Mark Clifford Thomas is an British
comedian, presenter and reporter from south London.
He first came to light as a support comic on the BBC
Radio 1 comedy show The Mary Whitehouse Experience
in the late 1980s.
Prior to his most renowned vehicle, The Mark Thomas
Comedy Product, Mark was the resident stand up comic
on Saturday Zoo (Channel 4) and presented the highly
successful BBC Radio 1 talk show 'Loose Talk'. He is
also a founder member of the London Comedy Store's
hard hitting 'Cutting Edge' show.
His political comedy shows, The Mark Thomas Comedy
Product and The Mark Thomas Product on Channel 4 earned
him criticism from politicians but was seen by critics
as a crucial investigative tool. 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 Queen Mother's funeral.
Mark 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 Ilisu Dam Campaign,
a campaign which was successful in blocking the development
of a large-scale hydro-electric dam in Southeast Turkey
that would have led to the displacement of up to 78,000
people, mostly Kurds, without adequate compensation
or consultation, as well as to environmental and cultural
destruction.
In recent months Mark has been working with War On
Want in India and investigating and filming human rights
violations in Colombia where trade unions are targeted
by militia allegedly controlled by the government.
He continues to write a column for the New Statesman.
Mark is married with a son and daughter called Charlie
and Whizz. |