Secret Policemen are out again in Glasgow

Amnesty International has been working since 1961 to uphold the rights of women, children, refugees and to end torture and execution. Not hilarious stuff, which is why Amnesty held its first comedy benefit event, back in 1979, to raise awareness without making the audience feel depressed and hopeless. Shows like The Secret Policeman's Ball saw their membership rise enormously as more people learnt of the shoddy state of human rights around the world and it was through these events that many people, such as Sting and Bob Geldof, were inspired to get involved in consciousness raising events of their own.

In line with this great tradition, and to celebrate 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Glasgow University's Amnesty Society is holding a Secret Policeman's Ball of its own on 6 December. The show will be part of the UK wide "Amnesty raise off" where student groups all around the country are challenged to come up with strange and brilliant ideas to raise money for Amnesty International. Last year Glasgow University did spectacularly well by coming first in Scotland and this year they're hoping to win the UK prize. GUAS say: "We want to celebrate the last 60 years, and all of the good work achieved through this Declaration, but also to acknowledge there are still many people across the world suffering from abuse of their human rights."

They have a great line up of comics including Billy Kirkwood, Jeff O'Boyle, Susan Calman, Chris Forbes, Elaine Malcolmson and Robert Wringham. So buy a ticket, enjoy the show and sleep a bit easier at night knowing you have done your bit to end human suffering.