Editing Mark Thomas (section)

===Early life and education===
Mark Thomas was born in [[South London]]. His mother was a [[midwife]] and his father a self-employed builder (and ex-[[lay preacher]]).<ref name="bio">
{{Cite web
|url=http://www.markthomasinfo.com/info/biog.asp
|title=Biography
|access-date=2007-01-17
|publisher=markthomasinfo.com |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070113214238/http://www.markthomasinfo.com/info/biog.asp |archive-date = 2007-01-13}}
</ref>
Thomas was educated at Macaulay Church of England Primary School, Victoria Rise, Clapham until 1974, where his party trick was to recite the first verses of the four [[gospel]]s from memory. He then won a scholarship to attend the independent [[Christ's Hospital]] School, where he attained [[General Certificate of Education|O-levels]] and [[Advanced Level (UK)|A-levels]] in English, history, and politics and economics.<ref name="guardian 20 January 1999"/> At school, Thomas was influenced by his drama teacher, Duncan Noel-Paton, and by [[Bertolt Brecht]]'s play ''[[The Caucasian Chalk Circle]]'', in which the audience's sympathies are swayed from one view of a political argument to the other; speaking of this to ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 1999, he said "I was amazed that a play could make you change your mind".<ref name="guardian 20 January 1999"/> In a 2016 interview, he stated that he became an [[atheist]] at the age of 12, and subsequently developed an interest in radical politics during his teenage years, including [[Anarchism]], [[Marxism]] and [[Trotskyism]].<ref name=yorkshire>{{cite web |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/what-s-on/comedian-mark-thomas-on-how-a-yorkshire-shed-gave-him-his-big-break-1-7719110 |title=Comedian Mark Thomas on how a Yorkshire shed gave him his big break |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=5 February 2016 |website=[[The Yorkshire Post]] |access-date=25 October 2019}}</ref> He went on to be awarded a degree in Theatre Arts at [[Bretton Hall College of Education|Bretton Hall College]]. During his time at Bretton Hall, he made his debut as a performer, co-writing and performing satirical sketches at [[Wakefield]] Labour Club.<ref name=yorkshire />