Paul Oldfield, better known by his stage name Mr Methane, is a British flatulist or "professional farter" who started performing in 1991. He briefly retired in 2006 but restarted in mid-2007. He claims to be the only performing farter in the world. He worked on the railways before focusing on his flatulence performances.
Video Mr. Methane
Background
According to When Will I Be Famous? (2003), 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 travelled to New York City in the United States, 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 Skinner had sung with Mr Methane on his BBC1 Chat Show. Spector said that Methane and Skinner had taken his work of art and desecrated it.
In the 1990s Mr Methane produced a parody of the Phil Collins Song "In The Air Tonight" titled "Curry In the Air Tonight." Tony Smith, the business manager to Phil Collins, refused to let Mr Methane release his parody version, stating that, "This is a very serious song and we cannot see any reason for it to be taken so lightly." Letters between the two parties were reproduced on The Smoking Gun Website.
In July 2004, Q magazine voted Mr Methane's album mr methane.com the second most bizarre album ever released in a Q special edition titled "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", but failed to make it through to the live finals. He gave a flatulist performance of the Blue Danube waltz, and was "buzzed" out by all three judges -- despite two of them, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden, laughing uncontrollably, while Simon Cowell called him "a disgusting creature". He received negative reactions from some audience members, while others were seen to be in hysterics. That same year, Mr Methane also auditioned for Das Supertalent in Germany, but was eliminated in the semi-finals.
In 2013 Mr Methane performed in The World Fart Championships at Utajarvi, Finland, though he didn't participate in the contest itself.
July 2014 saw Mr Methane release a Fart App for Android devices. The app had originally been developed in 2010, for the iPhone, but was rejected by Apple. Two versions are now available on Google Play, the "full" version, and a feature-limited "free" version.
Maps Mr. Methane
DVDs
- Methane, Mr (2000), Mr Methane Lets Rip! ASIN B00004D03A
See also
- Le Pétomane
Books
- Featured in Jennings, Charles (7 December 1995). "Up North -- Travels Beyond The Watford Gap". Abacus. ISBN 0-349-10685-1 / ISBN 978-0-349-10685-4. Page 51.
- Mentioned in Frank Skinner's Autobiography (4 October 2001). Frank Skinner by Frank Skinner. Century. ISBN 0-7126-7927-8 /
ISBN 978-0-7126-7927-5. Pages 311-312.
- Chapter on Mr Methane in Kelner, Martin (12 June 2003). When Will I Be Famous. BBC Books. ISBN 0-563-48777-1 / ISBN 978-0-563-48777-7
- Featured in Foster, Tim (1 November 2007). Superman's Pockets. FiveFootSix. ISBN 0-9557040-0-6 / ISBN 978-0-9557040-0-0
- 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 October 2009). Century. ISBN 1-84605-363-3 /
ISBN 978-1-84605-363-4. 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
Footnotes
References
- The Independent ( London ), 1 January 1994 -- front page article. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/mr-methanes-tunes-put-the-wind-up-insurers-1404088.html
- Daily Telegraph (London), 17 March 2001
- Interview/feature in The Age (Australia), 20 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.
- Letters between Mr Methane and Tony Smith personal and business manager to Phil Collins regarding his refusal for Mr Methane to release a parody of "In The Air Tonight" http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/mr-methane-deflated-0
External links
- Mr Methane on IMDb
- Official web site of Mr Methane
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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