The French Fartist

1857 Le Pétomane (Joseph Pujol; d. 1945), 'The Fartist', French vaudeville star whose highly popular act consisted mainly of playing music and doing sound effects by the expulsion of flatulence.

After a successful debut in Marseille in 1887, he took his bizarre act to Paris, where he was a smash hit at the Moulin Rouge. For a time, he put more backsides on seats and made more money than France's sweetheart, the great actress Sarah Bernhardt.

Highlights of his stage act involved playing a flute through a rubber tube in his anus – the act included an instrumental version of Au Claire de la Lune – and sound effects of cannon fire and thunderstorms. The grand finale climax of his act was sometimes his impression of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, or extinguishing several gas jets in the footlights and leading the audience in a joyous sing-along ...

Categories: france, humour, humor