Sir Les Patterson

Dr Sir Leslie Colin Patterson is a fictional character portrayed by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries. Obese, lecherous and offensive, this farting, belching, nose-picking figure of Rabelaisian excess is an antipodean Falstaff. He is Dame Edna Everage's exact opposite: she is female, refined, Protestant, and from Melbourne; he is male, uncouth, Catholic, and from Sydney. His humour abounds in such a wide range of racist and sexual stereotypes that it would offend almost anyone who takes it at face value. By Humphries' own account, the character of Les Patterson first appeared in a one-man show that he performed at the St George Leagues Club in Sydney in January 1974. Appearing in the guise of the boorish, loud-mouthed and...