Mr. Methane

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Paul Oldfield, better known by his stage name Mr. Methane was a British flatulist or "professional farter" from 1991 until 2006 when he retired; he claimed to be the only performing professional flatulist in the world during that period. He was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, North West England. According to his website, Mr Methane discovered his ability at the age of fifteen when practicing yoga. The next day he performed twenty rapid fire rasping farts in under a minute for a group of his friends in the squash courts at Ryles Park County High School, Macclesfield. It became so popular he made it into a regular event. At this time he did not become a professional, but instead started working for British Rail eventually getting promoted to Train Driver (Locomotive Engineer). During a course on the Brush Type 4, aka British Rail Class 47 diesel locomotive he remembered his old talent and used it. The word of his ability spread around. In the late 1980s he was transferred to the Buxton motive power depot in Derbyshire. There he met a driver called Paul Genders who played in a Macclesfield based soul/blues cover band called The Screaming Beavers. Paul invited Mr. Methane to perform as a guest artist. The audience loved his performance, and he decided to try it as a career.

[edit] Professional career

After becoming a full time flatulist in 1991, Mr Methane performed in a bright green-and-purple skin-tight costume with cape and mask, looking not unlike a Marvel Comics superhero. He travelled the world with live performances in Europe, North America, Asia & Australia, including appearances at the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, the Edinburgh Fringe & the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He also made numerous television & radio appearances, including several on the Howard Stern radio show in the US, and he was particularly popular in Sweden and Japan.

In 2000, he released the self-titled album mr methane.com described as "The First Ever Album From A Performing Flatulist", including his renditions of The Blue Danube, The 1812 Overture and Swan Lake. It was produced by former Jethro Tull drummer Barriemore Barlow who was, for a time, his manager. This was followed by a second, Christmas-themed, album entitled Merry Methane and by a Mr. Methane VHS/DVD entitled Mr. Methane Let's Rip!. The CDs and videos were produced by his own company B.O.Productions Ltd

His TV appearances included several editions of Eurotrash in the UK.