Robert Newman
Encyclopedia
Robert Newman (born 7 July 1964) is a British
stand-up comedian, author and political activist. In 1993 Newman and his then comedy partner David Baddiel
became the first comedians to play and sell out the 12,000-seat Wembley Arena
in London
. He was born to a Greek Cypriot father and British
mother.
Newman's first speaking appearance was with Third World First (now known as People and Planet), the student
political organisation. In addition to comedy and writing, he has also worked as a paperboy in Whitwell, Hertfordshire, farmhand, warehouse-man, house-painter, teacher, mail sorter, social worker, mover, and broadcaster.
). He began his comedy career as an impressionist
in the late 1980s before gaining fame when he appeared alongside Baddiel
, Hugh Dennis
and Steve Punt
(among others; this was the regular quartet, however, all of them ex-Cambridge) in the BBC
radio and TV programme The Mary Whitehouse Experience
(1989–92). The title referred to the main campaigner for "moral decency" on television, Mary Whitehouse
. With The Mary Whitehouse Experience, Newman and Baddiel had become "unlikely pin-ups as, in the early 1990s, comedy was being feted as 'the new rock and roll'," leading to their own series, Newman and Baddiel in Pieces
(1993).
The partnership with Baddiel was widely reported as being fraught with tension. Unlike most double acts, their shows (both on TV and stage) were characterised by the two alternately delivering monologues, rarely appearing together except in sketches (most famously, History Today). During the "Live and In Pieces" tour, relations deteriorated further, and the Wembley show was widely and accurately predicted to be their last appearance together.
After the break-up, the two men took wildly differing career paths. While Baddiel became part of the "new lad"
phenomenon of the mid-1990s, fronting shows like Fantasy Football League
, Newman largely disappeared from public life, reappearing with solo work marked by a clear social conscience and anti-establishment
views. He covered the anti-globalisation Seattle protests
of 1999 for the UK's Channel 4 News
. He has been politically active with Reclaim the Streets
, the Liverpool Dockers, Indymedia and Peoples' Global Action
.
His later work is characterised by a very strong political element, and parallels the work of contemporaries such as Mark Thomas
. In 2003 Newman toured with From Caliban
to the Taliban, which was released on CD and DVD. In 2005 the show Apocalypso Now or, from P45 to AK47, how to Grow the Economy with the Use of War
debuted at the Bongo Club during the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Apocalypso Now toured nationally, sometimes as part of a double-bill where Newman was joined by Mark Thomas. The show was filmed at the Hoxton Hall
in Hoxton
, east London
and shown on More4
under the title A History of Oil, with a later release on CD and DVD. A mixture of stand-up comedy and introductory lecture on geopolitics
and peak oil
in Apocalypso Now Newman argues that twentieth-century Western foreign policy, including World War I
, should be seen as a continuous struggle by the West to control Middle East
ern oil
., Newman draws from Richard Heinberg
's book The Party's Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies
as source material for portions of the show dealing with peak oil.
In 2006 Newman performed a new show, No Planet B or, The History of the World Backwards, at the Tricycle Theatre
in Kilburn, north-west London
. In 2007, the BBC commissioned a six-part series, The History of the World Backwards
based on No Planet B, for transmission on BBC Four
., The script of the stage version show is accessible on Newman's official website.
, Hugh Dennis
, and Steve Punt
.
He is the author of three novels: Dependence Day (1994); Manners (1998); and The Fountain at the Centre of The World (2003).
, an editor of The New York Times Book Review
, reviewed The Fountain at the Centre of the World favorably, saying it was "the talismanic Catch-22
of the anti-globalisation protest movement, the fiction
al complement to Naomi Klein
's influential exposé
No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies
.
Newman's process of writing the book is the subject of a BBC Two
television documentary entitled Scribbling.,
Newman and Baddiel
Solo career
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
stand-up comedian, author and political activist. In 1993 Newman and his then comedy partner David Baddiel
David Baddiel
David Lionel Baddiel is an English comedian, novelist and television presenter.-Early life:Baddiel was born in New York, and moved to England when he was four months old. His father, Colin Brian Baddiel, was a Welsh research chemist with Unilever before being made redundant in the 1980s, after...
became the first comedians to play and sell out the 12,000-seat Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena is an indoor arena, at Wembley, in the London Borough of Brent. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium.-History:...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He was born to a Greek Cypriot father and British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
mother.
Newman's first speaking appearance was with Third World First (now known as People and Planet), the student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
political organisation. In addition to comedy and writing, he has also worked as a paperboy in Whitwell, Hertfordshire, farmhand, warehouse-man, house-painter, teacher, mail sorter, social worker, mover, and broadcaster.
Comedy career
Newman read English at Cambridge University (Selwyn CollegeSelwyn College, Cambridge
Selwyn College is a constituent college in the University of Cambridge in England, United Kingdom.The college was founded by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of the Rt Reverend George Selwyn , who rowed on the Cambridge crew in the first Varsity Boat Race in 1829, and went on to become the...
). He began his comedy career as an impressionist
Impressionist (entertainment)
An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...
in the late 1980s before gaining fame when he appeared alongside Baddiel
David Baddiel
David Lionel Baddiel is an English comedian, novelist and television presenter.-Early life:Baddiel was born in New York, and moved to England when he was four months old. His father, Colin Brian Baddiel, was a Welsh research chemist with Unilever before being made redundant in the 1980s, after...
, Hugh Dennis
Hugh Dennis
Peter Hugh Dennis is an English actor, comedian, writer, impressionist and voice-over artist, best known for his work with comedy partner Steve Punt. He is also known for his position as a permanent panelist on the TV comedy show Mock The Week...
and Steve Punt
Steve Punt
Stephen Punt is a British writer, comedian and actor, best known for his long-time comedy partnership with Hugh Dennis. Punt lives in Wimbledon with his girlfriend and two children.-Life and career:...
(among others; this was the regular quartet, however, all of them ex-Cambridge) in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio and TV programme The Mary Whitehouse Experience
The Mary Whitehouse Experience
The Mary Whitehouse Experience was a British topical sketch comedy show produced by the BBC in association with Spitting Image Productions. It starred two comedy double acts - David Baddiel and Rob Newman, and also Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, all of whom had graduated from Cambridge University...
(1989–92). The title referred to the main campaigner for "moral decency" on television, Mary Whitehouse
Mary Whitehouse
Mary Whitehouse, CBE was a British campaigner against the permissive society particularly as the media portrayed and reflected it...
. With The Mary Whitehouse Experience, Newman and Baddiel had become "unlikely pin-ups as, in the early 1990s, comedy was being feted as 'the new rock and roll'," leading to their own series, Newman and Baddiel in Pieces
Newman and Baddiel in Pieces
Newman and Baddiel in Pieces is a sketch comedy television show written by and starring comedians Robert Newman and David Baddiel, produced by Harry Thompson, and broadcast on BBC Two in 1993....
(1993).
The partnership with Baddiel was widely reported as being fraught with tension. Unlike most double acts, their shows (both on TV and stage) were characterised by the two alternately delivering monologues, rarely appearing together except in sketches (most famously, History Today). During the "Live and In Pieces" tour, relations deteriorated further, and the Wembley show was widely and accurately predicted to be their last appearance together.
After the break-up, the two men took wildly differing career paths. While Baddiel became part of the "new lad"
Lad culture
Lad culture is a subculture commonly associated with Britpop music of the 1990s."The image of the 'lad' or 'new lad' arose in the early 1990s as a generally middle-class figure espousing attitudes conventionally attributed to the working classes"...
phenomenon of the mid-1990s, fronting shows like Fantasy Football League
Fantasy Football League
Fantasy Football League is a British television programme hosted by Frank Skinner and David Baddiel. The Programme began on BBC Radio 5 and was hosted by Dominik Diamond before transferring to BBC 2, with three series being broadcast from January 1994 to May 1996...
, Newman largely disappeared from public life, reappearing with solo work marked by a clear social conscience and anti-establishment
Anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda...
views. He covered the anti-globalisation Seattle protests
WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity
Protest activity surrounding the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, which was to be the launch of a new millennial round of trade negotiations, occurred on November 30, 1999 , when the World Trade Organization convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington,...
of 1999 for the UK's Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News is the news division of British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since the broadcaster's launch in 1982.-Channel 4 News:...
. He has been politically active with Reclaim the Streets
Reclaim the Streets
Reclaim The Streets is a collective with a shared ideal of community ownership of public spaces. Participants characterize the collective as a resistance movement opposed to the dominance of corporate forces in globalization, and to the car as the dominant mode of transport.-Protests:Reclaim The...
, the Liverpool Dockers, Indymedia and Peoples' Global Action
Peoples' Global Action
Peoples' Global Action is the name of a worldwide co-ordination of radical social movements, grassroots campaigns and direct actions in resistance to capitalism and for social and environmental justice...
.
His later work is characterised by a very strong political element, and parallels the work of contemporaries such as Mark Thomas
Mark Thomas
Mark Clifford Thomas is a left-wing English comedian, presenter, political activist and reporter from south London. He first became known as a guest comic on the BBC Radio 1 comedy show The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s. He is best known for political stunts on his show, The Mark...
. In 2003 Newman toured with From Caliban
Caliban (character)
Caliban is one of the primary antagonists in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.- Character :Caliban is forced into servitude on an island ruled by Prospero. While he is referred to as a calvaluna or mooncalf, a freckled monster, he is the only human inhabitant of the island that is otherwise...
to the Taliban, which was released on CD and DVD. In 2005 the show Apocalypso Now or, from P45 to AK47, how to Grow the Economy with the Use of War
Permanent war economy
The concept of permanent war economy originated in 1944 with an article by Ed Sard , Walter S. Oakes and T.N. Vance, a Third Camp Socialist, who predicted a post-war arms race...
debuted at the Bongo Club during the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Apocalypso Now toured nationally, sometimes as part of a double-bill where Newman was joined by Mark Thomas. The show was filmed at the Hoxton Hall
Hoxton Hall
Hoxton Hall is a community centre and performance space in Hoxton, at 130 Hoxton Street, in the London Borough of Hackney.A grade II* listed building, the theatre was first built as a Music hall in 1863, as MacDonald's Music hall. It is an unrestored example of the saloon-style...
in Hoxton
Hoxton
Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, immediately north of the financial district of the City of London. The area of Hoxton is bordered by Regent's Canal on the north side, Wharf Road and City Road on the west, Old Street on the south, and Kingsland Road on the east.Hoxton is also a...
, east London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and shown on More4
More4
More4 is a digital television channel, run by British broadcaster Channel 4, that launched on 10 October 2005. It is carried on Freeview, on satellite broadcasters Freesat and Sky, UK IPTV broadcaster TalkTalk TV and on UK cable network Virgin Media and in the Republic of Ireland cable networks...
under the title A History of Oil, with a later release on CD and DVD. A mixture of stand-up comedy and introductory lecture on geopolitics
Geopolitics
Geopolitics, from Greek Γη and Πολιτική in broad terms, is a theory that describes the relation between politics and territory whether on local or international scale....
and peak oil
Peak oil
Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. This concept is based on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, projected reserves and the combined production rate of a field...
in Apocalypso Now Newman argues that twentieth-century Western foreign policy, including World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, should be seen as a continuous struggle by the West to control Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
ern oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
., Newman draws from Richard Heinberg
Richard Heinberg
Richard Heinberg is an American journalist and educator who has written extensively on energy, economic, and ecological issues, including oil depletion. He is the author of ten books...
's book The Party's Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies
The Party's Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies
The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies, by Richard Heinberg , is an introduction to the concept of peak oil and petroleum depletion....
as source material for portions of the show dealing with peak oil.
In 2006 Newman performed a new show, No Planet B or, The History of the World Backwards, at the Tricycle Theatre
Tricycle Theatre
The Tricycle Theatre is located on Kilburn High Road in Kilburn in the London Borough of Brent, England. During the last 30 years, the Tricycle has been presenting plays reflecting the cultural diversity of its community; in particular Black, Irish, Jewish, Asian and South African works, as well as...
in Kilburn, north-west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 2007, the BBC commissioned a six-part series, The History of the World Backwards
The History of the World Backwards
The History of the World Backwards is a comedy sketch show written and starring Rob Newman. It is a mock history programme set in an alternative world, where time flows forwards, but history flows backwards. It was shown on BBC Four, starting on 30 October 2007, and later shown on BBC Two...
based on No Planet B, for transmission on BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
., The script of the stage version show is accessible on Newman's official website.
Writing
Newman co-wrote The Mary Whitehouse Experience Encyclopedia (1991), with David BaddielDavid Baddiel
David Lionel Baddiel is an English comedian, novelist and television presenter.-Early life:Baddiel was born in New York, and moved to England when he was four months old. His father, Colin Brian Baddiel, was a Welsh research chemist with Unilever before being made redundant in the 1980s, after...
, Hugh Dennis
Hugh Dennis
Peter Hugh Dennis is an English actor, comedian, writer, impressionist and voice-over artist, best known for his work with comedy partner Steve Punt. He is also known for his position as a permanent panelist on the TV comedy show Mock The Week...
, and Steve Punt
Steve Punt
Stephen Punt is a British writer, comedian and actor, best known for his long-time comedy partnership with Hugh Dennis. Punt lives in Wimbledon with his girlfriend and two children.-Life and career:...
.
He is the author of three novels: Dependence Day (1994); Manners (1998); and The Fountain at the Centre of The World (2003).
The Fountain at the Centre of the World
Dwight GarnerDwight Garner (critic)
Dwight Garner is an American journalist, now a literary critic for The New York Times. Prior to that he was senior editor at the New York Times Book Review, where he worked from 1999 to 2009...
, an editor of The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
, reviewed The Fountain at the Centre of the World favorably, saying it was "the talismanic Catch-22
Catch-22
Catch-22 is a satirical, historical novel by the American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953, and the novel was first published in 1961. It is set during World War II in 1943 and is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the twentieth century...
of the anti-globalisation protest movement, the fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al complement to Naomi Klein
Naomi Klein
Naomi Klein is a Canadian author and social activist known for her political analyses and criticism of corporate globalization.-Family:...
's influential exposé
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies
No Logo
No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies is a book by Canadian author Naomi Klein. First published by Knopf Canada in January 2000, shortly after the 1999 WTO Ministerial Conference protests in Seattle had generated media attention around such issues, it became one of the most influential books...
.
Newman's process of writing the book is the subject of a BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
television documentary entitled Scribbling.,
Filmography and bibliography
The Mary Whitehouse ExperienceThe Mary Whitehouse Experience
The Mary Whitehouse Experience was a British topical sketch comedy show produced by the BBC in association with Spitting Image Productions. It starred two comedy double acts - David Baddiel and Rob Newman, and also Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, all of whom had graduated from Cambridge University...
- 1989 - The Mary Whitehouse Experience (radio series).
- 1990 - The Mary Whitehouse Experience (television series).
- 1991 - The Mary Whitehouse Experience Encyclopedia (series companion book). ISBN 1857020456 (10). ISBN 978-1857020458 (13). (Co-author, with David BaddielDavid BaddielDavid Lionel Baddiel is an English comedian, novelist and television presenter.-Early life:Baddiel was born in New York, and moved to England when he was four months old. His father, Colin Brian Baddiel, was a Welsh research chemist with Unilever before being made redundant in the 1980s, after...
, Hugh DennisHugh DennisPeter Hugh Dennis is an English actor, comedian, writer, impressionist and voice-over artist, best known for his work with comedy partner Steve Punt. He is also known for his position as a permanent panelist on the TV comedy show Mock The Week...
, and Steve PuntSteve PuntStephen Punt is a British writer, comedian and actor, best known for his long-time comedy partnership with Hugh Dennis. Punt lives in Wimbledon with his girlfriend and two children.-Life and career:...
.)
Newman and Baddiel
Newman and Baddiel
Newman and Baddiel were a comedy partnership of the 1990s consisting of British stand-up comics Robert Newman and David Baddiel.Both graduated from Cambridge University and began working separately as stand-up comedians before they were introduced to one another in 1989 by producer Bill Dare, who...
- 1991 - From the Mary Whitehouse Experience (live vhs release).
- 1992 - History Today (live vhs release).
- 1993 - Newman and Baddiel in Pieces (television series).
- 1993 - Live and in Pieces (live vhs release).
Solo career
- 1994 - Dependence Day (novel).
- 1994 - The Dependence Day Video (live vhs release).
- 1998 - Manners (novel).
- 2001 - Resistance is Fertile (live vhs release).
- 2003 - Scribbling (television special).
- 2003 - The Fountain at the Centre of the World (novel). ISBN 1859845738 (10).
- 2004 - From Caliban to the Taliban: 500 Years of Humanitarian Intervention (live DVD release).
- 2004 - From Caliban to the Taliban: 500 Years of Humanitarian Intervention (live limited edition handmade 2 cd release).
- 2005 - Apocalypso Now or, from P45 to AK47, how to Grow the Economy with the Use of War (live 2 cd release).
- 2006 - A History of Oil (television special).
- 2007 - A History of Oil (live DVD release).
- 2007 - The History of the World Backwards (television series).
See also
- Nestlé boycott in the media
- Newman and Baddiel in PiecesNewman and Baddiel in PiecesNewman and Baddiel in Pieces is a sketch comedy television show written by and starring comedians Robert Newman and David Baddiel, produced by Harry Thompson, and broadcast on BBC Two in 1993....
Further reading
- Newman, Robert. "Comment: It's Capitalism or a Habitable Planet - You Can't Have Both". The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, guardian.co.ukGuardian.co.ukguardian.co.uk, formerly known as Guardian Unlimited, is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. Georgina Henry is the editor...
, 2 February 2006. (Leader: "Our economic system is unsustainable by its very nature. The only response to climate chaos and peak oil is major social change.") Accessed 5 May 2008. - –––. "Sorry Mick, But I'm Not Laughing". The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, guardian.co.ukGuardian.co.ukguardian.co.uk, formerly known as Guardian Unlimited, is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. Georgina Henry is the editor...
, 23 September 2006. (Leader: "Even The StonesThe Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
are worried about their carbon emissionsGreenhouse gasA greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
these days, writes Robert Newman.") Accessed 5 May 2008.
External links
. Accessed 5 May 2008.- Robert Newman – Official Website. Accessed 5 May 2008.