The Melville joke that sparked a conspiracy theory in Spain

The Melville joke they scrubbed from the internet

More than just a game: the joke is built on three degrees of separation. The first jumps from Jean-Pierre Melville to an actor in his trench-coat films; the second, from the actor to the singer's look; the third, from the singer to a studio technician who cracked the joke and ended up signing a settlement within ten minutes. From this, it trinc that the artist "is either not who he says he is, or his stage name is pure smoke."

The plot is rounded off with Amos Tutuola, a Spanish comedian and a four-letter name nobody can guess. Whoever dropped the hint threatened to take the conversation down if anyone solved the riddle. They took it down anyway. And that act, according to the theory's defenders, is irrefutable proof that something is being hidden.

The deletion as proof and as alibi

For the sceptics, the about-face is a perfect alibi: the deletion turns a parlour game into a plot. There is no singer, no technician, no endless holiday; there is a joke that got out of hand. For the conspiracy-minded, on the other hand, nobody bothers to delete an unimportant message.

However, neither the singer's name nor that of the alleged technician can be gleaned from the conversation. All that is mentioned is a digital double on Twitter who "is giving away a lot of information." Far too little for a formal complaint, enough for a legend.

The mystery will probably never be solved, because the deletion proves nothing either. But if one day a singer confesses that his stage name is an invention and that a technician lost his job over a joke, we will have to go back to the Melvilles. With any luck, the game will make sense then.