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Paul Oldfield (born 30 March 1966), better known by his stage name Mr Methane, is a British flatulist 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 as a train driver. He took an early retirement after a train's brakes failed at Sheffield. After this incident, he then started focusing on his flatulence performances.


Background

According to ''When Will I Be Famous?'' (2003), a
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
book on British variety acts, Oldfield discovered his ability to fart on a whim at the age of 15 when practising
yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...
. The next day, eager to share his newfound ability, he performed twenty rapid-fire farts in under a minute for a group of his friends. Oldfield is able to fart the notes of music in time and in tune and in the late 1980s, after a few years of work in the railway industry as a train driver, Oldfield turned professional, performing as an opening act for the
Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...
-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 New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in the U.S., where he appeared as a guest on ''
The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...
'' as the "British Blaster". While in New York, Mr. Methane also performed a series of fart acts on Broadway. In his autobiography, English comic
Frank Skinner Christopher Graham Collins (born 28 January 1957), known professionally as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His televisio ...
talks about the time that
Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...
, while receiving a lifetime music award, went into a rant live on Australian TV about a duet of "
Da Doo Ron Ron "Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)" is a song written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector. It first became a popular top five hit single for the American girl group the Crystals in 1963. American teen idol Shaun Cassidy r ...
" that Skinner had sung with Mr Methane on his
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...
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 Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...
song "
In the Air Tonight "In the Air Tonight" is the debut solo single by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins's debut solo album, ''Face Value (album), Face Value'', in January 1981. It was selected as the s ...
" titled "Curry In the Air Tonight." Tony Smith, Collins' business manager, 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 Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...
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 Farting Championships at Utajärvi, Finland; however, he did not participate in the contest itself. In July 2014, Mr Methane released a fart app for Android devices. The app had originally been developed in 2010 for the
iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
, but was rejected by
Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
. The app was retired in April 2019.


DVDs

* Methane, Mr (2000). ''Mr Methane Lets Rip!''


See also

*
Flatulence humor Flatulence humor (more commonly known as fart jokes) is a form of toilet humor that refers to flatulence. It can take the form of to any type of joke, practical joke device, or other off-color humor . History Although it is likely that flatulen ...
* Le Pétomane * Roland the Farter * Toilet humour


Books

* Featured in Jennings, Charles (1995). "Up North – Travels Beyond The Watford Gap". Abacus. . p. 51. * Mentioned in Frank Skinner's Autobiography (2001). ''
Frank Skinner Christopher Graham Collins (born 28 January 1957), known professionally as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His televisio ...
'' by Frank Skinner. Century. . pp. 311–12. * Chapter on Mr Methane in Kelner, Martin (2003). ''When Will I Be Famous''. BBC Books. * Featured in Foster, Tim (2007). ''Superman's Pockets''. FiveFootSix. * 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 flatulence''. Ten Speed Press * The British comedian Peter Kay remembered the time he worked with Mr Methane in his book, ''Saturday Night Peter'' (2009). Century. . Story starts bottom of p. 95. * The British author Dougie Brimson writes about Mr Methane in the 'Famous flatuists' chapter of his book ''The Art of Fart: The joy of flatulence''. * Mentioned in the children's book ''Operation Ouch!''


References

Footnote
Daily Telegraph (London), 17 March 2001



The ace of trumps
by Martin Kelner – ''The Guardian'', 23 July 2008 * July 2004 The 150 Greatest Rock Lists, Q special edition in the UK and a MOJO special edition overseas, including the US. p. 6. 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"


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Methane, Mr 1966 births Living people 20th-century English people 21st-century British people Flatulists Britain's Got Talent contestants British male entertainers Entertainers from Macclesfield