''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' was the third of the benefit shows staged by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

to raise funds for its research and campaign work in the

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

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 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 lat ...

s''. ''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' took place over four consecutive nights in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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 Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

alumnus

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...

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 Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...

's nine-minute parody of the

bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group, ...

ed judge's instructions to the jury in the recently concluded Jeremy Thorpe trial, titled "Entirely a Matter for You". The sketch was, according to authors Simon Freeman and

Barrie Penrose Barrie Penrose (26 January 1942 – 5 July 2020) was a British investigative journalist, interviewer and trainer. Life and career Born in Croydon, Penrose was educated at John Ruskin Grammar School and later at the London School of Economics. ...

, "actually not that different from the original". It is considered to be one of the finest works of Cook's career. Cook and show producer Martin Lewis brought out an album on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

titled ''Here Comes the Judge: Live'' of the live performance together with three studio tracks that further lampooned the Thorpe trial. Musicians-turned-activists such as Sting,

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Rock music in Ireland, Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved ...

, and

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

have attributed their participation in

issues to their exposure to Amnesty via ''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' show. Bono told ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine in 1986, "I saw ''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..."

References

1979 in London Amnesty International Benefit concerts in the United Kingdom June 1979 events in the United Kingdom {{Humanrights-stub