Mark Thomas live – Serious Organised Criminal DVD review
August 14, 2008 – 10:57 am | by Simon GlanvilleWith Mark Thomas’ new book “Belching Out the Devil: Global Adventures with Coca-Cola” coming out next month, we take a look at his last DVD.
Mark Thomas – comedian, presenter, political activist, reporter. Combine all of these and it might give you an idea of how this stand up show fits together.Best known for his Channel 4 show, The Mark Thomas Comedy Product, this effort is all about the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. It may sound boring, but let Thomas talk to you about it and I’m sure you’ll be amused.
Without boring you with too much on the political side, the act basically means that you have to get permission to perform a demonstration in Parliament Square, which according to the police, can include one person with a badge or banner.
And instead of moaning about the law like you or I would, Thomas decides to see how far he can stretch it, by taking the piss as much as possible. He sticks two fingers up to the law and plays them at their own game, using every loophole and legal aid to make them wish the act never existed.
How he gets away with it is beyond me, but Thomas manages to set a Guinness World Record for the largest amount of demonstrations in 24 hours (a staggering 20!), while still keeping a seemingly frustrated police force on side. How the officers involved in his prank didn’t crack I’ll never know, especially when he and his fellow activists were asking for demonstrations that were so ridiculous, from a demonstration called by Winston Churchill’s ghost to equal pay for nose pickers.
It does make you think how ridiculous some of our laws are, and as funny as Thomas makes it, there is a really important message in his comedy. I wouldn’t say it’s a DVD that’s going to have you in stitches, but even for someone like me who isn’t particularly interested in politics, it is funny to see how easy it is to undermine the law and how ridiculous the government and police can be
