CLASSIC: Roland the Farter and the Weird World of Professional Flatulence

Summary

Ridiculous History: CLASSIC — Roland the Farter and the Weird World of Professional Flatulence

Episode Release Date: April 10, 2025

In this entertaining and thoroughly researched episode of Ridiculous History, hosts Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown explore the quirky and often overlooked profession of professional flatulists throughout history. From medieval jesters to modern-day performers, the episode delves into how flatulence transcended mere bodily function to become an art form cherished in various cultures.

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1. The Universality of Flatulence

[00:00] Ben Bowlin:
"Fellow ridiculous historians, you have statistically farted about five to 10 minutes before you tuned in and tuned in. Tuned it in. Yeah, there he is."

The episode opens with Ben and Noel establishing the fundamental truth that flatulence is a universal human experience, setting the stage for a deeper exploration into its historical significance.

2. Farting as a Profession in Medieval Times

[05:15] Ben Bowlin:
"Travel with us, folks, to the reign of King Henry II."

Ben takes listeners back to the medieval era, specifically the reign of King Henry II of England (1154-1189), uncovering the existence of Roland the Farter, a court jester known for his unique talents.

[06:39] Noel Brown:
"The word that it actually is is flatulist. The word I always think it is when I see it on paper is flautist."

Noel explains the term "flatulist", distinguishing it from similar sounding professions and highlighting the specialized skills required to perform as a professional farter.

3. Roland the Farter: Skills and Recognition

[09:09] Noel Brown:
"The English Liber Feodorum, which translates roughly to the Book of Fees... executed simultaneously."

The hosts discuss Roland the Farter's documented performances, which included a simultaneous jump, whistle, and fart, performed annually during Christmas celebrations. His unique act earned him substantial rewards, including land and a manor house in Suffolk.

[11:15] Noel Brown:
"He was awarded with lands and an estate, right?"

Ben and Noel emphasize the societal acceptance and appreciation of flatulists in medieval courts, illustrating how Roland's performances were not only tolerated but celebrated.

4. Artistic Flatulists Across Cultures

[12:17] Noel Brown:
"I've seen like these Japanese woodcut prints... explosive fart lines."

The conversation broadens to include Japanese woodcut art, where flatulence was depicted both satirically and as a whimsical battle weapon, showcasing the diverse cultural interpretations of farting.

[13:12] Noel Brown:
"Le Petomain, AKA Joseph Pujol... he could actually do this with air."

Transitioning to the 19th century, the hosts introduce Joseph Pujol, famously known as Le Pétomane, a French flatulist who brought the art to international fame with his controlled and melodious performances.

5. Le Pétomane: The Master Flatulist

[15:14] Ben Bowlin:
"He found that he could deliberately suck water in through this area of his body and then project it back out."

Le Pétomane's extraordinary ability to control his flatulence allowed him to perform complex acts, including playing melodies and blowing out candles, captivating audiences worldwide.

[19:55] Ben Bowlin:
"He parlayed that first performance into a pretty lucrative contract at the famous Moulin Rouge."

His association with the Moulin Rouge highlights the peak of his career, where his performances not only entertained but also became a lucrative profession, earning him the title of one of France's highest-paid entertainers of his time.

6. The Decline and Legacy of Professional Flatulists

[31:58] Noel Brown:
"World War one occurs in 1914... he reopens a bakery."

The advent of World War I marked the decline of Le Pétomane's career, leading him to return to his roots as a baker. Despite his retirement, his legacy endured, influencing future generations of flatulists.

[37:16] Ben Bowlin:
"Mr. Methane... carrying on the torch of past heroes like Roland the Farter and La Petomain."

The episode concludes by highlighting Mr. Methane, a modern flatulist who continues the tradition with contemporary flair, proving that the art form still holds a niche but passionate following today.

7. The World's Oldest Joke

[37:16] Ben Bowlin:
"The world's oldest joke... A young woman did not fart in her husband's lap."

In a delightful nod to history, the hosts reveal that the world's oldest recorded joke, dating back to 1900 BCE Sumeria, is a fart joke, underscoring the timeless humor associated with flatulence.

8. The Science and Social Aspects of Farts

[39:10] Noel Brown:
"We're all in this together."

Ben and Noel wrap up the episode by discussing the biological and social facets of farting, emphasizing its role as a natural equalizer and a reminder of human mortality. They debunk the stigma around flatulence, presenting it as both a medical necessity and a source of humor.

[40:19] Ben Bowlin:
"About 75% of your farts are created in your lower intestine, not by you."

This scientific insight explains why even professional flatulists manage to control their emissions without the typical odor, attributing it to the mechanics of flatulence production.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Ben Bowlin [05:15]:
  "Travel with us, folks, to the reign of King Henry II."

• Noel Brown [06:39]:
  "The word that it actually is is flatulist. The word I always think it is when I see it on paper is flautist."

• Noel Brown [09:09]:
  "The English Liber Feodorum, which translates roughly to the Book of Fees... executed simultaneously."

• Ben Bowlin [19:55]:
  "He parlayed that first performance into a pretty lucrative contract at the famous Moulin Rouge."

• Ben Bowlin [37:16]:
  "Mr. Methane... carrying on the torch of past heroes like Roland the Farter and La Petomain."

• Ben Bowlin [39:10]:
  "About 75% of your farts are created in your lower intestine, not by you."

---

Conclusion:

This episode of Ridiculous History masterfully blends humor with historical facts, shedding light on the fascinating world of professional flatulence. Through engaging storytelling and insightful analysis, Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown not only entertain but also educate listeners on how what many consider a trivial bodily function has played a unique role in human history and culture.

For more quirky historical tales, tune into Ridiculous History on iHeartRadio.

Transcript

[Ben Bowlin]

Fellow ridiculous historians, you have statistically farted about five to 10 minutes before you tuned in and tuned in. Tuned it in. Yeah, there he is.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, it's me. No, we love farts. It's fun farting, humor. Doing it just feels good. Feels right, y'all. It's human and that's been. And there was once a time in ridiculous history when farting was not only a fun thing to do and joke about, but an actual profession.

[Ben Bowlin]

Let's. Let's roll the tape. Oh, my gosh. Wait, do you guys know any good fart jokes? I know a joke about a guy who farts on an elevator, but it's wrong on so many levels.

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[Bowen Yang]

This is Matt Rogers from Las Culturistas.

[Ben Bowlin]

With Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

[Bowen Yang]

Have you ever felt that uneasy anxiety when the 4pm hour strikes? That creeping meal related distress that happens when you don't quite feel prepared? You know, dinner dread.

[Ben Bowlin]

Let's get rid of that unpleasant feeling.

[Noel Brown]

Forever with one word.

[Ben Bowlin]

Stouffers.

[Noel Brown]

No matter what happens you'll have a.

[Ben Bowlin]

Dinner plan that everyone loves with Stouffers, some chicken enchiladas, or a cheesy chicken and broccoli pasta.

[Bowen Yang]

Bake is always welcome, whether it is.

[Noel Brown]

Plan A or plan Delicious. Not gonna lie, I eat the lasagna.

[Ben Bowlin]

Once a week, and that's a fact. When the clock strikes dinner, think Stouffer's Shop. Now for family favorites. Ridiculous History is a production of Iheartrad. First things first, everyone, no matter who you are, from a king to a pauper, everyone farts. Not to fart would be not only medically fascinating, but it would probably be dangerous. On the average day, most people are passing more than a liter of gas per day, spread out over like 13 to 21 incidents.

[Noel Brown]

Isn't there a book about this? Everybody Farts.

[Ben Bowlin]

There should be. Surely there is.

[Noel Brown]

No, I think that's Poops.

[Ben Bowlin]

Everybody Poops is the children's book. But Everybody Farts would be a great follow up sequel.

[Noel Brown]

Surely there should be one. And that should be a series.

[Ben Bowlin]

A series that we could write. Noel, that's you.

[Noel Brown]

Oh, man. And you're Ben. And as apparently you also fart.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yes, yes. Even our super producer, Casey Pegram. It's just a medical fact that people do this. However, the vast majority of human beings do it purely as a labor of love. Purely as a thing that happens in the human body.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, it's sort of a regulatory process. Right. It keeps your systems in check, your guts and all that. Right?

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. Most of us are amateur farters. However, there are a very, very small number of people who have managed to become professional flatulists.

[Noel Brown]

It's true, Ben, it's true. And this dates back much farther than you might think. Or maybe, I don't know, maybe it's exactly as far as you might think. Maybe it's even less far than you would think. But where we're gonna start today's story is in the medieval times, like the restaurant, you know, where you go and you eat a turkey leg and they got the horses and the show, like in the Cable Guy.

[Ben Bowlin]

And you cheer for whichever team you're assigned to.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. Turns out that restaurant concept based on an actual historical period, right?

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. Right. It's not the medium level of evil the way that some people might assume.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, I thought that for a long time. Too spelled really funny too, with like M E D. It's one of those words I can never properly spell. But we digress. I do, at least. Ben, tell us about fardistry in medieval times.

[Ben Bowlin]

I'm glad you Asked Noel. Travel with us, folks, to the reign of King Henry ii. There's a great line about King Henry ii from historic uk.com. the very first sentence of the poor guy's biograph. Henry too seems to struggle to make an impact upon popular history. That's the first sentence.

[Noel Brown]

And that is also printed on his gravestone.

[Ben Bowlin]

Ouch. Ouch.

[Noel Brown]

Nah, that's not true. But that'd be funny.

[Ben Bowlin]

That would be funny and sad. So King Henry II, who reigned from the December of 1154 to 1189, was known for several different hugely important things in the course of the history of the United Kingdom. But did you know, fellow ridiculous historians, that he also had a notoriously popular jester?

[Noel Brown]

That's right. And we're gonna invoke a word here that every time I see it printed, I think it's a different word. The word that it actually is is flatulist. The word I always think it is when I see it on paper is flautist. They both do involve making sounds by expelling air from their bodies, but the flatulist is a little bit different. It is, as we've alluded to, a professional farter. But what's really cool about this is it requires a pretty specific set of skills, doesn't it, Ben?

[Ben Bowlin]

That's right. So this guy Noel was known as Roland the Farter. He had several other nicknames. They are in French. At this point, I'd like to ask for some help from you, Casey, could you help us out with some of Roland the Farter's French nicknames?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, so that would be Roland le Sarcerre, Roland Lefarter and Roland Lepetour.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yes, but off the record, while the court is not in session, I have a couple more questions. Casey, could you translate some of these for us into English?

[Bowen Yang]

So Roland Lefarter, farter. Pretty self explanatory right there. Fart, Rollin le Petur. Petur derived from Peter, which is the French verb to fart, to pass gas. So P E T E R is the verb form and then petur is just that kind of personified. And then the last one, Roland le Sarcer, comes from Old French. And I'm getting this from a book called On Language and Laughter in the Middle Ages by V. Allen. And in that book they write that it's a variation, sarcee, a variation on sarre to sieve. Alternately, sarsier means to darn. Also sarcere could simply just be a slip of the pen and they meant to write farser, which is from farsier. To jest or to make fun of?

[Noel Brown]

Well, you know, they do say. You ever heard somebody say something was tight as a sieve? Yeah, maybe they're talking about, you know.

[Ben Bowlin]

Also, it leaks like a sieve.

[Noel Brown]

Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, maybe no one says tight as a sieve. Maybe I made that.

[Ben Bowlin]

Hey, let's start it.

[Bowen Yang]

Let's start it. I think it starts.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, I think so, too. Well, you know, because a civ just lets certain things pass through. So maybe, you know, it's about the action of passing because, you know, passing of the gas. I have a question for you, Ben, and I think you have an answer for me with this jester. Being a British jester, an English jester, why has he got all these French nicknames?

[Ben Bowlin]

Ah, great question. You see, although Henry II was King of England, he never learned the English language himself because his family came over from Normandy in 10, which means that they spoke Norman French. Now, Henry was intelligent. He spoke Latin as well, which was the language of the elite at the time, just as French was. So his court would have a lot of business conducted en francais.

[Noel Brown]

All right, so let's pop into this Latin section here. There is a book, a document, a collection of ledgers called the English Liber Feodorum, which translates roughly to the Book of Fees. And this is where we get the information that we know about Roland, because it was an account of all the payments that went to various members of the court, but unfortunately didn't have any dates. It just had personnel and what they were paid and, you know, what their particular skill was or the action that they were paid for. For Roland, the language is, as such, unum saltum et sifilitum et unum bumbulum, executed simultaneously.

[Ben Bowlin]

That translates in English to one jump, one whistle, and one fart. And this happens every Christmas?

[Noel Brown]

Every Christmas. Cause they had a big old shindig, soiree thing.

[Ben Bowlin]

And what does he get in return for this very specific physical stunt?

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, Henry II must have been a huge fan of this guy, because he was awarded with, like, lands and an estate, right?

[Ben Bowlin]

Yes. He was granted a manor house, Hemmingstone in Suffolk. And depending on which source you read either 30 acres of land or 100, which is a heck of a variation.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. But they obviously didn't keep particularly good records back in those days. So, you know.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. And we do know that although Roland the Farter really did exist and really did carry out this very specific act of a jump, a whistle, and a fart once a year, executed at the same time, we know that his Story gets very murky very quickly. There's actually very little verifiable information about the guy other than the book of fees. And later biographers loved this story so much that if you look back at the timeline, all told, it sounds as if he was doing this for more than 100 years, which is clearly not true.

[Noel Brown]

No, there's no way. And was this like his big finish, the jump and the whistle and the fart, or was this. You know, it sounds like he was sort of a member of a particular type of performer that would have had a variety of skills, not just being able to jump, whistle and fart simultaneously, but this was his particular kind of, like, signature move that he would pull off. And the fact that he was credited like that in a legal document speaks volumes.

[Ben Bowlin]

Well, that was the only thing that he legally had to do. But surely there was a bit of showmanship, there was a bit of lead in to it. You know, probably a couple of politically sensitive hot take kind of jokes. Because jesters occupy such a unique and powerful role in a court. We also know that Roland was not the only professional flatulist. We know that there are practices involving. Did I send these pictures to you? Of Japan in the Edo period? I'm just going to show this to you, Noel.

[Noel Brown]

Oh, that's a whole, like, genre of art. I've seen like these prints, these Japanese woodcut prints of like, dudes just, you know, with crazy explosive fart lines coming out of their usually bare behinds.

[Ben Bowlin]

Right. There's this artistic trope of, in Japan of depicting farts both as satire and as weapons of battle. The word for it would be he Gassen. H E G A S S E N There were also the Brugador or farters of Ireland, and there were several other ritualistically important or professionally paid flatulas throughout history. And fortunately, we do know a lot about one of the most famous, I would say the most famous flatulist in history.

[Noel Brown]

Talking about Le Petomain.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yes, yes, Le Petomai.

[Noel Brown]

That's right. Le Petomain, AKA Joseph Pujol, who was a young Frenchman from Marseille, I believe. Isn't that right? Marseille?

[Ben Bowlin]

Marseille, Marseille. Yeah. That's been Casey on the case, Part two.

[Noel Brown]

Part two. And we've got a third one coming up. Don't, don't you, don't you worry. And that was in 1857, by the way, that. That he was born. Yeah, he was a. He was the son of a baker. And baking becomes another one of his passions throughout his life. But there's A really great story about young Pujol. When he was a young man, he was swimming in the sea and realized that he was actually taking in water up his. His anus. Anus.

[Ben Bowlin]

I was going to say Australia for the euphemism, but. Or his rectum. We could just go into the scientific terms here.

[Noel Brown]

It's fine. It's fine.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. And this happened as he was inhaling. There's a great depiction of this off daminteresting.com written by Alan Bellows. He returned to shore and he freaked out, understandably feeling this water in the wrong place or an unexpected place. And he immediately goes back to shore where he is astonished to see, quote, a great deal of seawater pouring from his backside. Luckily, a doctor said that this was not something he needed to be gravely concerned about. And Joseph, in a way similar to like a Marvel superhero, discovers that he has an extraordinary ability.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, he could actually do this with. With air in addition to water, which makes sense. But you know, how cool is it to be able to realize this is something he could control and not just a fluke, because I'm sure he was kind of, you know, understandably freaked out by it. And then all of a sudden it became like, empowering. It's like, I can do this, you know, for fun. Yeah. And oh, what fun he had.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. He found that he could deliberately suck water in through this area of his body and then project it back out, even creating a spout that went on for several meters. He thought, you know, this is cool, but let's see if I can do the same thing with air. And in addition to discovering that it could do the same thing with air, he also learned that with the right contortion rhythm, he could reproduce some songs. And again, he's a young person at this point. He's still in school. This is a hit in his classroom.

[Noel Brown]

Can only imagine. Can only imagine. I bet the teachers loved him. No, I bet they didn't.

[Ben Bowlin]

They might have. They probably laughed about it outside of the classroom.

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[Noel Brown]

We haven't even talked about the fact that farts are funny.

[Ben Bowlin]

Still, farts are funny because they're something a little bit naughty that applies to everyone, you know what I mean? It's a great equalizer, like death. And as Alan wrote in the book that Casey had mentioned earlier, farts were seen As a reminder of mortality back in the day.

[Noel Brown]

That's right.

[Ben Bowlin]

So they occupy this important role. We learned so many fart facts for today's episode.

[Noel Brown]

Fun fart facts.

[Ben Bowlin]

Fun fart facts. Just so we learned that the oldest joke in the world is a joke about farts, which maybe we can get to at the end of the story. It's not really related to this, but it is interesting. Also, objectively, I don't think it's that funny. I think something's lost in the translation. But back to Le Petomaine. Before he becomes this professional fartist, he joins the army.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. And I've seen it in a couple different places that he actually got that nickname from his army buddies. They bestowed it upon him. And as we learned from Roland, the farter or the Petur. Right. This means fart. But it took it a step beyond where Roland's name was. It took it to the level of an artist.

[Ben Bowlin]

The fartist. Yes. He became known as the fartiste. And when he left military service, he opened a bakery in his hometown. And he was known for making these amazing bran muffins. But he decided to take it further. And in 1887, when he was 30 years old, he went on stage in his hometown not to do a live baking demonstration, but to take his flatulence to the. To the theater.

[Noel Brown]

Aren't bran muffins a little bit farty?

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah, that's one of the common beliefs about them. They contain fiber, which makes people regular. Right. So that could play a role. We also, we had a long list in some old episode of Brain Stuff of all the different foods that are thought to be fart inducing foods. So of course beans. Right. And bran muffins could be on there. I don't know. I hesitate to ask people to write in and tell us about their experience with brand muffins in this regard.

[Noel Brown]

Why? Why? Don't hesitate. We welcome your brand stories with open arms. So what was this performance all about, Ben?

[Ben Bowlin]

I'm glad you asked, Noel. Initially it was met with a lot of skepticism. Fardistry, said the French audience members. What on earth could this be? And surely it's a one time gig. But he won the audience over. He was a big success. I think maybe now it's time to let the badger out of the bag. We have an example of some of his work, don't we?

[Noel Brown]

We do. We do. This is what one of his performances might have sounded like. Let's roll the T. We heard it up. I think we heard you heard it up. This is awesome.

[Ben Bowlin]

Let's stop there. You could hear it in full.

[Noel Brown]

I can't help. I am such a child. I just think. I just can't help but laugh.

[Ben Bowlin]

Well, it's also his real job. I'm sure he'd be glad to hear that. His craft is respected in 2018.

[Noel Brown]

And what you realize too is he's doing bits in between and he's setting up the different types of farts that.

[Ben Bowlin]

He'S doing, giving context like any good impressionist. Let's. If we could stop the teaser.

[Noel Brown]

Sure, sure, sure.

[Ben Bowlin]

Let's defer to Casey Pegram. Casey, can you help us out with. I know that audio is really rough, but could you give us any guesses at what le petomon is saying in these?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. So you guys sent me this clip and at first I didn't know if I was going to be able to get much of anything out of it, but I did eventually kind of decode a few different of the phrases and then I was able to plug those into Google and actually find a complete transcript of the entire thing, courtesy of somebody on Reddit. And that Reddit person was Ariat. That was on the R today. I learned subreddit six years ago. Anyway, so some of my favorites here. Well, to begin with, one of the early ones, le pette de ma belle mer, my mother in law's fart, le pette de maison. That's a pretty rough one. That's the mason's fart. And then immediately after he says le meme sec, which is the same dry being failed. So wait, what? He gambled and he lost, I think is the implication there. So I was like, yeah, yeah, there's a little something extra at the end of that one.

[Ben Bowlin]

Wasn't there something about giraffes?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, yeah. The giraffe one is bizarre. So le pette de la giraffe en train de symmetre des bout part of the standing up giraffe or the giraffe as it's standing up.

[Ben Bowlin]

It cuts one and that's been Casey on the case.

[Noel Brown]

Part three.

[Ben Bowlin]

Part three. We're at part three and I'm loving every second of it. He also le petomen, not our man Casey. He also played songs and he blew out candles. And we should mention, I guess, some of the song stuff because that's what seems tough to me. Right? Even if you can expel gas on command, getting the right tone is different.

[Noel Brown]

Well, Ben, it's a lot like whistling, my friend. I mean, you're whistling, you make different tones just by Changing the tightness or looseness of your lips. So I would imagine the same would apply to the butt.

[Ben Bowlin]

We are being very like. I'm proud of us for being as diplomatic. We're doing our best as we are at this point.

[Noel Brown]

It's tough.

[Ben Bowlin]

So we said the crowd reacted favorably despite their initial skepticism. So what happened? What happened to Le Petomale after this first show?

[Noel Brown]

Well, he was a hit. He was a massive hit.

[Ben Bowlin]

Right?

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. And he parlayed that first performance into a pretty lucrative contract at the famous Moulin Rouge.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. The same one that you've heard about in film. And the show started to get a hint of danger, Right. Because people were laughing so much that some women would pass out because of their laughter and their tight corsets. And then one guy had a heart attack and died.

[Noel Brown]

That's terrible. But, you know, farting is objectively hilarious. And I guess that's an okay way to go.

[Ben Bowlin]

Well, they capitalized on it in the marketing. They put up signs and they had nurses stationed around the theater. And the signs would be like, this may be dangerous.

[Noel Brown]

Now, let's point something out real quick before we go any further. Sure. This might be grossing you guys out, and I can understand that. But let's not forget that La petite man. Remember that first story about the intake of the water?

[Ben Bowlin]

Yes.

[Noel Brown]

Well, he basically was able to give himself kind of an automatic enema. Right. And he did that up to three times a day. He was apparently a health food nut and a vegetarian and a teetotaler. He did not drink a Dr. Even in the crazy, absinthe soaked world of the Moulin Rouge, not a drop. His effort was devoted entirely to his craft. So his farts did not smell bad.

[Ben Bowlin]

That's an interesting point. Yeah. Now, he did smoke cigarettes from both ends, so it wasn't completely healthy.

[Noel Brown]

Well, I think everybody smoked cigarettes, and I think that was just a rite of passage for being French.

[Ben Bowlin]

It would be abnormal not to at this point in history. Right. And it's true, his expellations really did not generate a noticeably terrible smell. And just to clarify, as the grand finale, when he's playing the songs, he has an ocarina attached to the end of a hose, and he plays through the ocarina and the audience sings along with him. Little bit of crowd work at the.

[Noel Brown]

End, you know, and he's a real seasoned pro.

[Ben Bowlin]

And he gets an exclusive contract with Moulin Rouge. Did we mention that part?

[Noel Brown]

No, I just said it was a contract. But, yeah, exclusive is right. And it caused him a little bit of trouble because he, I think did a piece of his act, like on the street for somebody or like a private fart serenade.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. To promote a friend's new business in 1895.

[Noel Brown]

And that did not go over well with the proprietors of the Moulin Rouge.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah, the owner of this theater sued him for breach of contract because of this public serenade. His contract allowed him only to do this sort of performative farting. It's a weird term, performative farting in the Moulin Rouge theater itself. And this might make the owner of the theater sound like a real pill. But it's important to note for context, at the time of this lawsuit, Le Pet, a man is the highest paid entertainer in the entirety of France. He's like the Michael Jordan of professional farting. That's 20,000 francs for some of his higher performing shows. And that's not per year. That's a single show. And again, that's way back in the late 1800s.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. We actually off mic tried to run this through the handy dandy inflation calculator, but it could not crunch the numbers. The time frame and the currency exchange was a little too much for the inflation calculator to crunch.

[Ben Bowlin]

Old Flaty can't win them all. But the inflation calculator will return in future episodes. You have our word.

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[Ben Bowlin]

See Mint Mobile for details. So he gets sued by the owner of the Moulin Rouge. And he doesn't take this sitting down because that's not part of the act. He instead fights the situation in court. But while this is going on, the Moulin Rouge decides to replace him with a different performer.

[Noel Brown]

Now, it was really, really a rough time for old Le Petomain because they replaced him with a lady fartist named. It was just La Femme Petomain.

[Ben Bowlin]

La Femme Petomain, yeah, yeah. Who turned out to be a fraud fatale.

[Noel Brown]

That's right, yeah. Apparently under her enormous petticoats, she was hiding a bellows that was being worked, I'm guessing by her foot or something.

[Ben Bowlin]

Maybe like Thigh Master rules. I was wondering, but couldn't you see that.

[Noel Brown]

I know, I know. Knees moving and adding insult to injury. Her act was a one to one ripoff of his act. And you know, it was quite a kerfuffle.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah, it was quite a to do for sure. Now, Joseph, not to be defeated, said, you know what, I'm going to open my own theater. God knows I have the money and the capital to do so. So he opens his own theater and begins working for himself. And for years and years and years, he is doing quite well. He builds up a name, people go to see the world famous Le Petelment and things are rolling smoothly along until World War one occurs in 1914.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, I don't know. I guess things just got kind of dark, and people just weren't in the same mirthful spirits they used to be. Where farts would make them have heart attacks in the aisle, they were having heart attacks from serious stuff, like having bombs dropped on them and things, and just living in utter fear and terror.

[Ben Bowlin]

And additionally, his two sons were disabled in World War I. So he packs up his career as a professional flatulist, and he reopens a bakery, which he was doing at the beginning of the story. And guess what he's known for, Noel?

[Noel Brown]

Is it the bran muffins?

[Ben Bowlin]

It is the bran muffins. He lives to the ripe old age of 88 years old and expires in 1945.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Noel Brown]

And leaves behind him a legacy of fardistry that has actually been carried on today by a pretty admittedly small group. But there is one guy who is carrying this mantle and made an appearance on the BBC in 1997. He goes by the name of Mr. Methane and uses the same technique. The whole idea of inhaling air into the sphincter and pushing it back out and being able to make different tones. And you can kind of tell by the way he sticks the microphone right in his butt and then speaks into it afterwards that he, too, has a odorless expulsion.

[Ben Bowlin]

Well, he certainly presents it as such. And we can talk a little bit about the science of this, too. But first, let's. Let's play a clip of Mr. Methane, if we've got. Got one handy.

[Noel Brown]

Oh, and by the way, this clip was banned from the BBC on the grounds of bad taste, according to this. This YouTube clip. Here you be the judge.

[Bowen Yang]

I met him at a party and.

[Noel Brown]

My heart stood still Somebody told me his name was Bill oh, my heart stood still and his name was Bill and when he walked me home Just to set the tone, this guy is wearing a green spandex with a. With a purple cape and a green little face mask. And that is Mr. Methane and Frank Skinner performing De Do Run Ron, which is backed by the band the skinnerettes for BBC television in 1997, but apparently it did not make it to air. I want to confirm that, but that is what I'm reading here.

[Ben Bowlin]

He is not for the record singing. He is just providing the wind for this. Praised as a true genius, a huge star by Howard Stern. He's appeared on numerous different programs, not just the BBC, but he's on France Has Got Talent, Britain's Got Talent. Simon Cowell called him a Disgusting creature.

[Noel Brown]

He did, in fact, call him that. That's true.

[Ben Bowlin]

But he also. Mr. Methane, not Simon, got to the German version of the show Das Super Talent. He made it to the semifinals. The winner was actually a dog.

[Noel Brown]

You know, the Germans are into that stuff.

[Ben Bowlin]

You can read the entire story from his perspective at his website, which is still up mrmethane.com he also has a.

[Noel Brown]

Facebook page where he has 6,595 likes. So, you know, an admittedly niche talent, but very much, you know, carrying on the torch of, you know, past heroes like Roland the Farter and La Pet au Maine.

[Ben Bowlin]

And since we promised it in the beginning, we can go ahead. While we're on the subject of farts, tell you the world's oldest joke. It has been traced back to 1900 BCE and it is Sumerian. The Sumerians lived in what is now southern Iraq. And here it goes. Tell us if you think it still translates something which has never occurred since time immemorial, semicolon here. A young woman did not fart in her husband's lap. That's it. That's the joke.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. I don't. I don't understand.

[Ben Bowlin]

I don't get it either. It feels like maybe there's some social commentary that applied more to that time than it does to 2018, but it's neat that the world's oldest joke is a fart joke, I suppose.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ben Bowlin]

Well, you said you like fart humor.

[Noel Brown]

I just don't think. I just. I don't know. I would rather hear a fart than that joke.

[Ben Bowlin]

And someone who did not like poop humor. This might surprise some of us learn, was Le Petelman himself. He did not want to denigrate or diminish the quality of his artistry and impressions.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, he was a fartiste.

[Ben Bowlin]

He.

[Noel Brown]

He had been working on this craft for many years. I don't even think we said that. That from the time he found out about his talent to the time he actually graced the stage for the first time, he had been like working on this stuff for like five years or something and, you know, workshopping it.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. Picture him staying up late night at the bakery, just humming songs to himself and trying to figure out where he could slip the right fart in. And, you know, Noel, I think this was a pretty good one. This is some fascinating stuff. I gotta speak up in defense of farts, though.

[Noel Brown]

I wonder how many times we said the word fart in this episode.

[Ben Bowlin]

Well, we've certainly said the word more often than hopefully either of us have actually farted during this recording.

[Noel Brown]

Well, I don't know, man. Didn't you have a stat about how often in a day people fart and they don't even realize it? It's not like they're like big boisterous ones. It's just like that kind of regulation of your gas.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. Like I said in the top of the show, it's about a liter to 1.5 liters of gas per day. And most people will tend to fart on average about 13 to 21 times.

[Noel Brown]

So we're all in this together.

[Ben Bowlin]

We were all in this together. And as I was setting up, in defense of farts, if you ever feel guilty for laying a particular stinker, remember your farts are going to be manufactured by the bacteria that lives within your body. About 75% of your farts are created in your lower intestine, not by you. So the true culprit of a smelly fart is not you, but your bacteria. And that's why Le Petomant and other professional flatulists don't have that smell, because they're taking in air from outside and then expelling it.

[Noel Brown]

But you're saying that the legit way. It's not even your fault because you're really just farting your farts. Farts, Right.

[Ben Bowlin]

Which leads us to a bigger question. Who or what are we farting inside of?

[Noel Brown]

Let us know what you think. You can write to [e-mail] youm can check us out on Facebook and Instagram where we are ridiculous history. And we should thank everybody.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah, we'd also like to before we go to our thank yous issue a clarification. Previously, we had attributed two episodes to our research associate, Christopher Haciotes. Christopher, being the stand up great guy that he is, wrote to us off air to point out that those previous two episodes were actually the work of our research association, Eve's Jeffcoat. And you can find more of Eve's work over at the Afropunk Solutions Sessions show, as well as stuff mom never told you'd so do. Tune in. Check those out. Thanks, of course, to super producer Casey Pegram, thanks to Alex Williams who wrote this track, and thanks to you, Noel. Always a pleasure.

[Noel Brown]

You're welcome, Ben. Goodbye.

[Ben Bowlin]

Foreign.

[Noel Brown]

For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

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