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Welcome
Welcome and thanks for visiting!
Here you can find out what Mark is up to, his current work and campaigns, tour dates and other appearances and we'll be sure to let you know what you can do to help in one man's attempt to subvert the system and investigate and expose the things that need exposing!
Elsewhere on the site you'll find a lot of related info, photo galleries, full details of all Mark's TV shows current and upcoming tour dates and details of how to buy Mark's books, CDs and DVDs. Just have a hunt around the menu on the left and you should find what you're looking for. If not drop us an email and we'll try our best to help.
NEW Tour Dates and Radio Shows
There are some new tour dates announced in the list over there --->>>
Some of these are more MANIFESTO shows continuing on from the shows last year and earlier this year and act as warm-up for some new BBC Radio 4 recordings (tickets available from the BBC website).
The others are early outings for a completely NEW show called "Walking The Wall"*
Never one to take the easy option, 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.
This is the story of 300 000 settlers; a 750 km wall; six arrests, one stoning; too much humuus and a simple question...
"Can you ever get away from it all with a good walk?"
There will also be a new book telling the story of the walk, published Spring 2011.
* To see which show is which check the full listings page.
July 4th at Menwith Hill - Independence FROM America
Mark was at the CAAB organised "Independence FROM America" demo at Menwith Hill again this year. Further details about CAAB on the CAAB Website.
Here's a picture taken on the day by Peter Pollard:
Mark Wins Compensation From The Police
Mark earns £100 a minute for being illegally detained.
"Comedian Mark Thomas wins £1,200 over police search 'Over-confident' comic was unlawfully stopped and had his bag checked as he left arms protest.
Police have paid compensation and apologised to the comedian and activist Mark Thomas after they admitted unlawfully searching him for looking "over-confident" at a demonstration."
Mark adds:
"After winning £1,200 from the Met police for an unlawful stop and search I would like to encourage as many people as possible to attend future anti arms trade demonstrations as there is now a financial incentive as well as a moral one."
Read the full story in the Guardian Article.
Independent Record Shop day 2010
To help celebrate Independent Record Shop day 2010 (17th April) my favourite record shop has asked me to make a mix CD for them, to be played in store tomorrow. Sadly for me this is an incredibly proud moment. I have spent far too much time worrying about what tracks to include and how it will mix. For those of you who share these unfortunate obsessions here is the track listing for Sister Ray in Berwick St.
| White punks on hope | Crass |
| Air War | Crystal Castles |
| Mountain Energy | The Fall |
| Safari | Holy Fuck |
| Step in the arena | Gang Starr |
| Oh,how to do now | The Monks |
| Garbageman | Cramps |
| Sure Shot | Beastie Boys |
| Disaster | The Besnard Lakes |
| O Katrina | The Black Lips |
| I got my mojo workin' | The Electric Prunes |
| My Red Hot Car | Squarepusher |
| A Thing for you | Metronomy |
| Do they owe us a living? | Jeffrey Lewis |
| Blank Page of the Blind | Melt Banana |
| Pretty Thing | Bo Diddley |
| Left on man | Robert Wyatt |
| Spliff Dub (Sukh Knight) | Zombay |
New book out now!
Mark has a new mini-book out based on the manifesto ideas audiences came up with on the 2009 tour. You can order your copy directly from the publisher or Amazon, it should also be available in your local book shop.
In a year of political and economic chaos Mark Thomas toured the country to find out what people really wanted. The result is the People’s Manifesto…
- All politicians should be forced to wear the names and logos of the companies which sponsor them
- Anyone who supports ID cards should be banned from having curtains
- The introduction of a law making it illegal for MPs to knowingly lie. It shall be known as Archer’s Law
- All models should be picked at random from the electoral register
The People’s Manifesto will outline 50 policies of the manifesto shouted out in bold type on a page to themselves with Mark's commentary opposite. Mark has even ‘road tested' some of them - like hosting a party in an MP’s second home (which clearly belongs to the taxpayer) and getting university boffins to work out a way of SAT testing MPs to rank them by value. And Mark’s guerrilla antics won’t end there…
Power to the people is really happening.
As heard on BBC Radio 4
IT'S THE STUPID ECONOMY - THE MANIFESTO - LATEST
| Venue | Date | Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Tricycle Theatre, London | 02/10/2009 | To allow asylum seekers to work. Close down tax havens...bomb Switzerland. |
| Tricycle Theatre, London | 01/10/2009 | To introduce a Tobin tax on currency transactions |
| Tricycle Theatre, London | 30/09/2009 | To include a 'none of the above' box on the ballot paper and that vote to be counted as a cast vote. Troops out of Afghanistan. Prosecute Blair for war crimes. Give Jerusalem back to the Palestinians. |
| Tricycle Theatre, London | 29/09/2009 | MPs should not be paid salaries but loans, like students MPs often get highly paid jobs on leaving Parliament, as a result of having attended Parliament. Thus when they get a highly paid non exec directorship they should pay their loan back. |
| Tricycle Theatre, London | 28/09/2009 | There should be a public referendum before going to war. |
| Tricycle Theatre, London | 26/09/2009 | Models should be selected at random from the electoral register. |
| Tricycle Theatre, London | 25/09/2009 | 1.Boris Johnson should abide by his election pledge and fund London rape crisis centres the £740,000 he promised. 2. Any Mp who votes to go to war should fight in it, in the front line. |
| Tricycle Theatre, London | 24/09/2009 | All politicians should be forced to wear the names and logos of the companies that sponsor them or with whom they have financial links. |
| Tricycle Theatre, London | 23/09/2009 | 1. CEO's convicted for fraud should be forced to dress as pirates in whatever job they get in the future. 2. To amend the EU working time directive to give Wednesday afternoon off for all workers to play 'games'. |
| Tricycle Theatre, London | 22/09/2009 | 100% of tips left in restaurants should go to the staff, not used by the owners to boost wages that are under the minimum wage. Restaurants found to be doing this will be fined a percentage of profits which will be shared by staff. |
Older news
Stop and search? Carry the card.
Download this handy card, warning police officers that if a stop and search is intrusive, unlawful or malicious, you will take action. As featured in the Guardian on 10th February 2009 here.
The debate about the use of stop and search – be it protesters or young black and Asian men, be it in the case of stopping knife crime or deterring terrorism – is one that has (understandably, perhaps) been fixed on the police results rather than the times they get it wrong.
But it is in the cases where they get it wrong that attitudes towards police are sharpened and the rights we feel we have as citizens practically defined. So I offer this card for readers to download, print and carry. It warns police officers that if a stop and search is intrusive, unlawful or malicious, you will pursue the issue through the Independent Police Complaints Commission and, if necessary, to civil proceedings. You might want to offer this card to an officer before a search takes place. Enjoy.
Click here to download a pdf of the card. Then print, cut it out, fold it in half and carry it around with you.