The Secret Policeman's Ball

The Secret Policeman's Ball is the collective name for a series of charity performances featuring big-name comedians and musicians, held at various London venues, and once at a Nottingham television studio, to raise money for (and awareness of) Amnesty International.

Performances

• A Poke in the Eye with a Sharp Stick (filmed as Pleasure at Her Majesty's) (Her Majesty's Theatre, London, April 1-3, 1976)
• An Evening Without Sir Bernard Miles (videotaped as The Mermaid Frolics) (The Mermaid Theatre, London, May 8, 1977
• The Secret Policeman's Ball (Her Majesty's Theatre, London, June 27-30, 1979)
• The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London September 9-12, 1981)
• The Secret Policeman's Third Ball (The London Palladium, March 26-March 29, 1987)
• The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball (The Cambridge Theatre, London, August 30 - September 2, 1989)
• The Big 3-0, Commemorating Amnesty International's 30th Anniversary (Central Independent Television Studios, Nottingham, 13 and 15 December, 1991)

All of these performances were filmed or videotaped and subsequently released to cinema or video. More recently they have been available, together with a compilation of musical items from the various shows, on a set of region zero (international) DVDs entitled The Secret Policeman's Ball: The Complete Edition.

Source

Some of the information used here is derived from the DVD collection's booklet.