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Mark Thomas, Glee Club, Cardiff – 31st October

Mark Thomas is a man with a wide ranging political agenda – stop the wars, stop the arms dealers, and stop the mimes. The self confessed ‘pain in the arse’ has challenged the unpopular Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (Socpa) that requires members of the public to apply for permission to demonstrate in Parliament square and the surrounding area.

Mark’s act consists of a collection of stories about his often bizarre encounters with baffled police officers and various pompous officials. The law was brought in by David Blunkett as a way of kicking long term peace protester Brian Haw out of Parliament square, it backfired wonderfully on Blunkett but still stands as a law. Which means that one person with one banner, or a stop the war pin badge, or as Mark’s friend Sian discovered, a Victoria sponge with ‘peace’ iced on it, in or around Parliament square, constitutes an unlawful demonstration and is an arrestable offence unless you have acquired permission from the police.

Mark’s impressive knowledge of the law has led him to fight the pointless act with the aid of various Emo teenagers, Tony Benn and the unlikely ally PC Paul McInally. Instead of just refusing to comply with the law, Mark complies with vigor and enthusiasm, with frequent visits to the police station filling in an array of protest applications including ‘defend surrealism’ and ‘big brother is s***’.

Mark has also helped to organise Mass lone demonstrations, causing chaos at police stations by encourage hundreds of people to organise and participate in lone demonstrations, demanding anything from ‘bigger shoe sizes for women’ to ‘free chocolate for the unemployed’. These lone demonstrators on one occasion in April this year, applied for 2,500 individual demonstrations around the Socpa zone in the space of a week, giving the police about three years’ worth of work in seven days.

All this demonstrating has oddly enough has made him a Guinness book world record holder for the ‘most political demonstrations in 24 hours’, a certificate Mark proudly displays on stage. Mark has also taken the idea of protesting one step further with the set up of his own company MC Demos. ‘Ever wanted to bring capitalism crashing down but can’t get time off work to do it? Let us demonstrate for you!’ The genuine company Mark has created charges members of the public a ‘happy demo’ price of £5, for the ‘demonstration of your choice in the designated area of the SOCPA zone, conducted by our experienced staff. We will fill in the paperwork and get permission for your demo from the police.’

Mark goes on to explain to the bemused audience that their demo will include ‘a free personalised banner with a choice of slogans negotiated with yourself and our sales team. You will also get a photo of our staff carrying out your demonstration to keep as a reminder of the day you took on the man, via us’

Mark’s stories are particularly hilarious because of their honesty, as Mark pulls out various pieces of police paperwork throughout the act to back up his stories. He recalls conversations with police officers with incredible detail and brings each character to life on stage, a particular crowd favourite being Scottish PC Paul McInally, whom Mark files most of his protest paperwork with including ironically a call for ‘reducing police paperwork’.

It seems that whilst others may criticise Mark Thomas for wasting police time, his actions are not out of malice but a genuine concern for human rights and freedom of Speech. Mark has not only challenged out concept of the law but most important our apathy, as he has successfully encouraged hundreds of British people to participate in a call to scrap this pointless law, and has made what would essentially be quite a dry subject come to life.