Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to… W C Fields. With apologies, there, not just to John Lennon, but to our loyal listeners, who have had to wait an extra day for this episode again, because I didn’t get my shit together on the right day. Wednesday was a busy day!

Another vaudeville star turned unlikely movie star, even six places along the back row of the Sgt. Pepper’s cover, a pattern is beginning to develop.

What seems remarkable about W C Fields is the way that his story of self-invention is so quintessentially American. It’s the story of Jay Gatsby, of Mae West, of Bob Dylan: a universal story about creating a character and living that character with every fibre of your being.

This is another episode recorded in the heat of summer, outside the house in the evening, this time with added SCREAMING BABY SPARROWS, as well as the usual background noise. A hosepipe. A bit of wind. Engines. And a chihuahua with a chain saw. Hopefully not to annoying and distracting to enjoy the fruits of Elodie’s research and my excellent dad jokes.