Robert ("Rob") Newman (born 7 July 1964) is a
British stand-up comedian, author and
political activist. In 1993 Newman and his then comedy partner
David Baddiel became the first comedians to play and sell out the 12,000-seat
Wembley Arena in
London. He was born to a
Greek Cypriot father and
British mother.
Newman's first speaking appearance was with Third World First (now known as People and Planet), the student political organisation. In addition to comedy and writing, he has also worked as a paperboy in Whitwell, Hertfordshire, farmhand, warehouse-man, house-painter, teacher, mail sorter, social worker, mover, and broadcaster.
Newman read English at Cambridge University (Selwyn College).[1] He began his comedy career as an impressionist in the late 1980s before gaining fame when he appeared alongside Baddiel, Hugh Dennis and Steve Punt (among others; this was the regular quartet, however, all of them ex-Cambridge) in the BBC radio and TV programme The Mary Whitehouse Experience (1989-92).[2] The title referred to the main campaigner for "moral decency" on television, Mary Whitehouse. With The Mary Whitehouse Experience, Newman and Baddiel had become "unlikely pin-ups as, in the early 1990s, comedy was being feted as 'the new rock and roll'," leading to their own series, Newman and Baddiel in Pieces (1993).[3]
The partnership with Baddiel was widely reported as being fraught with tension. Unlike most double acts, their shows (both on TV and stage) were characterised by the two alternately delivering solo monologues, rarely appearing together except in sketches (most famously, History Today). During the "Live and In Pieces" tour, relations deteriorated further, and the Wembley show was widely and accurately predicted to be their last appearance together.
