Le Pétomane: Difference between revisions
Reverted 1 edit by 37.190.158.177 (talk): Less clear. (TW) |
→Biography: There is not evidence and it is not likely that he earned 20,000 francs per show. This source http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~lofty/pujol.htm states that the Moulin Rouge once took 20,000 on one day, but that's not at all the same thing. |
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Some of the highlights of his stage act involved sound effects of cannon fire and thunderstorms, as well as playing "[['O Sole Mio]]" and "[[La Marseillaise]]" on an [[ocarina]] through a rubber tube in his anus.<ref>[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/363/did-a-french-vaudeville-star-once-specialize-in-trained-flatulence Did a French vaudeville star once specialize in trained flatulence?] Accessed 2008-12-02</ref> He could also blow out a candle from several yards away.<ref name=retro /> His audience included [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Edward, Prince of Wales]]; [[Leopold II of Belgium|King Leopold II]] of the [[Belgium|Belgians]]; and [[Sigmund Freud]].<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s364725.htm Begone With the Wind] Accessed 2008-09-01</ref> |
Some of the highlights of his stage act involved sound effects of cannon fire and thunderstorms, as well as playing "[['O Sole Mio]]" and "[[La Marseillaise]]" on an [[ocarina]] through a rubber tube in his anus.<ref>[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/363/did-a-french-vaudeville-star-once-specialize-in-trained-flatulence Did a French vaudeville star once specialize in trained flatulence?] Accessed 2008-12-02</ref> He could also blow out a candle from several yards away.<ref name=retro /> His audience included [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Edward, Prince of Wales]]; [[Leopold II of Belgium|King Leopold II]] of the [[Belgium|Belgians]]; and [[Sigmund Freud]].<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s364725.htm Begone With the Wind] Accessed 2008-09-01</ref> |
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In 1894, the managers of the Moulin Rouge sued Pujol for an impromptu exhibition he gave to aid a friend struggling with economic difficulties. |
In 1894, the managers of the Moulin Rouge sued Pujol for an impromptu exhibition he gave to aid a friend struggling with economic difficulties. Pujol was fined 3,000 francs, and the Moulin Rouge lost their star attraction as the disagreement led him to set up his own travelling show called the [[Theatre Pompadour]]. |
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In the following decade Pujol tried to 'refine' and make his acts 'gentler'; one of his favourite numbers became a rhyme about a farm which he himself composed, and which he punctuated with the usual anal renditions of the animals' sounds. |
In the following decade Pujol tried to 'refine' and make his acts 'gentler'; one of his favourite numbers became a rhyme about a farm which he himself composed, and which he punctuated with the usual anal renditions of the animals' sounds. |
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Revision as of 21:18, 5 November 2012
Le Pétomane (/[invalid input: 'icon']ləˈpɛtəmeɪn/, French pronunciation: [ləpetɔˈman]) was the stage name of the French flatulist (professional farter) and entertainer Joseph Pujol (June 1, 1857–1945). He was famous for his remarkable control of the abdominal muscles, which enabled him to seemingly fart at will. His stage name combines the French verb péter, "to fart" with the -mane, "-maniac" suffix, which translates to "fartomaniac". The profession is also referred to as "flatulist", "farteur", or "fartiste".[1]
It is a common misconception that Joseph Pujol actually passed intestinal gas as part of his stage performance. Rather, Pujol was able to "inhale" or move air into his rectum and then control the release of that air with his anal sphincter muscles. Evidence of his ability to control those muscles was seen in the early accounts of demonstrations of his abilities to fellow soldiers.
Biography
Joseph Pujol was born in Marseille, one of 5 children of Rose and stonemason/sculptor François Pujol. Soon after he left school he had a strange experience while swimming in the sea. He put his head under the water and held his breath, whereupon he felt an icy cold penetrating his rear. He ran ashore in fright and was amazed to sense water pouring from his anus. A doctor assured him that there was nothing to worry about.
When he joined the army he told his fellow soldiers about his special ability, and repeated it for their amusement, sucking up water from a pan into his rectum and then projecting it through his anus up to several yards. He then found that he could suck in air as well. Although a baker by profession, Pujol would entertain his customers by imitating musical instruments, and claim to be playing them behind the counter. Pujol decided to try his talent on the stage, and debuted in Marseille in 1887. After his act proved successful, he proceeded to Paris, where he took the act to the Moulin Rouge in 1892.
Some of the highlights of his stage act involved sound effects of cannon fire and thunderstorms, as well as playing "'O Sole Mio" and "La Marseillaise" on an ocarina through a rubber tube in his anus.[2] He could also blow out a candle from several yards away.[1] His audience included Edward, Prince of Wales; King Leopold II of the Belgians; and Sigmund Freud.[3]
In 1894, the managers of the Moulin Rouge sued Pujol for an impromptu exhibition he gave to aid a friend struggling with economic difficulties. Pujol was fined 3,000 francs, and the Moulin Rouge lost their star attraction as the disagreement led him to set up his own travelling show called the Theatre Pompadour.
In the following decade Pujol tried to 'refine' and make his acts 'gentler'; one of his favourite numbers became a rhyme about a farm which he himself composed, and which he punctuated with the usual anal renditions of the animals' sounds.
With the outbreak of World War I, Pujol, horrified by the inhumanity of the conflict, retired from the stage and returned to his bakery in Marseille. Later he opened a biscuit factory in Toulon. He died in 1945,[4] aged 88, and was buried in the cemetery of La Valette-du-Var, where his grave can still be seen today. The Sorbonne offered his family a large sum of money to study his body after his death, but they refused the offer.
Legacy
Le Pétomane left an enduring legacy and has inspired a number of artistic works. These include several musicals based on his life, such as The Fartiste (awarded Best Musical at the 2006 New York International Fringe Festival) and Seth Rozin's A Passing Wind which was premiered at the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts in 2011. In addition, Le Pétomane was added to David Lee's 2007 reworked revival of the 1953 Broadway play Can-Can, which had originally been written by Abe Burroughs and Cole Porter. The updated play, staged at the Pasadena Playhouse, featured musical theatre actor Robert Yacko as the fartiste, with sound effects provided by the band's trombone and piccolo players. More recently, the re-released works of English toilet humour specialist Ivor Biggun include "Southern Breeze", a song about a "Famous French Farteur" who describes in rhyme a stroll through a farmyard, accompanied by appropriate farting noises.
Los Angeles-based Sherbourne Press published Jean Nohain and F. Caradec's Le Pétomane as a small hardcover English language edition in 1967. Due to its ‘sensitive’ nature, the usual national publicity venues shied away, some claiming that an author was needed for interviews (both elderly writers lived in France). However, ‘behind the curtain’ acceptance created a buzz within the national radio/TV promotional circuit and word-of-mouth discussion kept the book in stores for several years. Dorset Press, a division of Barnes & Noble, reissued the book in 1993. Comics artist Lee Marrs includes a short visual biography of Le Pétomane in her 1976 comic The Compleat Fart and Other Body Emissions. Ricky Jay discusses Le Pétomane in his book Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women. Jim Dawson included a chapter on Le Pétomane in his book Who Cut the Cheese? (Ten Speed Press, 1999) and a chapter on the various films about Le Pétomane in Blame It on the Dog (2006). Simon & Schuster released a 2008 children's book about his life called The Fartiste written by Kathleen Krull & Paul Brewer and illustrated by Boris Kulikov. The Baby Killers, a 2010 steampunk novel by Jay Lake from PS Publishing recasts Le Pétomane as a French secret agent. Pujol is a primary character in Sarah Bynum's novel Madeleine is Sleeping.
The character has been portrayed several times in film. In 1979 Ian MacNaughton made a short humorous film, written by Galton and Simpson called Le Pétomane, based on Pujol's story and starring veteran comic actor Leonard Rossiter.[5] The 1983 Italian movie Il Petomane, directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile and starring Ugo Tognazzi, gives a poetic rendition of the character, contrasting his deep longing for normalcy with the condition of 'freak' to which his act relegated him. The 1998 documentary Le Pétomane by Igor Vamos examines Joseph Pujol's place in history through archival films (none of which actually include him), historical documents, photographs, recreations and fake or tongue-in-cheek interviews.[6]
Other appearances include Le Pétomane: Parti Avec Le Vent (Le Pétomane: Gone With The Wind), a 2005 short film based on Pujol's life, and in Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film Moulin Rouge! played by Australian actor Keith Robinson. Other references to Le Pétomane include Mel Brooks's 1974 film Blazing Saddles; Kevin Gilbert's The Shaming of the True; the 1984 college romp film Up the Creek, directed by Robert Butler, in which the four protagonists represent Lepetomane University in an inter-collegiate river raft race; Kinky Friedman's 1999 novel Spanking Watson; and John Hodgman's book The Areas of My Expertise.
See also
Notes and references
- ^ a b Le Pétomane: The Strange Life of a "Fartiste" Accessed 2012-02-02
- ^ Did a French vaudeville star once specialize in trained flatulence? Accessed 2008-12-02
- ^ Begone With the Wind Accessed 2008-09-01
- ^ One source says his death occurred "shortly after the Allied landing", presumably a reference to D-Day, 6 June, but that was in 1944.
- ^ "Le Petomane (1979)". British movies. Britmovie.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
- ^ White, Mike. "Le Petomane: Fin de Siècle Fartiste (Igor Vamos, 2000)". Cahiers du Cinemart. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
Further reading
- Le Pétomane 1857-1945 by Jean Nohain and F. Caradec; translated by Warren Tute. Sherbourne Press (1967); republished Dorset Press (1993)