Mark Thomas

Forty years is a long time to spend standing in front of people with a microphone, particularly when your chosen subject is the continuing absurdity of politics, power and the human condition. Yet Mark Thomas has somehow managed to turn four decades of political comedy into a career that remains as restless, angry and mischievous as ever.

40 in Stand-Up Years is partly a celebration, but it is not remotely a conventional retrospective. Thomas has accumulated an extraordinary list of achievements during his time at the microphone: six series of The Mark Thomas Comedy Product, five series of The Manifesto for Radio 4, numerous books and plays, investigative work for Dispatches, human-rights awards and even three successful legal actions against the police. He has also managed to hold the Guinness World Record for staging 20 protests in 24 hours.

The numbers, however, only tell part of the story. Thomas has…