Robert Newman (comedian)
| Robert Newman | |
|---|---|
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Newman at a reading and signing for his novel The Trade Secret in 2013
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| Born |
Robert Newman 7 July 1964 |
| Residence | London, UK |
| Occupation | Comedian Author Actor |
| Known for | Political activism |
| Website | www.robnewman.com |
Robert "Rob" Newman (born 7 July 1964) is a British comedian, author and political activist. Newman first found fame with The Mary Whitehouse Experience before forming a successful comedy partnership with David Baddiel in the early 1990s.
In 1993, Newman and his then comedy partner David Baddiel became the first comedians to play and sell out the 12,000-seat Wembley Arena in London. Newman's first speaking appearance was with Third World First (now known as People and Planet), the student political organisation. In addition to comedy and writing, he has also worked as a paperboy in Whitwell, Hertfordshire, farmhand, warehouse-man, house painter, teacher, mail sorter, social worker, mover and broadcaster.
Newman read English at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He began his comedy career as an impressionist in the late 1980s before gaining fame when he appeared alongside fellow Cambridge alumni David Baddiel, Hugh Dennis and Steve Punt in the BBC radio and TV programme The Mary Whitehouse Experience (1989–92). The title referred to the main campaigner for "moral decency" on television, Mary Whitehouse. 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'," leading to their own series, Newman and Baddiel in Pieces (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). During the "Live and in Pieces" tour, relations deteriorated further and the Wembley show was widely and accurately predicted to be their last appearance together.
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