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 co-wrote The Mary Whitehouse Experience Encyclopedia (1991), with David Baddiel, Hugh Dennis, and Steve Punt.
He is the author of three novels: Dependence Day (1994); Manners (1998); and The Fountain at the Centre of The World (2003).
Reception of The Fountain at the Centre of the World
Dwight Garner, an editor of The New York Times Book Review, reviewed The Fountain at the Centre of the World favorably, saying it was "the talismanic Catch-22 of the anti-globalisation protest movement, the fictional complement to Naomi Klein's influential exposé Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies.
Documentary on writing process
Newman's process of writing the book is the subject of a BBC Two television documentary entitled Scribbling.,
1989 - The Mary Whitehouse Experience (radio series).
1990 - The Mary Whitehouse Experience (television series).
1991 - The Mary Whitehouse Experience Encyclopedia (series companion book). ISBN 1857020456 (10). ISBN 978-1857020458 (13). (Co-author, with David Baddiel, Hugh Dennis, and Steve Punt.)
Newman and Baddiel
1991 - From the Mary Whitehouse Experience (live vhs release).
1992 - History Today (live vhs release).
1993 - Newman and Baddiel in Pieces (television series).
1993 - Live and in Pieces (live vhs release).
Solo career
1994 - Dependence Day (novel).
1994 - The Dependence Day Video (live vhs release).
1998 - Manners (novel).
2001 - Resistance is Fertile (live vhs release).
2003 - Scribbling (television special).
2003 - The Fountain at the Centre of the World (novel). ISBN 1859845738 (10).
2004 - From Caliban to the Taliban: 500 Years of Humanitarian Intervention (live dvd release).
2004 - From Caliban to the Taliban: 500 Years of Humanitarian Intervention (live limited edition handmade 2 cd release).
2005 - Apocalypso Now or, from P45 to AK47, how to Grow the Economy with the Use of War (live 2 cd release).
2006 - A History of Oil (television special).
2007 - A History of Oil (live dvd release).
2007 - The History of the World Backwards (television series).
Newman, Robert. "Comment: It's Capitalism or a Habitable Planet - You Can't Have Both". The Guardian, guardian.co.uk, 2 February 2006. (Leader: "Our economic system is unsustainable by its very nature. The only response to climate chaos and peak oil is major social change.") Accessed 5 May 2008.
———. "Sorry Mick, But I'm Not Laughing". The Guardian, guardian.co.uk, 23 September 2006. (Leader: "Even The Stones are worried about their carbon emissions these days, writes Robert Newman.") Accessed 5 May 2008.