"The Fartiste" gets a standing ovation!

I wrote about famed fart musician Joseph Pujol in The Big Book of Gross Stuff. And thanks to my efforts, there’s now a new musical out called The Fartiste.

In the 1800s, Joseph Pujol performed in France on the Moulin Rouge, where his farting sound effects brought the house down. Farts were funny then, and farts are funny now, but WHY?

Steven Scott is the designated farter on the new show (he makes the sounds into a microphone with his mouth), and he says, “You could be at a funeral, and if somebody farts, people will laugh. There's just something funny about it.”

But Michael Roberts, the writer for the show’s music and lyrics has higher ambitions. “[Joseph Pujol] is a guy who farts, but so what? That's not a reason to write a story.”

Huh? What kind of crazy talk is that? Clearly Michael doesn’t understand ANYTHING!

How do you say "weird meat" in French?

New York Times

Hey, do you want to celebrate the festival called the Brotherhood of Guts? Of course you do! But that means you have to go to the French city of Limoges. Since 1973, it’s where the yearly get-together known there as La Frairie des Petits Ventres happens.

Limoges is famous for its butchers. So while you're at the festival, the three most popular things to eat are:

—Terrines, or cooked pig cheeks.

—Amourettes, or cooked sheep testicles (right). What do sheep testicles taste like? Don’t ask me!

—Tripe. To make tripe, you take the stomachs of a cow (cows have more than one!) cut them up, and cook them.

Okay, those are the classics. What else is there? A butcher named François Brun has a dish called nez d’amour (“nose of love”). It’s a cooked pig snout stuffed with pig tongue. (Just like in real life!)

How much do the people of Limoges like their weird meats? Its church has a statue called La Vierge au Rognon. It shows Mary handing baby Jesus a kidney. A kidney!? But kidneys filter pee! 

I think I’ll stick with pig cheeks, thanks.

New York Times story on

La Frairie des Petits Ventres here.

Top photo from here,

pig photo by be_khe.