The Secret Policeman's Ball

The Secret Policeman's Ball
Status	Active
Genre	Comedy fundraiser
Country	United Kingdom (1976–2008); United States (2012)
Inaugurated	1–3 April 1976
Founder	John Cleese, Peter Luff
Most recent	4 March 2012
Participants	Notable Performers Rowan Atkinson Russell Brand Hannibal Buress Eric Clapton John Cleese Billy Connolly Steve Coogan Peter Cook Duran Duran Noel Fielding Stephen Fry Bob Geldof Bill Hader Eddie Izzard Terry Jones Hugh Laurie Seth Meyers David Mitchell Dudley Moore Michael Palin Jennifer Saunders Sarah Silverman Ben Stiller Sting Pete Townshend U2 John Williams
Organised by	Amnesty International
Website
secretpoliceman.com

The Secret Policeman's Ball is the name informally used for the long-running series of benefit shows staged initially in England to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International. The shows started in 1976 featuring popular British comedians but later included leading musicians and actors.

The Secret Policeman's Ball shows are credited by many prominent entertainers with having galvanised them to become involved with Amnesty and other social and political causes in succeeding years.

There have been four distinct eras of the Amnesty benefit shows. The shows of the first era (1976–1981) yielded films, television specials, home-videos, and albums that have since been widely seen and heard internationally. The three subsequent eras (1987–1989, 1991–2001 and 2006 onwards) have primarily featured locally popular British performers – and spin-off products have been released mainly in the UK.

In March 2012, The Secret Policeman's Ball took place in the United States for the first time. The one-night show at New York's Radio City Music Hall on 4 March was part of Amnesty's 50th anniversary commemorations.

The series was created and developed by Monty Python member John Cleese, Peter Luff (Assistant Director Amnesty International 1974–1978) and entertainment industry executive Martin Lewis who subsequently worked with Peter Walker (Amnesty's Fund-Raising Officer from 1978). Cleese, Lewis and Luff worked together on the first two shows (1976 and 1977). After this, Cleese and Lewis worked on the next two shows (1979 and 1981) with Luff's replacement at Amnesty, Peter Walker – using the Secret Policeman's Ball title for the first time in 1979 and developing the series identity. Cleese credits Lewis with coining the Secret Policeman's Ball title. In an interview aired on BBC TV on 22 June 1979, Cleese told interviewer Michael Billington "It's Martin Lewis' title, I can pin that one on him. But I thought it was quite funny."

Although the Secret Policeman's Ball title was not used until the third show in 1979, the two preceding shows in 1976 and 1977 were retrospectively treated as part of the Secret Policeman's canon.

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Wikipedia