in 1993 and appeared on an episode of Have I Got News For You. He also co-presented the highly successful Radio 1 comedy talk show Loose Talk with Kevin Day, and is also a founder member of the London Comedy Store's hard hitting Cutting Edge show.

His political comedy show, The Mark Thomas Comedy Product (later renamed as simply The Mark Thomas Product, to reflect its increasing political agenda) on Channel 4 earned him criticism from politicians but was seen by critics as a crucial investigative tool. In one edition, Thomas investigated the practice of avoiding inheritance tax by declaring art, furniture, homes and land available for public viewing. Thomas showed how Nicholas Soames hid this fact from the public and at the same time avoided paying tax. After being pursued relentlessly by Thomas legitimately asking for permission to see his furniture, Soames eventually paid the tax, and Gordon Brown, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, changed the law.

Leaving Channel 4 was a mutual decision, following a series of disputes over how far the channel would go in its broadcasting, one of which concerned the channel's reluctance to support actions concerning corporate accountability and corporate manslaughter laws — a cause he had campaigned for — which coincided with the Queen Mother's funeral. He declined to take part in a proposed Celebrity Guantanamo Bay 'reality TV' show.

Thomas has appeared at numerous comedy benefit nights, and is a well established stand-up comedian in the UK. He is the Chairman of the Ilısu Dam Campaign, a campaign which was successful in temporarily blocking the development of a large-scale hydroelectric dam in southeast Turkey that campaigners claim will lead to the displacement of up to 78,000 people, mostly Kurds, without adequate compensation or consultation, as well as to environmental and cultural destruction.

Recently, Thomas has been working with War on Want in India and investigating and filming alleged human rights violations in Colombia (by, amongst others, Coca-Cola) where trade unions are targeted by militia allegedly controlled by the government. He wrote a regular column for the New Statesman between 2001 and 2007.

The Parliamentary committee which oversees weapons exports, the House of Commons Quadripartite Select Committee, commended him for his undercover work, which led to official warning letters being issued to a number of companies. His work in this area is covered in As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela: Underground Adventures in the Arms and Torture Trade, a book chronicling his experiences undercover, his political activism and his projects designed to find and report loopholes in arms trading laws, which culminated in a controversial unbroadcast Newsnight article about the Hinduja brothers.

Whilst promoting this book on his latest tour, Thomas is also organising Mass Lone Demonstrations, in protest at the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, which prevents any demonstrations around London's Parliament Square without prior police approval. The last event attracted over 100 'lone protesters' at the same time. In 2006, he was added to the Guinness Book of Records for most demonstrations held on one day: 20 individual protests in 20 different locations. He actually performed 21 protests, but as the first and last took place at the same location, it was agreed that only 20 would count. However, his record was beaten in 2010 by the Freman College Amnesty group, who held 23 demonstrations.

In 2008, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Bradford, for services to peace and for his work as a comedian, political activist, presenter and investigative journalist, especially for his effective campaigning on the ethics of the arms trade. The University has a long-standing Department of Peace Studies.

In 2009, Mark launched the Huddersfield Policy postcard campaign, petitioning the Queen with protests against the prospect of a state funeral for Margaret Thatcher.

For his 'It's The Stupid Economy' UK tour in 2009, Mark played 55 shows over 14 weeks (between March and end July) and encouraged each audience to come up with their own policies (be it silly or serious) that will somehow make their lives better, forming a "People's Manifesto". Each audience then got to vote on their favourite policy of that evening and the winning suggestion then formed part of his manifesto which he will then campaign for and attempt to actually make at least some of the suggestions become reality.

In April 2010, Thomas was awarded £1200 compensation for a search carried out by police in 2007. He had been unlawfully subject to a stop-and-search without adequate cause, after speaking at an anti-arms rally.

During 2010 Mark decided to go rambling in the Middle East and walked the entire length of the Israeli Separation Barrier, crossing between the Israeli and the Palestinian side. He is currently touring with a show entitled "Walking The Wall" which recounts the story.