The Legend of Sir Les Patterson: Comedy’s Most Appalling Cultural Attaché

Sir Les Patterson

Introduction: The Man, The Myth, The Moustache

Meet Sir Les Patterson: Australia’s “Cultural Attaché,” although his true specialty is in cringe comedy and chaos. He’s a bloated, leathery-faced charmer in a garish tie and food-stained shirt, who waddles into venues proclaiming himself a diplomat (usually with a whisky in hand). According to a Guardian obituary, this red-cheeked politico was “the alcoholic political freeloader, professional adulterer and family man.” Barry Humphries himself revealed that Les was essentially created to incarnate Humphries’s disgust with alcoholism, so don’t be surprised if he staggers up the aisle mumbling, “Who’s up for a good time?” This foul-mouthed figure is even described as a “priapic dribbler” spoofing bigotry. Indeed, one of Sir Les’s famous quips is that in Australia “we’ve got culture coming out our arseholes” – which, knowing Sir Les, is meant to be hilarious. By any measure he’s outrageous, yet audiences somehow love him (even if they pretend to be scandalized).

Origins and Creation of the Character

Sir Les first waddled onto the stage in January 1974 at Sydney’s St. George Leagues Club. In that one-man show, Humphries posed as Patterson – the club’s outrageously uncultured “Entertainment Officer” – complete with ambling gait and leathery cheeks. So convincing was his act that, by Humphries’s own admission, “many members of the audience thought Les was genuinely a club official.” That night he even introduced Dame Edna as “the next act,” setting the tone that Les was a real, albeit terrifying, fixture.

Not long after, Barry shipped Sir Les off to Hong Kong as a self-proclaimed Cultural Attaché to the Far East. There he caused a stir – reportedly English merchant bankers and commodity brokers and Australian accountants all recognized Les as “someone they knew in the Australian diplomatic corps” and took him to their hearts. Back in London in 1976, Humphries gave Sir Les a starring role in Housewife, Superstar! – a show headlined by Dame Edna. Patterson delivered a lengthy monologue so iconic that it was preserved on the original cast album.

Behind the scenes, Humphries used Sir Les as a personal outlet. Having quit drinking himself in the 1970s, he admitted late in life that “in Les I can release my alcoholism.” In other words, Les got to do all the puking, carousing and drinking that Barry Humphries (a teetotaler) wrote off as “character research.” Over time Humphries even created a hilariously absurd fictional CV for Patterson, including such gems as Minister for Shark Conservation and Etiquette and Protocol Advisor to the Australian Federal Government.

In fact, Humphries gave Sir Les enough running jokes to head up solo shows in his name. Notably, Les Patterson Rampant in Whitehall (London, 1996) and Les Patterson Unzipped (New York, 2005) were entire one-man shows performed entirely in character. These outings proved the character’s staying power – decades after that first gig, Les was still unleashing chaos.

Key Characteristics and Comedic Style

Sir Les is the pinnacle of boorishness. Picture a rotund, rosacea-faced Australian diplomat wearing a loud, ill-fitting suit and a tie the size of a sarong. His look includes messy black hair, thick-rimmed glasses perched sideways, stained shirt and pants padded in exactly the spot where you’d least expect. His comedic style is pure shock-sitcom diplomacy. Monologues are peppered with appallingly colorful slang, and his sense of humor is unapologetically crude.

Humphries delighted in playing Sir Les. In an interview he admitted, “I enjoy playing Les more than any other character because it releases my inner vulgarity. It liberates my repressed ribaldry.” As a performer, he pushed Les further each time, seeing how far he could drive audiences. The best sound in a theater, he said, was not applause but “sharply indrawn breath” – the gasp that follows a Les zinger.

Notable Performances and Media Appearances

Sir Les’s resume is packed. On stage, he starred in Housewife, Superstar!, Song of Australia, and revues like A Night with Dame Edna and Back with a Vengeance. He also headlined his own shows: Rampant in Whitehall and Unzipped.

On TV, Sir Les was a regular guest in Edna specials: Another Audience with Dame Edna Everage, Dame Edna’s Christmas Experience, The Dame Edna Satellite Experience, and more. He even had shows in his own right: A Late Lunch with Les (1991) and Sir Les and the Great Chinese Takeaway (1997). In 1999 he joined pop culture royalty at Nick Cave’s Meltdown concert, performing a racy comic duet with Kylie Minogue.

His big-screen moment came in Les Patterson Saves the World (1987), which bombed commercially but lives on in comedy infamy. He also appeared on Parkinson, Rove Live, and a host of Aussie and British panel shows, always fully in character. In the art world, Sir Les’s image won multiple Archibald Prize Packing Room Awards and featured in National Portrait Galleries in both London and Canberra.

Famous Quotes and Catchphrases

Some of Sir Les’s most quotable gems include:

• “We’ve got culture coming out our arseholes.”

• “Never mind the quality — feel the width, are you with me?”

• On spitting: “I produce it myself … It really is organic. I can expectorate six rows into the stalls.”

These bon mots capture his essence: crass, proudly ignorant, and fiercely hilarious. He said what others wouldn’t dare, and his audience loved every squirm-inducing moment of it.

Cultural and Political Satire

Sir Les is more than a filthy mouthpiece. He’s a blistering satire of chauvinistic, jingoistic officials. He spoofs everything from government bureaucracy to cultural cringe. His ludicrous job titles parody bloated state machinery. His comments on women, foreigners, and the arts are grotesquely exaggerated to reveal how ridiculous such attitudes are.

In short, he’s a character you laugh at, not with. When Sir Les declares Australia’s cultural superiority, he’s skewering the very notion. He ridicules diplomacy itself, portraying it as a booze-fueled, self-important mess – and we laugh because we’ve all met someone like that at a wedding or work do.

Controversies and Reception

Of course, Sir Les sometimes went too far. Australian audiences were often more offended than amused, and critics didn’t always get the joke. In the U.S., reviewers sometimes saw the act as abysmal and missed the satire. Even back home, Sir Les was seen as too much for polite company.

Still, many got it. Cambridge University once awarded him an honorary doctorate (as a joke), and artists queued up to immortalize him. He outraged, but he entertained. That was the point.

Legacy and Impact

Sir Les Patterson’s legacy is carved into the annals of comedy. He helped define the one-man character revue. His shock humor paved the way for politically incorrect characters like Ali G and Borat. He remains a controversial figure, but one thing is certain: no one forgets Sir Les.

In his grotesque, leering way, he reminded us to laugh at authority, cringe at chauvinism, and never, ever take a cultural attaché at face value. Sir Les may be gone, but his massive tie, grotesque charm, and unforgettable one-liners will live on forever in the halls of comedy infamy.