Mr. Methane
| Mr Methane | |
|---|---|
| Pseudonym | Mr Methane |
| Birth name | Paul Oldfield |
| Born | 1966 Macclesfield, Cheshire, England |
| Medium | Performance art |
| Nationality | British |
| Years active | 1991-present |
| Genres | Speciality act |
| Influences | Le Pétomane |
| Website | www.mrmethane.com |
Paul Oldfield, born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, North West England, is better known by his stage name Mr. Methane. He is a British flatulist or "professional farter" who started performing in 1991;[1] he briefly retired in 2006 but re-started in mid-2007; he claims to be the only performing professional flatulist in the world.[2] He has worked on railroads before focusing on his flatulence performances.
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[edit] Background
According to When Will I Be Famous? (2003),[3] a BBC book on British variety acts, Oldfield discovered his ability at the age of fifteen when practising yoga. The next day he performed twenty rapid fire rasping farts in under a minute for a group of his friends. It became so popular he made it into a regular event.
In the late 1980s, Oldfield turned professional, performing as an opening act for the Macclesfield-based bands The Screaming Beavers and The Macc Lads. The latter wrote a song about him on their album The Beer Necessities. Oldfield subsequently traveled to New York, USA, where he appeared as a guest on the Howard Stern Show as the "British Blaster". While in New York, Mr. Methane also performed a series of farts on Broadway.
In his autobiography English comic Frank Skinner talks about the time that Phil Spector while receiving a lifetime music award went into a rant live on Australian TV about a duet of Da Do Ron Ron that he had sung with Mr. Methane on his BBC1 Chat Show. Spector said that Methane & Skinner had taken his work of art and desecrated it. Frank Skinner by Frank Skinner (Oct 2001). Century. ISBN-10: 0712679278 / ISBN-13: 978-0712679275. Page 312.
In July 2004 Q magazine voted Mr. Methanes album mr methane.com the second most bizarre album ever released in a Q special edition entitled "The 150 Greatest Rock Lists Ever".
In 2009 Oldfield auditioned for Britain's Got Talent, where he announced his intention to "put the art into fart",[4] but failed to make it through to the live finals, after being "buzzed" out by all three judges - despite two of them, Morgan & Holden, laughing uncontrollably - and received negative reaction from some of the audience - other audience members are visibly seen to be in hysterics - in less than two minutes during his flatulist performance of the Blue Danube waltz, with Simon Cowell calling him "a disgusting creature". That same year, Mr. Methane also auditioned for Das Supertalent in Germany, but was eliminated in the semi-finals.
[edit] DVDs
- Methane, Mr (2000), Mr Methane Lets Rip! ASIN B00004D03A
[edit] See also
[edit] Books
- Featured in Jennings, Charles (7 Dec 1995). "Up North - Travels Beyond The Watford Gap". Abacus. ISBN-10: 0349106851 / ISBN-13: 978-0349106854. Page 51.
- Mentioned in Frank Skinners Autobiography (4 Oct 2001). Frank Skinner by Frank Skinner. Century. ISBN-10: 0712679278 /
ISBN-13: 978-0712679275. Pages 311 & 312.
- Chapter on Mr Methane in Kelner, Martin (12 June 2003). When Will I Be Famous. BBC Books. ISBN 0563487771 / ISBN 978-0563487777
- Featured in Foster, Tim (1 November 2007). Superman's Pockets. FiveFootSix. ISBN 0955704006 / ISBN 978-0955704000
- There is a lengthy chapter on Mr. Methane called "The Man With the Singing Sphincter" in Jim Dawson's 2006 book Blame It on the Dog: A Modern History of the Fart. Ten Speed Press ISBN 978-1-58008-751-3
- British Comedian Peter Kay remembers the time he worked with Mr. Methane in his book, Saturday Night Peter (1 Oct 2009). Century. ISBN-10: 1846053633 /
ISBN-13: 978-1846053634. Story starts bottom of page 95.
- British author Dougie Brimson writes about Mr. Methane in the 'Famous Farters' chapter of his book The Art of Fart: The joy of flatulence. eBookpartnership.com. 2011. ASIN B006MISNFI. http://www.theartoffart.net/.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Pile, Stephen, "Ride The Wild Wind". Sunday Telegraph' (London), Review Section p. 7 (June 27, 1993)}
- ^ "Independent, 31 January 2004"]. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20040131/ai_n9686753/pg_2.[dead link]
- ^ "amazon.co.uk page for "When Will I Be Famous"". http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0563487771.
- ^ "Auditions 5: Mr Methane". itv.com. http://talent.itv.com/2009/videos/video/item_200160.html. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
Guardian G2 Page 14 http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/jul/23/edinburghfestival.comedy
July 2004 THE 150 GREATEST ROCK LISTS, Q special edition in the UK and a MOJO special edition overseas, including the USA. Page 06. mrmethane.com CD voted No2 in a chart of The 20 Most Bizarre Albums.
[edit] References
- The Independent ( London ), 1 January 1994 - front page article.
- Daily Telegraph (London), 17th March, 2001
- Interview/feature in The Age (Australia), 20th March, 2005
Guardian G2 Page 14 http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/jul/23/edinburghfestival.comedy
July 2004 THE 150 GREATEST ROCK LISTS, Q special edition in the UK and a MOJO special edition overseas, including the USA. Page 06. mrmethane.com CD voted No2 in a chart of The 20 Most Bizarre Albums.
[edit] External links
- Mr Methane at the Internet Movie Database
- Official web site of Mr. Methane
- Mr Methane's MySpace page
- On The scott mills show
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