Robert Newman (born 7 July 1964) is an English comedian, author and
political activist. Newman found mainstream fame with ''
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, one being David Baddiel and Rob Newman, the other Steve Punt an ...
'' before forming a successful partnership with one of the programme's other comedians,
David Baddiel, in the early 1990s.
In 1993,
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 introd ...
, supported by
Sean Lock
Sean Lock (22 April 1963 – 16 August 2021) was an English comedian and actor. He began his comedy career as a stand-up comedian and in 2000 he won the British Comedy Award, in the category of Best Live Comic, and was nominated for the Perri ...
, became the first comedians to play and sell out the 12,000-seat
Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...
in London. Newman's first speaking appearance was with Third World First (now known as
People and Planet
People & Planet is a network of student campaign groups in the UK. It is "the largest student campaigning organisation in the country campaigning to alleviate world poverty, defend human rights and protect the environment."
Organisation
P ...
), the student political organisation.
Early life and education
Newman was adopted into a working-class family who lived in a
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
village. His adoptive father died when he was nine. Newman attended a comprehensive school, received poor A-level grades and was not offered a place at university until two years later, when he was admitted to
Selwyn College, Cambridge
Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (18 ...
, to read English on the strength of an essay about
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...
.
Newman has worked as a farmhand, warehouse-man, house-painter, teacher, mail-sorter,
social worker
Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...
and mover.
Comedy career
Newman began his comedy career as an
impressionist
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
in the late 1980s before gaining fame when he appeared alongside fellow Cambridge alumni
David Baddiel,
Hugh Dennis and
Steve Punt in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
radio and TV programme ''
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, one being David Baddiel and Rob Newman, the other Steve Punt an ...
'' (1989–92).
The title referred to the main campaigner for "moral decency" on television,
Mary Whitehouse
Constance Mary Whitehouse (; 13 June 1910 – 23 November 2001) was a British teacher and conservative activist. She campaigned against social liberalism and the mainstream British media, both of which she accused of encouraging a more permiss ...
. With ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' Newman and Baddiel had become "unlikely pin-ups as, in the early 1990s, comedy was being fêted as 'the new
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
'," leading to their own series, ''
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 BBC2 from 20 September to 20 December 1993.
A spin-off from ...
'' (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
''History Today'' is an illustrated history magazine. Published monthly in London since January 1951, it presents serious and authoritative history to as wide a public as possible. The magazine covers all periods and geographical regions and pub ...
''). During the "Live and in Pieces" tour, relations deteriorated further and the
Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...
show was 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
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'' ...
views. He covered the
anti-globalisation Seattle protests of 1999 for the UKs
Channel 4 News.
He has been politically active with
Reclaim the Streets, the
Liverpool Dockers,
Indymedia and
People's Global Action.
His later work is characterised by a very strong political element and parallels the work of contemporaries such as
Mark Thomas
Mark Clifford Thomas (born 11 April 1963) is an English comedian, presenter, political satirist, and journalist. 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 ...
.
In 2001, with actress
Emma Thompson
Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...
, he called for a
boycott
A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...
of the
Perrier Comedy Award, because
Perrier
Perrier ( , also , ) is a French brand of natural bottled mineral water obtained at its source in Vergèze, located in the Gard ''département''. Perrier is known for its carbonation and its distinctive green bottle.
Perrier was part of the ...
is owned by
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...
; an alternative competition called the Tap Water Awards was set up the following year. In 2003 Newman toured with ''From
Caliban to the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
'', which was released on CD and DVD. In 2005 the show ''
Apocalypso Now __NOTOC__
Apocalypso may refer to:
Music
Albums
* ''Apocalypso'' (The Motels album), 2011
* ''Apocalypso'' (The Presets album), 2008
Songs
*"Apocalypso", a 2014 song by Dave Weckl & Jay Oliver
*"Apocalypso", a 1984 song by Mental As Anythin ...
or, from
P45 to
AK47
The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms des ...
,
how to Grow the Economy with the Use of War'' debuted at the
Bongo Club
Bongo Club, also known as Club Bongo International, is a reggae club and one of the oldest nightclubs in Middlesbrough, England. The club is located on Bridge Street West near Middlesbrough Railway Station. It closed in June 2017 due to its licen ...
during the 2005
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
. ''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
Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. I ...
, 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
Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...
and
peak oil, in ''Apocalypso Now'' Newman argues that twentieth-century Western foreign policy, including
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, should be seen as a continuous struggle by the West to control Middle Eastern oil.
Newman draws from
Richard Heinberg
Richard William 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 14 books, and presently serves as the senior fellow at the Post C ...
'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
BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002 . The script of the stage version show is accessible on Newman's official website.
In 2015, his BBC Radio 4 programme ''Robert Newman's Entirely Accurate Encyclopaedia of Evolution'' attempted to challenge some of the concepts of
Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An ath ...
's book ''
The Selfish Gene''. It won the ''Best Scripted Comedy with a Live Audience'' award at the 2017
BBC Audio Drama Awards.
Writing
Newman co-wrote ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience Encyclopedia'' (1991), with
David Baddiel,
Hugh Dennis, and
Steve Punt.
He has written four novels: ''Dependence Day'' (1994); ''Manners'' (1998); ''The Fountain at the Centre of the World'' (2003); and ''The Trade Secret'' (2013).
In 2015 his book ''The Entirely Accurate Encyclopaedia of Evolution'', based on his stand-up show "Robert Newman's New Theory of Evolution", was published by
Freight Books
Freight Books was an independent publisher based in Glasgow. It published books for an English speaking readership, including award-winning literary fiction, poetry, illustrated non-fiction and humour. Freight Books was named Scotland's Publisher o ...
.
In April 2017 his book ''Neuropolis'' is published by
Harper Collins.
''The Fountain at the Centre of the World''
Dwight Garner
Dwight Garner (born January 8, 1965) is an American journalist and longtime writer and editor for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, he was named a book critic for the newspaper. He is the author of ''Garner's Quotations: A Modern Miscellany'' and ...
, an editor of ''
The New York Times Book Review
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'', reviewed ''The Fountain at the Centre of the World'' favourably, saying "I wouldn't be surprised, in fact, if
tbecame the talismanic ''
Catch-22
''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non-chr ...
'' of the
anti-globalisation
The anti-globalization movement or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...
protest movement, the fictional complement to
Naomi Klein's influential
exposé
Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to:
News sources
* Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism
* '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website
Film and TV Film
* ''Exposé'' (film), a 1976 thriller film
* ''Exposed'' (1932 ...
''
No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies''".
Newman's process of writing the book was the subject of a 2008
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
television documentary entitled ''Scribbling''.
Filmography and bibliography
''
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, one being David Baddiel and Rob Newman, the other Steve Punt an ...
''
* 1989 – ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' (radio series).
* 1990 – ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' (television series).
* 1991 – ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience Encyclopedia'' (series companion book) (Co-authored with
David Baddiel,
Hugh Dennis, and
Steve Punt.)
''
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 introd ...
''
*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). (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).
*2013 – ''The Trade Secret'' (novel) (10)
*2017 –
Neuropolis' (radio series)
*2018 –
Rob Newman's Total Eclipse of Descartes' (radio series)
*2020 -
Rob Newman's Half-Full Philosophy Hour' (radio series)
*2022 -
Rob Newman On Air' (radio series)
See also
*
Nestlé boycott in the media
*''
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 BBC2 from 20 September to 20 December 1993.
A spin-off from ...
''
References
Further reading
*Newman, Robert
"Comment: It's Capitalism or a Habitable Planet – You Can't Have Both" ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 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 Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 23 September 2006. (Leader: "Even
The Stones are worried about their
carbon emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and larg ...
these days, writes Robert Newman.") Accessed 5 May 2008.
External links
*. Accessed 5 May 2008.
Robert Newman– Official Website. Accessed 5 May 2008.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Robert
1964 births
Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge
English male comedians
20th-century English novelists
21st-century English novelists
Place of birth missing (living people)
English people of American descent
English people of Greek Cypriot descent
English people of French descent
Living people
English male novelists
20th-century English comedians
21st-century English comedians
20th-century English male writers
21st-century English male writers
English republicans