Blah Blah Flowers

Mark Thomas's show was very good last night. He started off by warning any Americans in the audience that he would be taking the mick out of Bush, but that as he would be doing the same or worse to Blair they should consider it friendly fire. The first half was largely a story of what activism type stuff he's been doing for the last couple of years, from being asked by a Channel 4 exec to be the presenter for a new show they were developing called 'Celebrity Guantanemo Bay' to how he wasn't surprised that the Butler report was another whitewash for the Government when they pick their judges, and suggesting that anyone done for speeding should demand their trial judge be Jeremy Clarkson. He talked about going up to Menwith Hill with the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases for the annual 4th July 'Independence From America' demonstration. He talked about the Campaign Against the Arms Trade actions against the Defences Systems & Equipment International arms fair in the Docklands last year, which led to his first ever arrest. He talked about phoning his Mum to tell her he'd been acquited to which she replied that his Dad would be disappointed as he'd been making 'Free the Docklands Four' campaign badges all morning...

The second half was a bit heavier as he went on to the Coca-Cola story. Their union-busting activities in Colombia where troublesome workers are routinely taken away and never seen again. He was careful to point out that even if you accept that Coke has nothing to do with the union-busting then they still take advantage of it, for a few days after the bottling plant union was destroyed they slashed wages across the board. Their activities in India where they take water that farmers used to sustain their fields to make Coke, a country where protests are having some effect.

There was also a raffle to win some of the pictures from the Coca-Cola Exhibition, proceeds going to take the exhibition on the road around the world, though they probably won't be visiting the U.S., where it's possible in some states to be done for libelling food and drink products. They've already taken it to Columbia where he talked to activists and went on Columbian Independent Radio to talk about during their last week of broadcasting before being shut down by the Government.

Mark's at the Tricycle Theatre until Saturday and there are still a few tickets going. If you can pop along, Mark's new comedy sidekick Sam is selling t-shirts and organising the raffle. Mark's set, including describing how his son got done at school for scuffling with a friend when he saw him eating a Nestle chocolate bar, will have you laughing too much to mind the theatre's uncomfortable seats.