''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 that it has more than ten million members a ...

to raise funds for its research and campaign work in the

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 27–30 June 1979. It was a successor to the 1976 show ''

A Poke in the Eye (With a Sharp Stick) ''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 t ...

'' (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 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 ser ...

alumnus

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...

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 comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...

'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 inaccurate, closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individ ...

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, "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 British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

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 Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

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 the lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part ...

, and

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

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. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' 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 in the United Kingdom {{Humanrights-stub