The History of Farting for Money

January 4, 2016 11:47 PM

Linda Rodriguez at The New Republic: “Roland, court minstrel to 12th century English king Henry II, probably had many talents. But history has recorded only one.” (Originally posted with a few additional pictures on Atlas Obscura.)

A few other articles by the same author:

• Slate: “The Open-Sorcerers: Some magicians are embracing the open-source ethos—but that doesn’t mean spilling every secret.
• Slate: “How Junk Science and Anti-Lesbian Prejudice Got Four Women Sent to Prison for More Than a Decade”
• Smithsonian: “The Strange and Mysterious History of the Ouija Board”
• Smithsonian: “The History and Psychology of Clowns Being Scary”

posted by Going To Maine (24 comments total)

Also, someone needs to pay $5 for “the mist-descending flower-blossom man”.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:50 PM on January 4, 2016 [4 favorites]

St. Augustine, farting reviewer.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:51 PM on January 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

Looking forward to the Paul Graham-funded farting startup.

#WealthCreation
posted by problemspace at 12:46 AM on January 5, 2016

Though I'm no conno-sewer of the art, it's hard to displace Mr. Methane from my memory after hearing his output on Howard Stern.
posted by fairmettle at 1:16 AM on January 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

No.
posted by pxe2000 at 3:28 AM on January 5, 2016

Don't forget French flatulist Le Petomane
posted by leotrotsky at 3:41 AM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Finally! My only real talent recognized for its true art!
posted by briank at 4:01 AM on January 5, 2016

Kate Beaton, as always (third comic from the top)
posted by saturday_morning at 4:03 AM on January 5, 2016 [4 favorites]

Way back in 2002, I was lucky enough to catch Frank Olivier's Twisted Cabaret performing at San Francisco's Mason Street Theatre. It's a fantastic show, and one you should definitely catch if you ever get the chance.

Part of Frank's act was to point his bum squarely at the audience, inhale a generous shot of butane gas through his anus then light the gas as he expelled it. This produced a burst of flame roughly the size of a dustbin lid.

I happened to be in the front row that night, so I could feel the heat of this flame quite strongly on my face. Half an inch closer, and I'd have gone home with no eyebrows.
posted by Paul Slade at 4:55 AM on January 5, 2016

There is this, from from Vows of the Peacock, c. 1350

which is what I thought this OP was about. But I'm not dissapointed. I probably never left primary school
posted by infini at 5:20 AM on January 5, 2016

He-Gassen (Japanese: 屁合戦, literally: "Fart battle") is a Japanese art scroll created during the Edo period by an unknown artist or several unknown artists

Details of "He-gassen"
posted by infini at 5:22 AM on January 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

Who's gassen?
posted by Wolof at 6:34 AM on January 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

The History of Farting for Money

And here I've been giving it away for free for decades, like a sucker!
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 6:35 AM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

The Leonard Rossiter film is worth seeing, especially his magnificent delivery of the line:

"God has blessed me with an elastic anus."
posted by Segundus at 6:45 AM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

So, yeah, Mr. Methane has a youtube channel. If you want to see vaguely sad things you can't unsee.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:45 AM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

I do not support this post.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:07 AM on January 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

I'll just point out that Le Petomane's last name was "Pujol" and thank god that 'z' was pronounced with the French 'zh' and not the Spanish 'h'.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:51 AM on January 5, 2016 [5 favorites]

Don't forget French flatulist Le Petomane

I thought he was a governor somewhere out west.
posted by TedW at 10:20 AM on January 5, 2016 [4 favorites]

I know we are supposed to decry the state of society because we are all listening to too much hippity hop and watching too much TV and seeing too many movies made by Michael Bay, but without that kind of entertainment, it seems we would all be sitting around paying people to fart for us.
posted by deanc at 1:33 PM on January 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

Farting is such sweet sorrow.
posted by mr.ersatz at 1:51 PM on January 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Internet killed the flatulence star.
posted by jason's_planet at 5:19 PM on January 5, 2016

I happened to be in the front row that night.... Half an inch closer...

Seriously, my first thought--should I feel any need to attend a fart performance--would be to avoid the front row.
posted by BlueHorse at 7:23 PM on January 5, 2016

If you got a trio of farting performers on a single bill, would they be a three ringpiece circus?
posted by Paul Slade at 8:50 AM on January 6, 2016

The Leonard Rossiter film is worth seeing, especially his magnificent delivery of the line:

“God has blessed me with an elastic anus.”

Speaking of…
posted by Going To Maine at 11:10 AM on January 6, 2016