Mark Thomas: 40 In Stand Up Years

Mark Thomas is at the Djanogly Theatre on Friday 13 November, with a brand-new show marking 40 years at the mic. He's billed as one of Britain's oldest surviving alternative comics, and the title, 40 In Stand Up Years, does the math for you. If you've followed his work, you'll know he's never been one for just standing on a stage and telling jokes; he's spent those four decades as a self-styled comedy guerilla, taking the act out into the world.

That's a good way of putting it, because the list of things he's actually done is long. He's won eight awards for performing and another four for his human rights work. He did six series of The Mark Thomas Comedy Product for Channel 4, wrote six books and five play scripts, and fronted five series of The Manifesto for Radio 4. He's sued the police and won three times, curated and authored two art exhibitions with artist Tracey Moberly, and holds a Guinness World Record for staging 20 protests in 24 hours. He also walked 724km the length of the Israel Wall in the West Bank, opened a comedy club in Palestine with Dr Sam Beale, and campaigned for trade union recognition for cinema workers.

Critics have called him a 'firebrand of a clown' and praised the ratio of hard-hitting matter to mirth. That's the core of it: he's always combined the political with the absurd, and this new show comes from that same tradition. It's a fresh set, not a best-of, so you're seeing him working with new material rather than leaning on the old records.

The show runs on Friday 13 November at the Djanogly Theatre, part of Lakeside Arts at University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD. It starts at 7.30pm and runs for two hours, including an interval. Tickets are £18 to £22, with a multibuy scheme available if you're booking for a group.