RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books Super-Flatulence

Could someone with this power cut it in the Legion???

He'd be as much a danger to the other Legionnaires as to their foes!

The guy that sits in the cubicle next to me has that power. He would be a formidable opponent

If he's a hero, call him FLATULENCE LAD.

If he's a villain, call him Poots-A-Lot Pete.

Seriously, folks - and I'm always serious - there was a person in 18th century France who farted on stage, for a living - he had a wide repetoire of sounds. He was known as a "fartiste". Surely degenerate times - or a culture badly in need of message boards for entertainment.

major LOL!!! :lol: :lol:

Actually, I might have paid to see that onstage...

It wasn't me!

What was the name of the professional farter? Le Petemaine or something?

How about a Legionnaire named Flatulass?

From Cecil Adams' The Straight Dope (one of my favorite reference works, right up there with the various Books of Lists):

I think it is poetically appropriate that Joseph Pujol, better know as Le Petomane (which we may loosely translate as "the fartiste") should emanate from France, without doubt the most pretentious nation on the face of the earth. Le Petomane performed his unique act from 1887 to 1914, and became one of his country's best-known vaudevillians. At one point he was earning 20,000 francs a week, compared to 8,000 for his contemporary Sarah Bernhardt. It is pleasant to contemplate these things while suffering through the latest Jean-Luc Godard movie.

Joseph Pujol, born in Marseilles in 1857, owed his remarkable career to an extraordinary ability to control the muscles of his abdomen and anus. As a youth he discovered he could take in via his rectum as much as two liters of water, which he could then expel at will. Later he found he could do the same thing with air. At first he employed this talent solely for the entertainment of his friends, obviously a very refined and intelligent bunch, but after working quietly for some years as a baker, he was encouraged to give public performances. The first of these, in Marseilles in 1887, met with some initial skepticism, petomanie ("fartistry") being something of a novelty even for the French, but within a few days Le Petomane's winning manner and solidly professional performance had won audiences over. From then on it was one triumph after another.

Le Petomane arrived in Paris in 1892, and was promptly hired by the Moulin Rouge, the famous music hall. He became an immediate sensation. In typical performance, he appeared on stage in red cape, black trousers, and a white cravat, with a pair of white gloves held in the hands for a touch of elegance. Having explained that his emissions were odorless - Le Petomane took care to irrigate his colon daily - he would proceed with a program of fart impressions, as it were: the timid fart of a young girl, the hearty fart of the miller, the fart of a bride on her wedding night (almost inaudible), the fart of the bride a week later (a lusty raspberry), and a majestic 10-second fart which he likened to a couturier cutting six feet of calico cloth. Later, having inserted a tube into his nether orifice (offstage, of course - Le Petomane had a high regard for the delicacies of his audience) he would smoke a cigarette right down to the b- well, pretty damn far. He could also blow out candles and stage footlights. By way of grand finale, he would attach an ocarina to the tube and play popular tunes such as O sole mio, with which he would invite the audience to sing along.

An immensely popular figure in his day (even the king of Belgium snuck into Paris incognito one night to see him), Le Petomane was the subject of numerous articles, poems, and caricatures in popular magazines. One cartoon depicted little cherubs holding his coattails aloft while elaborate melodies issued from his hindquarters. (Actually, Le Petomane could produce only four notes without the aid of an instrument - do, mi, sol, and the octave do.) He bought a house filled with servants for his family, and in 1895 opened his own theatre. He went on foreign tours, sued a false female impersonator (she had a bellows concealed in her skirt), and in general enjoyed a profitable career until 1914. Two of his sons (he had ten children) were disabled in World War 1, however, and afterward he did not have the heart to return to the stage. He resumed his former career as a baker, and died surrounded by friends and family in 1945 at the age of 88. Mel Brooks would be lucky to do as well.

And there was a Dr. LePetomane (a pediatrician) in at least one episode of Rugrats.

Thanks TD. I had the wrong century, for some reason associated this with Louis XVI and the general decline.... I must have remembered the story from The Straight Dope, a great & enlightening book (which I no longer own).

Thanks TB, that's fascinating stuff. UK comics Vic and Bob used to have Le Petomane on their TV show a lot.

Well, not the real one, I suppose . . .

I am utterly speechless.

That was SO COOL!

It's amazing, the crap you can learn from books!

Make a pit stop at your local library, kids!

(This announcement was absolutely not brought to you by the American Library Association.)

Yes, Eryk, but if this Flatulent hero/Heroine learns to Control the secret to the power of super flatulence, He or she could open the door to parallel universes, teleport, and do many other mazing things!!!

Or at the very least, make a big stink!

Oh...My ..God!!!

While waiting for my post here to arrive, it said, GEEZE ! HOLD ON A SEC! WE'LL GET RIGHT TO SUPER FLATULENCE!!!!!

A whole thread devoted to flatulence. And just look at all the replies. Pov, I salute you!

This thread deserves more attention!

Maybe someone should light a match, so people can see it.

Super-Flatulence...<sigh>

What grade-schooler wouldn't kill for THAT one?

Is it just me or does it smell in here?

I wonder if Le Petomane would be successful in our times?

I have cousins who could definitely start up a show...

This could result in an interesting death-of-Sun Boy story. The tombstone could read something like, "I told him not to light that."

ummmmm
wasnt there a hero in that movie, i think it was called men of mystery, and his power was flatulation. It starred ben stiller.

<comicbookguy>

You're talking about "The Mystery Men" and the guy's name was The Spleen. He was of course played by Paul Reubens(?) of Pee Wee Herman fame. My wife loves that flick.

</comicbookguy>

You may now resume your SuperFarting.

Anybody say LLance?!