24 Facts About Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas's mother was a midwife and his father a self-employed builder.

Mark 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.

Mark Thomas then won a scholarship to attend the independent Christ's Hospital School, where he attained O-levels and A-levels in English, history, and politics and economics.

At school, Mark Thomas was influenced by his drama teacher, Duncan Noel-Paton, and by Bertolt Brecht's play The Caucasian Chalk Circle, in which the audience's sympathies are swayed from one view of a political argument to the other; speaking of this to The Guardian in 1999, he said "I was amazed that a play could make you change your mind".

Mark Thomas went on to be awarded a degree in Theatre Arts at Bretton Hall College.

Mark Thomas cited the playwright Trevor Griffiths as an early influence, describing him as "an absolute genius".

Mark Thomas went on to write material for Dave Allen.

Mark Thomas 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.

Mark Thomas co-presented the highly successful Radio 1 comedy talk show Loose Talk with Kevin Day, and is a founder member of the London Comedy Store's hard hitting Cutting Edge show.

In one edition, Mark Thomas investigated the practice of avoiding inheritance tax by declaring art, furniture, homes and land available for public viewing.

Mark Thomas declined to take part in a proposed Celebrity Guantanamo Bay 'reality TV' show.

Mark Thomas has appeared at numerous comedy benefit nights, and is a well established stand-up comedian in the UK.

Recently, Mark Thomas has been working with War on Want in India and investigating and filming alleged human rights violations in Colombia where trade unions are targeted by militia allegedly controlled by the government.

Mark Thomas wrote a regular column for the New Statesman between 2001 and 2007.

Whilst promoting this book on his latest tour, Mark Thomas organised mass lone demonstrations, in protest of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, an act of Parliament that prevents any demonstrations within London's Parliament Square zone without prior police approval.

Mark Thomas's record was later beaten in 2010 by the Freman College Amnesty group, who held 23 demonstrations.

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

Mark Thomas had been unlawfully subject to a stop-and-search without adequate cause, after speaking at an anti-arms rally.

Mark Thomas's touring show entitled "Walking The Wall" was shortlisted for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression award and his book Extreme Rambling recounted the story.

Mark Thomas revealed in 2013 that he had discovered, through a Data Protection request, that he had been under police surveillance as a result of his investigative journalism for Channel 4 and the New Statesman and put on the domestic extremist database.

Mark Thomas has donated several sets of his notes, research material, publicity material, press clippings, other ephemera and audio recordings to the University of Kent's "British Stand-Up Comedy Archive".

Mark Thomas was made an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Bradford on 3 December 2008, in recognition of his peace campaigning and services to comedy.

Mark Thomas came eighth of ten candidates with 122 votes as the election was won by Labour's Jon Trickett.

In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, Mark Thomas signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election.