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The Secret Policeman's Ball Mediagraphy
This is a list of audio, video and film releases of ''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' series of charity shows. Theatrical films made from the shows UK film releases US film releases Australia/NZ film releases TV specials made from the shows The premiere broadcast of each TV special, listed in chronological sequence ''(This list excludes TV transmissions of films that had received prior theatrical release)'' UK TV broadcasts US TV broadcasts Related TV shows (UK & US) * Sky At Westminster Abbey (1981) – 75-minute concert celebrating Amnesty's 20th Anniversary * Conspiracy of Hope (1986) – All-day concert celebrating Amnesty International * Human Rights Now! (1988) – Concert celebrating Amnesty International * The Secret Policeman's Retro Ball! (1992) – 60-minute documentary on history of rock musician support for Amnesty * The Secret Policeman's Concert (1992) -60-minute compilation of rock performances for Amnesty * Free to Laugh: A Comedy and Music Special for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Secret Policeman's Ball
''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' is a series of benefit shows staged initially in the United Kingdom to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International. The shows started in 1976 featuring popular British comedians but later included leading musicians and actors. The ''Secret Policeman's Ball'' shows are credited by many prominent entertainers with having galvanised them to become involved with Amnesty and other social and political causes in succeeding years. Co-founded by Monty Python member John Cleese, campaigner Peter Luff (Assistant Director Amnesty International 1974–1978), and entertainment industry executive Martin Lewis, there have been four distinct eras of the Amnesty benefit shows. The shows of the first era (1976–1981), featuring five members of Monty Python and newcomers such as Rowan Atkinson, yielded films, television specials, home-videos, and albums that have since been widely seen and heard internationally. The three subsequent e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Human Rights Now!
Human Rights Now! was a worldwide tour of twenty benefit concerts on behalf of Amnesty International that took place over six weeks in 1988. Held not to raise funds but to increase awareness of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on its 40th anniversary and the work of Amnesty International, the shows featured Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Sting (musician), Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman, and Youssou N'Dour, plus guest artists from each of the countries where concerts were held. Human rights activists and former prisoners from around the world, led by Sonny Venkatrathnam from South Africa, participated in the tour. At each location, the artists and Amnesty leaders held a press conference to discuss human rights, and concert-goers were provided with copies of the Universal Declaration in their language and opportunities to sign the Declaration themselves and join the worldwide human rights movement. The tour featured concerts at large sports stadiums suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satire Boom
The satire boom was the output of a generation of British satirical writers, journalists and performers at the beginning of the 1960s. The satire boom is often regarded as having begun with the first performance of ''Beyond the Fringe'' on 22 August 1960 and ending around December 1963 with the cancellation of the BBC TV show ''That Was The Week That Was''. The figures most closely identified with the satire boom are Peter Cook, John Bird, John Fortune, David Frost, Dudley Moore, Bernard Levin and Richard Ingrams. Many figures who found celebrity through the satire boom went on to establish subsequently more serious careers as writers including Alan Bennett (drama), Jonathan Miller (polymathic), and Paul Foot (investigative journalism). In his book ''The Neophiliacs'', Christopher Booker, who as a founding editor of ''Private Eye'' was a central figure of the satire boom, charts the years 1959 to 1964. He begins with the Cambridge Footlights student revue ''The Last Laugh'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Palin
Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knighthood, knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019 New Year Honours, 2019. Palin started in television working on programmes including the ''Ken Dodd Show'', ''The Frost Report'', and ''Do Not Adjust Your Set''. He joined ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (1969–1974) alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman. He acted in some of the most famous Python sketches, including "Argument Clinic", "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python), The Spanish Inquisition", "Bicycle Repair Man", and "The Fish-Slapping Dance". Palin continued to work with Jones away from Python, co-writing ''Ripping Yarns''. Palin co-wrote and starred in ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance Gilliam ( ; born 22 November 1940) is an American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage film, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman. Together they collaborated on the sketch comedy, sketch series ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (1969–1974) and the films ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975, also co-directed), ''Monty Python's Life of Brian, Life of Brian'' (1979) and ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, The Meaning of Life'' (1983). In 1988, they received the British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Award for BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award, Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. In 2009, Gilliam received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement. Gilliam transitioned to directing serious films with themes exploring imagination and oppositions to bureaucracy and authoritarianism. His films are some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the Surreal humour, surrealist comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel (Monty Python), The Colonel and the lead role in two Python films, ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Holy Grail'' (1975) and ''Monty Python's Life of Brian, Life of Brian'' (1979). Chapman was born in Leicester and was raised in Melton Mowbray. He enjoyed science, acting, and comedy and after graduating from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, he turned down a career as a doctor to be a comedian. Chapman eventually established a writing partnership with John Cleese, which reached its critical peak with Monty Python during the 1970s. He subsequently left Britain for Los Angeles, where he attempted to be a success on American television, speaking on the college circuit and producing the pirate film ''Yellowbea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monty Python
Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy series '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which aired on the BBC from 1969 to 1974. Their work then developed into a larger collection that included live shows, films, albums, books, and musicals; their influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. (The live version of the Web page does not contain the quoted line, but the archived version does.) Their sketch show has been called "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy". ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' was loosely structured as a sketch show, but its innovative stream-of-consciousness approach and Gilliam's animation skills pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy unit, the Pythons had creative ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball was the fourth of the benefit shows staged by the British Section of Amnesty International to raise funds for its research and campaign work in the human rights field. It was the second of many shows to bear the celebrated "Secret Policeman's" title that became the iconic series known informally as The Secret Policeman's Balls. The show took place at the Drury Lane theatre in London over four nights between Wednesday 9 September and Saturday 12 September 1981. It was a successor to the 1979 show The Secret Policeman's Ball. Not all artists appeared at all performances: Phil Collins, for example, could not commit to all four and was present at the last two shows only. The show was directed by Monty Python alumnus John Cleese and produced by Martin Lewis and Peter Walker (Amnesty's fundraising officer). It subsequently yielded two separate movies (one version for the UK, directed by Julien Temple, and a quite different version for the US) a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979)
''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' was the third of the benefit shows staged by Amnesty International to raise funds for its research and campaign work in the human rights field. In later years, other Amnesty benefit shows also bore the ''Secret Policeman's'' title. They are informally referred to as ''The Secret Policeman's Balls''. ''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' took place over four consecutive nights in London on 27–30 June 1979. It was a successor to the 1976 show ''A Poke in the Eye (With a Sharp Stick)'' (the film of which was titled ''Pleasure at Her Majesty's'') and the 1977 show ''The Mermaid Frolics''. The show was directed by Monty Python alumnus John Cleese and producers Martin Lewis and Peter Walker. It subsequently yielded a one-hour TV special, a full-length film, and two record albums (one each of comedy and music performances). One of the sketches in the show was Peter Cook's nine-minute parody of the biased judge's instructions to the jury in the recently c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pleasure At Her Majesty's
''A Poke in the Eye (With a Sharp Stick)'' is the title of the first show in what later became the '' Secret Policeman's Ball'' series of benefit shows for human rights organization Amnesty International, although it pre-dated by three years the first show to bear that name. The film of the show was titled ''Pleasure at Her Majesty's'' which is sometimes mistakenly thought to be the title of the actual benefit show. Background The landmark 1976 show starring the Monty Python, ''Beyond the Fringe'', and The Goodies teams and other top British comedic performers of the 1960s and 1970s, led directly to the 1979 show ''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' - which in turn triggered the involvement of major rock stars such as Sting, Bono, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen, and Bob Geldof in working for the human rights cause. It set a precedent that would inspire many subsequent Amnesty galas, as well as Comic Relief. The concept was also the inspiration of similar events in aid of Amnesty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
