Martin Lewis

Martin Neil Lewis (born 24 July 1952) is a US-based English humorist, writer, radio/TV host, producer, and marketing strategist.

He is known for his participation in a variety of projects in the arts and entertainment worlds including his work as the co-creator and co-producer of the Secret Policeman's Balls benefit shows for Amnesty International (a series he created with Monty Python alumnus John Cleese and Amnesty fund-raising officer Peter Walker) and as a comedic performer and writer on American TV.

He hosts his own daily radio show, heard in America on Sirius Satellite Radio and worldwide on Sirius Internet Radio.

He is an occasional contributor to The Huffington Post website.

Described by L.A. Weekly as "a true Renaissance Man", Lewis' career has encompassed work in music, comedy, TV, radio, film, theatre, books and politics.

Lewis' official website credits the diversity in his professional life to his having been inspired by individuals with whom he worked early in his career and who were noted polymaths, including Sir Peter Ustinov, Peter Cook and Monty Python alumni Michael Palin and Terry Jones.

Lewis started his career in 1970 as a freelance journalist writing for British music weeklies such as the New Musical Express, Record Mirror and Disc.

He has written speeches, commercials and material for many entertainers including members of Monty Python as well as Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Jennifer Aniston, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Elliott Gould, Teri Hatcher, Anjelica Huston, Quincy Jones, Patrick Macnee, Roger Moore, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sally Jessy Raphael and Susan Sarandon.

Lewis has worked since 1974 as a producer of comedy and music recordings, stage shows, films, music videos, TV shows, DVDs and radio programs.

Arguably his most notable work has been co-creating and producing the Secret Policeman's Ball series of benefits for Amnesty International (initially held 1976–1981) that brought together comedic talents (including Monty Python, Beyond The Fringe, Rowan Atkinson and Billy Connolly) and rock musicians (including Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, Sting, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Phil Collins, Tom Robinson, Donovan and Bob Geldof.) In addition to producing the original stage shows, Lewis produced albums, TV specials and movies that documented the shows.

A series of live, acoustic performances by rock musicians Pete Townshend, Sting, Phil Collins, Tom Robinson, Donovan and Bob Geldof that Lewis conceived and produced for the 1979 and 1981 Secret Policeman's shows are widely regarded as being one of the inspirations for the "Unplugged" format that was introduced by MTV in 1989.

His work as a comedy producer includes recordings with Sir Peter Ustinov, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and the first audio recordings of new-wave British comedians such as Jennifer Saunders (of Absolutely Fabulous), Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall and other performers in Britain's The Young Ones/Comic Strip comedy troupe.

Many of these recordings were released on Lewis' own Springtime! Records label.

He was Associate Producer of the DVD editions of the 1979 Who documentary The Kids Are Alright and the DVD release of all four full-length shows featuring live appearances by the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Lewis has also been a producer of TV specials for NBC, VH1 and E! Entertainment TV.

The series continued through the 1980s and 1990s (though the Secret Policeman's Ball name was not used after the 1989 show).

As a film producer, Lewis gained a reputation in the 1980s for engaging respected, veteran film directors such as Sam Peckinpah and Lindsay Anderson to work on film projects centered on contemporary music.

Lewis produced Peckinpah's last works, a series of music videos featuring Julian Lennon.

The film of the fourth show of the series, The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, was a box office success in the UK and US in 1982 and also inspired a book co-edited by Lewis.

Anderson was hired by Lewis to direct Wham! in China: Foreign Skies, a film that documented the 1985 tour of China by the George Michael-led pop group Wham! which was the first visit to China by Western pop artists.

Lewis has appeared on American TV since 1990 as a satirist, commentator, comedic performer and special correspondent.

He has been co-host of US TV specials celebrating award shows (The Academy Awards, The Golden Globes, The British Academy Awards, and The BRIT Awards (the British Grammys)).

He frequently appears as a commentator discussing politics and pop culture on a broad array of major US TV networks.

He has appeared as a satirist or comedic performer on shows such Politically Incorrect HBO's Night Rap, VH1's My Generation, and The Tom Arnold Show.

He has also appeared on British TV, serving as US correspondent for BBC shows such as The Terry Wogan Show and Good Morning.

Lewis also wrote and performed additional comedic material incorporated on the 1994 CD-ROM Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (7th Level)

In 1995, Lewis produced a reunion of the Rutles, the comedic ensemble created by Monty Python alumni Eric Idle and Neil Innes in 1977 to lampoon the Beatles.

Lewis executive-produced the band's Archaeology album, a pastiche of the Beatles' Anthology project.

From 1998 to 2004 Lewis was a regular commentator on the British radio program Up All Night on BBC Radio Five Live (heard in the UK and worldwide on the internet) offering perspectives on American politics and pop culture.

He was the writer of the 1998 VH1 Honors Awards – Divas Live - which launched the VH1's Divas franchise and featured Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan, and Aretha Franklin.

He has also written for the annual British Academy Awards, collaborating with Oscar show writer Bruce Vilanch.

In 1999, Lewis produced a special American tribute for It's... the Monty Python Story - the BBC's four-hour TV special on Monty Python's 30th anniversary.

For this, Lewis conceived an animated sequence featuring the characters from South Park and he produced this tribute with series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

Lewis' work in the DVD field includes producing the DVD edition of the Beatles' first film, A Hard Day's Night.

He was a Special Correspondent for the show during the political conventions in the 2000 and 2004 US presidential elections and also reported for the show from Washington DC during the 2001 inauguration of George W. Bush.

Lewis has been a Master of Ceremonies for multiple awards shows and benefits, including the Hollywood Reporter Key Art Awards (2000), the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' annual Interactive Achievement Awards (2001) and the American Cinematheque's Moving Picture Ball honoring Michael Douglas (1993).

Lewis has written two autobiographical one-man stage-shows - Great Exploitations! and Murder, He Wrote! Great Exploitations! was selected for inclusion in the 9th Annual Toyota Comedy Festival (June 2001) in New York and was the debut production at the Steven Spielberg Theatre in Los Angeles in July 1999.

Lewis has hosted and produced his own daily radio show heard nationally on Steven Van Zandt's Underground Garage channel on Sirius Satellite Radio since 2005.

Prior to that, Lewis hosted his own weekly radio show in Los Angeles on KGIL and wrote, hosted and produced a series of radio specials for Los Angeles radio station KLSX.

In 2006, Amnesty revived the Secret Policeman's Ball title for its fundraising shows and this prompted multiple press articles in Britain reflecting on the impact of the original shows, including the attribution by Bob Geldof that Live Aid had been inspired in part by the shows.