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Presented by Wet Knee Productions, Loose Canon Productions, and DRD Productions in Association with The Drama Center, The Fartiste is the newest musical by Charlie Schulman and Michael Roberts. It receives its world premiere as part of the

Le Pétomane was the stage name of the French 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 fart at will. His stage name combines the French verb péter, "to fart" with the -mane, "maniac" suffix, found in words like toxicomane. In English, a translation might yield "the fart maniac". His profession can also be referred to as a "Flatulist" or a "Fartiste." [3]

Joseph Pujol was born in Marseille. He was one of five children of François (a stonemason and sculptor) and Rose 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 see water pouring from his anus. A doctor assured him that there was nothing to worry about.

Some of the highlights of his stage act involved playing a flute through a rubber tube in his anus, farting sound effects of cannon fire and thunderstorms as well as farting La Marseillaise. 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.[2]

In 1894, the managers of the Moulin Rouge sued Pujol for an impromptu exhibition he gave to aid a friend struggling with economic difficulties. For the measly sum of 3,000 francs (Pujol's usual fee being 20,000 francs per show), the Moulin Rouge lost their star attraction, who proceeded to set up his own traveling 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. The climax of his act however involved him farting his impression of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

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, aged 88 and was buried in the cemetery of La Valette in the Var département, 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.

•There is a musical based on his life called The Fartiste which was awarded Best Musical at the 2006 New York International Fringe Festival.

•Ricky Jay discusses Le Petomane in his book Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women.

•A present-day comedian employing the same effect is Mr. Methane.

•A short humorous film about his life, entitled Le Petomane, starred Leonard Rossiter.

•The Italian movie 'Il Petomane', 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 1999 Kinky Friedman novel, Spanking Watson, makes frequent reference to Le Petomane.

•"Le Pétomane: Parti Avec Le Vent", a 2005 short film based on Pujol's life, stars Ben Wise. It was written, produced and directed by Steve Ochs.

•"Le Petomane" is the title of a 1998 documentary by Igor Vamos that examines Joseph Pujol's place in history through archival films, historical documents, photographs, and interviews.

•In Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks named one of the characters he plays Governor William J. Le Petomane.

•Le Petomane was the name of a character in Sarah Bynum's novel Madeleine is Sleeping.

•Johnny Depp has mentioned frequently in interviews that he wishes to portray Pujol in a film.[citation needed]

•The second season of Mr. Show features "Fartin' Gary" (David Cross), whose stand-up act consists of voluntarily farting on stage as the punch-line to his "jokes." Over the course of the sketch, Gary's act is eclipsed by a man in the audience named Rudy (Odenkirk) who has too much gas of his own, and whose farts undermine Gary's. Despite pleading with the man to control himself, Gary is ultimately forced to walk offstage. Rudy then becomes the new "Clown Prince of Fartistry", taking on the name "Fartin' Rudy", and starring in his own TV sitcom, "Second Wind."

•In the DVD commentary for Mr. Show, David Cross noted that the character of Fartin' Gary was a parody of an actual farting comedian at a comedy festival who stole the show from the rest of the acts. Cross and Odenkirk were so put off by his mediocre act that they quickly wrote up the "Fartin' Gary" sketch to lampoon him.