French Fartiste Faces Forgettance!

Beans, beans, the musical fruit–the more you eat, the more you toot!
The more you toot, the better you feel–so let’s have beans for every meal!

Words for the wise. I have prided myself over the years on my gas-making–and -breaking–skillz…and, no doubt, many Ectomo readers can make such claims. (Brownless claims to be able to fart the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” after devouring a bowl of random fried squid parts, yet, being the n00b, I have yet to confirm this.) How many of us, though, have ever thought of making a career of our abilities?

In the early part of the 20th century, Vaudeville stages in both France and America thrilled to the pooting of the wondrous, the amazing, LE PETOMANE!

Joseph Pujol, a man of singular talent, was born in Marseilles, France in 1857. In his early youth it became clear that he was a natural entertainer, singing, dancing, and performing for his parents’ house guests. He had a love for music, and over the years he became handy with a trombone, but it was a different wind instrument that led to his eventual fame and fortune.

It’s amazing enough that Le Petomane could fart out a candle at 25 paces–but it’s even more amazing that he did so upon the stage of the Moulin Rouge itself, where he was a regular!

“Ladies and gentlemen, I have the honor to present a session of Petomanie.” Such was his introduction at the famous vanity theater on his first night. He was very finely dressed in a red coat and black satin breeches, with a pair of white gloves held in his hands. He looked quite sophisticated as he explained to the audience that the emissions he was about to produce were completely odorless, since he irrigated his colon daily. The audience was completely unprepared for what lay ahead. And so he began.

He would fart toons, suck water up into his rectum and spray like a firehose, and even performed that old standard of stage performers everywhere: impersonations. With his ass.

Today, Le Petomane’s legend has faded…yet, according to Wikipedia, his fame lives on in the fringes of society: plays have been written on him, documentaries filmed, and–ostensibly–Johnny Depp himself has mentioned that he would like to portray M’sieur Pujol on film. Now that is something to hope for: a farting Johnny Depp.

Le Petomane courtesy of Damn Interesting and his own bad ass.