A flatulist, fartist, fartial artist, professional farter or simply farter is an entertainer often associated with flatulence-related humor, whose routine consists solely or primarily of passing gas in a creative, musical, or amusing manner. [1]
A flatulist, fartist, fartial artist, professional farter or simply farter is an entertainer often associated with flatulence-related humor, whose routine consists solely or primarily of passing gas in a creative, musical, or amusing manner. [1]
There are a number of scattered references to ancient and medieval flatulists, who could produce various rhythms and pitches with their intestinal wind. Saint Augustine in The City of God (De Civitate Dei) (14.24) mentions some performers who did have "such command of their bowels, that they can break wind continuously at will, so as to produce the effect of singing." Juan Luis Vives, in his 1522 commentary to Augustine's work, testifies to having himself witnessed such a feat,[ citation needed ] a remark referenced by Michel de Montaigne in an essay.[ which? ]
The professional farters of medieval Ireland were called braigetoír. They are listed together with other performers and musicians in the 12th century Tech Midchúarda, a diagram of the banqueting hall of Tara. As entertainers, these braigetoír ranked at the lower end of a scale headed by bards, fili, and harpers. [2] [3]
An entry in the 13th-century English Liber Feodorum or Book of Fees lists one Roland the Farter, who held Hemingstone manor in the county of Suffolk, for which he was obliged to perform "Unum saltum et siffletum et unum bombulum" (one jump and whistle and one fart) annually at the court of King Henry II every Christmas. The Activa Vita character in the 14th century allegorical poem Piers Plowman appears to number farting among the abilities desirable in a good entertainer, [4] saying: "As for me, I can neither drum nor trumpet, nor tell jokes, nor fart amusingly at parties, nor play the harp."
In Japan, during the Edo period, flatulists were known as "heppiri otoko" (放屁男), lit. "farting men." [5] The term He-gassen (屁合戦), "farting competitions", is applied to Edo-period art scrolls depicting flatulence.[ citation needed ]
Fart is a word in the English language most commonly used in reference to flatulence that can be used as a noun or a verb. The immediate roots are in the Middle English words ferten, feortan and farten, kin of the Old High German word ferzan. Cognates are found in Old Norse, Slavic and also Greek and Sanskrit. The word fart has been incorporated into the colloquial and technical speech of a number of occupations, including computing. It is often considered unsuitable in formal situations as it may be considered vulgar or offensive.
Flatulence is the expulsion of gas from the intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swallowed environmental air, and hence flatus is not entirely generated in the stomach or bowels. The scientific study of this area of medicine is termed flatology.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to theatre:
Toilet humour, potty humour or scatological humour, is a type of off-colour humour dealing with defecation, urination and flatulence, and to a lesser extent vomiting and other bodily functions.
Joseph Pujol, better known by his stage name Le Pétomane, was a French flatulist and entertainer. 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 referred to as "flatulist", "farteur", or "fartiste".
The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of comically portraying racial stereotypes of African Americans. There were also some African-American performers and black-only minstrel groups that formed and toured. Minstrel shows stereotyped blacks as dimwitted, lazy, buffoonish, cowardly, superstitious, and happy-go-lucky. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people specifically of African descent.
Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is practiced all over the world and dates back to antiquity. People engaging in this practice are called street performers or buskers. Buskers is not a term generally used in American English.
Irish music is music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.
A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer who sang songs and played musical instruments.
Paul Oldfield, better known by his stage name Mr Methane, is a British flatulist who started performing in 1991. He briefly retired in 2006 but restarted in mid-2007. He claims to be the only performing farter in the world. He worked on the railways as a train driver. He took an early retirement after a train’s brakes failed at Sheffield. After this incident he then started focusing on his flatulence performances.
Flatulence humor refers to any type of joke, practical joke device, or other off-color humor related to flatulence.
The Celtic harp is a triangular frame harp traditional to the Celtic nations of northwest Europe. It is known as cláirseach in Irish, clàrsach in Scottish Gaelic, telenn in Breton and telyn in Welsh. In Ireland and Scotland, it was a wire-strung instrument requiring great skill and long practice to play, and was associated with the Gaelic ruling class. It appears on Irish coins, Guinness products, and the coat of arms of the Republic of Ireland, Montserrat, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Medieval theatre encompasses theatrical in the period between the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century and the beginning of the Renaissance in approximately the 15th century. The category of "medieval theatre" is vast, covering dramatic performance in Europe over a thousand-year period. A broad spectrum of genres needs to be considered, including mystery plays, morality plays, farces and masques. The themes were almost always religious. The most famous examples are the English cycle dramas, the York Mystery Plays, the Chester Mystery Plays, the Wakefield Mystery Plays, and the N-Town Plays, as well as the morality play known as Everyman. One of the first surviving secular plays in English is The Interlude of the Student and the Girl.
Roland the Farter was a medieval flatulist who lived in twelfth-century England. He was given Hemingstone manor in Suffolk and 30 acres of land in return for his services as a jester for King Henry II. Each year, he was obliged to perform "saltum, siffletum, pettum" for the king's court at Christmas.
The namsadang is a Korean itinerant troupe which consists of male performers who present various performing arts such as acrobatics, singing, dancing and playing like a circus. It is said that namsadang was spontaneously formed before 1900 during the Joseon period and used to wander about marketplaces and villages. The troupe was considered the lowest class in society along with cheonmin or baekjeong (butchers), so that very few historical documents remain on them. However, since a record that a puppet show was performed during the Silla period has been found, it is assumed that similar types of itinerant companies appeared in Korean history a long time ago.
"A Letter to a Royal Academy" is the name of an essay about flatulence written by Benjamin Franklin c. 1781 while he was living abroad as United States Ambassador to France. It is an example of flatulence humor.
An itinerant poet or strolling minstrel was a wandering minstrel, bard, musician, or other poet common in medieval Europe but extinct today. Itinerant poets were from a lower class than jesters or jongleurs, as they did not have steady work, instead travelling to make a living.
Clement of Llanthony was an Anglo-Norman clergyman and theologian who became prior of Llanthony Priory. Clement became a canon at Llanthony at a young age, and was educated there. Having held the office of sub-prior, he became prior around 1150, and died sometime after 1167, although the year is not known.
Music in Medieval England, from the end of Roman rule in the fifth century until the Reformation in the sixteenth century, was a diverse and rich culture, including sacred and secular music and ranging from the popular to the elite.
Le Pétomane is a 1979 British short humorous film based on the life of Le Pétomane, the stage name of the late 19th century French flatulist and entertainer Joseph Pujol who was famous for his remarkable control of the abdominal muscles, which enabled him to seemingly fart at will and whose 'farting' performances at the Moulin Rouge in Paris drove his audiences to hysterics.
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