''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 Human rights are moral principles or 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 certain standards of hu ...

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 List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

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 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 (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

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, Bob Geldof, and Bono 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, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' 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