He could well be. That’s according to an interview with Barry Humphries and the Manchester Evening News.

I’ve always thought of myself as a northern comedian, because the further north I go the more comfortable I tend to feel.

Barry says that Sir Les has yet to make an appearance on American soil.

I’ve not really tried him out on the Americans yet, because Les has a kind of music hall vulgarity that might offend the survivors of Plymouth Rock, the inheritors of that Puritan tradition. Every now and then, I look into an American audience and right at the back I can see some tall black hats.

Sir Les, being a diplomat, just wants to increase the bond between England and Australia.

He doesn’t feel you need to know anything more about culture, so he’s concentrating on cheese. He’s chairman of the Australian Cheese Board and he does a lot of cheese promotion. He will be discussing cheese in the presence of a full orchestra when he comes to Manchester. His recommendation? Tasmanian mauve vein. It comes in a cylindrical form.

When Sir Les hits the stage in Manchester on Wednesday, September 16, a whiff of Australia’s finest cheese is sure to follow.

In an article entitled Put Your Faith In Cheeses for The Spectator (Australian branch), Sir Les confesses that his lady wife Gwen wouldn’t allow any cheese into the marital home. For a connoisseur and ambassador for the Australian cheese industry, such as Sir Les, that must have put a terrible strain on their marriage. Fortunately, the ever resourceful, Les sought comfort near the cheese counters of supermarkets. On the look out for housewives who slip a Tasmanian camembert into their trolley.

From his love of Kraft cheese as a boy, to the Endeavour Blue that is served at all the Patterson functions, Sir Les certainly has his nose to the rind.