Fart lighting

From Free net encyclopedia

Flatulence ignition, "fart lighting" or "burning farts" is the practice of setting fire to the gasses produced by flatulence. Because of the methane and hydrogen content of such, lighting the resulting gas can result in burns or explosions. Clothing or hair may catch fire and sensitive tissues can be damaged.

Nevertheless, it has become a novelty practice primarily among young men or college students, but is discouraged for its potential for causing injury. Such experiments typically occur on camping trips, single-sex group residences such as dormitories or fraternity houses. Besides the comical value of the phenomena, the flammability of bodily gases has caused serious problems in the medical operating room and also in animal slaughterhouses.

At least one patient is known to have had an explosion while undergoing cauterization of a rectal polyp. An electric spark ignited the patient's gasses, resulting in a six-inch (15-cm) hole in the patient's large intestine. However, this was sewn up, and the patient recovered [1].

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References in popular culture

Many find a comedic value to lighting of farts. The activity is often represented in pop culture.

In the British comedy Bottom, the character Richard Richard, a 40-year-old virgin played by infamous English comedian Rik Mayall, attempts to sell his soul in order to have sex with beautiful women. In order to seal his pact he eats the "sprouts of evil", sprouts left over from last Christmas cooked in curry sauce. Richard Richard also forces his friends to eat some. When the characters regain consciousness hours later, they literally fart flames. One character sets fire to the settee, while another ignites volatile alcohol and destroys the conservatory.

In the film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, the character Kenny McCormick dies after attempting to light one of his farts (Kenny's deaths from odd causes are a running gag in the series). After lighting his fart, Kenny goes to the hospital; through a series of events they replace his heart with a baked potato and it explodes, killing him and sending him to hell because he saw the movie which suggested this instead of going to church. Also, in the very first episode ("Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"), Cartman shoots fire out of his anus by virtue of an alien satellite inserted in his rectum.

In UPN's sitcom Rock Me, Baby, two disc jockeys perform the practice on the air. Shortly afterwards, an entire frathouse, inspired by the broadcast, is hospitalized for rectal burning and cauterization after attempting to light their farts—resulting in guilt, heavy fines for the station, and public backlash.

A fantasy sequence in Dumb and Dumber depicts the lead character, played by Jim Carrey, lighting a fart as a party trick in polite company. These unusual circumstances for the trick are intentionally jarring; the character's fantasy is established as bizarre and unrealistic.

In the internet show Angry Kid he is fartting on his sister. His sister then farted on him but stronger then he did. He then tryed to attempt to bring his fart on fire but it only blew it out.

In the Beavis and Butt-head episode "Butt Flambé", the duo visit an emergency room after Beavis severely burns himself by lighting a fart.

In the film Beavis and Butt-head Do America the pair encounter their father(s) in the desert. Over the encounter, the elder man resembling Butt-head offers to show something really cool, then farts into the campfire with atomic results.

The Flaming Gerbil Legend, supposedly reported by a radio show when read from a newspaper article.

The movie Caveman starring Ringo Starr and Shelley Long contains an extended sequence of lit farts.

British comedienne Victoria Wood sang a humorous song that included the words:
I wanted love poems but you couldn't write them,
My ear lobes nibbled but you wouldn't bite them.
You'd only fart and then attempt to light them.
It would never have worked.

In the Futurama episode Crimes of the Hot, all the world's robots are gathered on the Galapagos Islands for destruction for causing global warming. Just before the electromagnetic pulse arrives that will destroy them, the robots are instructed to aim their exhausts upward. This had the dual effect of moving earth a little further from the sun, thus cooling the planet, and moving the robots out of the way of the EMP. The action of aiming their exhausts upward is intentionally analogous to lighting farts, and is intended to be quite humorous, particularly when Bender aims his and it is the biggest blast of all.

In Werner Herzog's film Stroszek, an early scene depicts the cellmate of main character Bruno S. offering a lit fart as a parting gift to Bruno, who is about to be released from prison. The resulting explosion allows the main characters to escape though a resulting hole in the prison wall.