Political prankster Mark Thomas told us about his
mission to carry out 100 Acts of Minor Dissentand why he loves
to see Ukip shown up |
Comedian Mark Thomas was running out of time. He gave himself a year to commit 100 Acts of Minor Dissentand had five to go in just five days when he spoke to Socialist Worker. This has been the theme of his tour this year, culminating in an art exhibition in Sheffield this month and a London gig on Monday 2 June. We had a lovely Nick Clegg pinata in Sheffield, said Mark. We demolished it in the Peace Gardens, where he promised no more broken promises. We had loads of Lib Dem promises fall out when he was smashed. Mark described an air of panic as his year of protest comes to a close. If he doesnt meet his target, he pledged to donate £1,000 to his worst nightmareUkip. Its quite a motivator, he explained. I thought you cant just drift on, you have to have something that can go wrong to motivate you. So I asked myself, whats the worst that could happen? Mark was impressed to see how many Ukip posters have been vandalised. Its the perfect combination of form and content, he said. Every action has a reaction, and I think people have underestimated how pernicious and evil Ukip are. Theyre not quite the British National Party, but theyre paddling in the shallow end of that same nasty little pool of racismagainst immigrants, against Poles, against Romanians. People think theyll split the Tory vote, and then they might not do so well at the general election. But what they will have done is shifted the argument. They are seeding the ground with racismand thats a crop David Cameron can harvest. Mark hopes his comedy can be subversive about our rulers, and that it can help involve people in taking action themselves. He produced a sticker for people to label corporate bad behaviour, which he plans to put in the exhibition. Im working with some great artists. I love the interplay, the idea that the show exists outside the boundaries of the theatre, explained Mark. So if you see a company thats behaving badly, you put a sticker on it, take a photo and well make it part of the exhibition. Interview from Socialistworker.co.uk |