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Fart lighting

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fart lighting about to begin

Fart lighting, variously referred to as fart-burning, blue-darting, blue flame, blue angel, flatus ignition, pyroflatulence, and gas lamping, is the practice of setting fire to the gases produced by human flatulence.

Although there is little scientific discourse on the combustive properties of flatus, there are many anecdotal accounts of flatus ignition and the activity has increasingly found its way into popular culture with references in comic routines, movies, and television; including cartoons.

Chemistry

The composition of flatus varies dramatically among individuals. Flatulence produces a mixture of gases with the following six as major components:[1]

Methane burns in oxygen forming water and carbon dioxide often producing a blue hue (ΔHc = -891 kJ/mol),[2] as:

CH
4(g) + 2O
2(g) → CO
2(g) + 2H
2O(g)

Hydrogen sulfide also combusts (ΔHc = -519 kJ/mol)[3] to

2H
2S(g) + 3O
2(g) → 2SO
2(g) + 2H
2O(g)

The odor associated with flatus is due to hydrogen sulfide, skatole, indole, volatile amines and short chain fatty acids. These substances are detectable by olfactory neurons in concentrations as low as 10 parts per billion, hydrogen sulfide being the most fragrant.[4]

Gas production

The gases are produced by bacteria which live in symbiosis within the large intestines of humans and other mammals. The gases are created as a by-product of the bacteria's digestion of food into relatively simpler substances.[5]

Flammability

Because the methane, hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen present are flammable, igniting the resulting gases can result in burns or explosions as well as the desired flame. Clothing, hair or skin may catch fire and sensitive tissues can be damaged.

Technique and safety

The act of fart lighting is performed by using an opened flame such as a candle or a cigarette lighter. There are web sites on the internet devoted exclusively to explaining proper lighting techniques.[6] Common problems reported are severe and painful burns around and about the anus. Reports of serious burns to body parts are not uncommon but clothing helps to protect one's skin. Wearing pants (e.g. thick cotton sweatpants) is a good safety precaution. As with all fire stunts, cotton clothes (particularly if damp), or even better, wool, are safer than synthetics. The fire point of cotton is 210 °C (410 °F), and it is hard to ignite accidentally. But many common synthetic fabrics such as polyester fleece or nylon can easily catch fire or melt to the skin.[7] Many experienced fart lighters suggest that denim be worn during the process of fart lighting; due to its thickness, it usually does a good job of protecting the skin from burns. Performing fart lighting in only underwear, in synthetic clothing (e. g. track pants), or no clothing at all could result in serious burns to the anus, scrotum, or vagina.

Motivations

The manly art of fart-burning. Compression, ignition, combustion and exhaust.[8][9]

— Frank Zappa

Fart lighting has been a novelty practice primarily among young men or college students for decades,[10] but is discouraged for its potential for causing injury. Such experiments typically occur on camping trips and in single-sex group residences, such as tree-houses, dormitories, or fraternity houses.[11] With the advent of video sharing features online, hundreds of self-produced videos, both documentary as well as spoof, have been posted to sites such as YouTube. The people appearing in the videos are predominantly young males.[12][13] In his book The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life author Mark Richard Leary explains how a great deal of unhappiness is due to people's inability to exert control over their thoughts and behavior and that "stupid stunts" including lighting flatulence was a way to make an impression and be included in group bonding or hazing.[14]

Serious injuries

The flammability of bodily gases has caused serious problems in the medical operating room and also in animal slaughterhouses. There have been many reports in the medical literature of "life-threatening explosions" in patients undergoing electrocautery of colon polyps or other lesions.[15] In one case, the explosion resulted in a six-inch (15 cm) hole in the patient's large intestine. However, the hole was repaired and the patient recovered.[16]

Many find a comedic value in fart lighting and the activity is increasingly represented in pop culture possibly because "for adults, the allure of the vulgar is regressionary and often secretly pleasurable."[17]

In comic routines

Radio personality Howard Stern, dubbed a shock jock for his controversial use of scatological humor on The Howard Stern Show, cites a fart-lighting scene for losing his popular show's first NBC affiliate when WGIT in Hartford canceled the show.[18] The Flaming Gerbil Legend was reported by Robert D. Raiford on the John Boy and Billy radio show.[19][20]

In music

The 1968 Mothers of Invention song "Let's Make The Water Turn Black" is a true story of two adolescent brothers who were neighbors of composer Frank Zappa. Among their other antics, they would spend time after school attempting to light each other's flatulence.

In movies

In the Christmas sequence which opens Ingmar Bergman's film Fanny and Alexander (1982), the titular kids are given a fart-lighting demonstration by their uncle. In the 1985 movie Weekend Warriors, the guardsmen in the unit all cheer on, as one of their number eats beans and then proceeds to engage in pyroflatulence, just as a visiting congressman enters the room. The viewer can see the congressman's shocked face by the light of the flame.[21] In the 1993 movie Dennis the Menace, Dennis was a "captive" of small time crook Switchblade Sam who, in his stupidity, allowed himself to be tied up by Dennis. The key (lost in the tin of baked beans) was to be found by feeding them to Switchblade Sam who was sitting by the fire. Hours later, the beans had their desired effect with flames licking his ankles.[citation needed] A fantasy sequence in Dumb and Dumber (1994) 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.[22] In the film Jack (1996), Jack, played by Robin Williams, and his friends from school ignite farts in a tree house.[23] In the film Beavis and Butt-head Do America (1996) the pair encounter their fathers 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.[24] Fart lighting is the major plot device that starts the film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999). Shortly after the characters are introduced, one character, Kenny McCormick dies after attempting to light one of his own farts on a dare. (Kenny's deaths from odd causes are a running gag in the series). The children make this dare in response to seeing Terrance and Phillip light each other's flatulence in the movie-within-the-movie, Asses of Fire. After lighting his fart, Kenny combusts and goes to the hospital; through a series of events the doctors replace his heart with a baked potato and it explodes, killing him and sending him to hell.[25] Also, in the very first episode of the TV show, South Park, ("Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"), Cartman shoots fire out of his anus by virtue of an alien satellite dish inserted in his rectum. In the 2000 fantasy/adventure film sequel Dragonheart: A New Beginning a young dragon Drake, while learning to breathe fire, accidentally swallows the fire and farts a fireball burning down a mill. In Extreme Days (2001), the four main male characters are shown in one scene lighting farts in a dark hotel room and laughing hysterically.[citation needed] In the movie "Saving Silverman", the character J.D. McNugent (portrayed by Jack Black) states that in high school, he tried lighting a fart but instead lit his right testicle on fire and that he can no longer grow hair on it. In the 2002 movie Scooby-Doo, when Mystery Inc is in disguise to avoid capture, Shaggy Rogers (portrayed by Matthew Lillard) farts too close to a candle, creating an explosion. In the 2007 sex screwball buddy-comedy film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry the lead characters, who are firefighters, ask a rescuee if they started a major fire by lighting his farts. The man is morbidly obese and this was part of a series of fat jokes with the man falling on the two firemen for a final sight gag. In the 2009 movie G-Force, Hurley and Blaster try using fart lighting to escape from a pet shop cage.

In television

In the British comedy Bottom, the character Richard Richard, a 40-year-old virgin played by famous English comedian Rik Mayall, attempts to sell his soul in order to have sex with beautiful women.[26] In order to seal his pact he eats the "sprouts of evil" (sprouts left over from last Christmas cooked in curry sauce). Richard also forces his friends to eat some. When the characters regain consciousness hours later, they literally fart flames. One character sets a settee on fire while another ignites a volatile alcohol and destroys the conservatory (a photo can be seen here). In the 1999 episode " Spontaneous Combustion" of the adult animated series South Park, spontaneous human combustion is attributed to people's flatulence acting as the ignition.[27] The entire town is admonished to not to hold in their flatulence even in social situations where the practice could be inappropriate.[28]

In UPN's sitcom Rock Me Baby (2003–2004), two disc jockeys perform the practice on the air. Shortly afterward, an entire frat house, 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.[29]

In the Beavis and Butt-head episode "Butt Flambé", the duo visit an emergency room after Beavis severely burns himself by lighting a fart.[30]

In Family Guy Viewer mail #1, Chris Griffin received the powers of pyrokinesis and lit his Dad's fart creating a flame several feet long.[31][31] In the May 2006 Untitled Griffin Family History's episode, the history of the universe starts with God lighting his own fart resulting in the Big bang with the objects of the Milky Way solar system apparently God's effluence.

An episode of The Cleveland Show, Gone with the Wind, involves Cleveland using a flamethrower to ignite his farts on stage during a karaoke contest, much to the amusement of the crowd.

A Bud Light 2004 Super Bowl commercial featured a horse-drawn carriage in which a couple is building romance and the man hands a woman a lit candle. While he leans down to retrieve the Bud Light; the horse farts and the gases, ignited by the candle flame, cause an explosion and we see the results of the woman's "blown out" hair and soot-covered face. At the end of the commercial, a passer-by refers to it as a "Rocket Sleigh".[32]

In the animated series Johnny Test a character, Johnny X, has the ability to produce flaming farts called "power poots".[33]

The opening theme song to The Man Show includes the line "Quit your job and light a fart" and made numerous references to the practice of fart lighting throughout the show's run.

In an episode of the satire puppet show Spitting Image, Rupert Murdoch uses lighted farts to make toast.[34][35]

In an episode of Kenny vs Spenny, Kenny Hotz attempts to light the fart of his infant nephew in hopes of making a viral video.

A 2010 commercial for JackLink's brand beef jerkey shows the Sasquach character farting into the campire, igniting his flatulence. This occurs after the campers tease him with a whoopie device.

In an unaired episode of Mythbusters, Adam lights his flatulence while in the "Flatus Ignition Seat" in front of a high speed camera to prove that lighting flatulence from a human is possible.[36]

Patents

In May 2000, a U.S. patent was issued for a "Toy gas fired missile and launcher assembly", a product that would allow one's "colonic gases" to be stored for later ignition to "fire the missile into space."[37]

See also

References

  1. ^ Van Ness, M. M. and Cattau, E. L. (1985) Am. Fam. Practioner, 31;198-208.
  2. ^ Methane
  3. ^ Hydrogen sulfide
  4. ^ Levitt, M. D. and Bond, J. H. (1978) in Intestinal Gas and Gastrointestinal Disease
  5. ^ BBC - h2g2 - Farts and Flatulence
  6. ^ Some examples of How-to fart lighting sites are "Can you light a fart on fire?" and " How to Light Farts on Fire". Others can be found by basic Internet searches.
  7. ^ British Medical Journal: The Flammable Fabrics Problem by Floyd B Oglesbay; Journal of Injury Prevention; 1998;4:317-320; doi:10.1136/ip.4.4.317.
  8. ^ Slaven, Neil (2003). Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa. Omnibus Press. p. 100. ISBN 0711994366. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  9. ^ Zappa, Frank (1999). The Real Frank Zappa Book. Simon and Schuster. p. 85. ISBN 0671705725, 9780671705725. Retrieved 2008-08-17. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Dawson, Jim (1999). Who Cut the Cheese?: A Cultural History of the Fart. Ten Speed Press, ISBN 1580080111. ISBN 9781580080118. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  11. ^ U. of California Press Web site Retrieved October 6, 2007
  12. ^ Barnes, Steve (2007). "On YouTube, you too can be a star". Santa Cruz Live. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  13. ^ "Search Results for "fart lighting"". YouTube. 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  14. ^ Leary, Mark Richard (2004). The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195172423. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  15. ^ Levitt, Michael D (1980). "Flatulence". Annual Review of Medicine. 31: 127–137. doi:10.1146/annurev.me.31.020180.001015. PMID 6772089. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ The Straight Dope web site
  17. ^ Twitchell., J. (1992; p.52). Carnival Culture – The Trashing of Taste in America. Columbia University Press, New York. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Stern, Howard (1993). Private Parts. Simon & Schuster ISBN 0671880160. ISBN 9780671880163. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  19. ^ [1]
  20. ^ [2]
  21. ^ Weekend Warriors (film) (Motion picture). 1985.
  22. ^ [3]
  23. ^ Francis Ford Coppola (director & producer), James DeMonaco (writer) (1996-08-09). Jack (Motion picture). Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), California, USA: Hollywood Pictures, American Zoetrope. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
  24. ^ Mike Judge (writer), Joe Stillman (writer) (1996-12-20). Beavis and Butt-head Do America (Motion picture). Hollywood, California: Paramount Pictures, MTV Films. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  25. ^ South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut - Eighth Draft
  26. ^ "Comedy: Bottom". BBC. 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  27. ^ Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew (2008). Taking South Park Seriously. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. p. 169. ISBN 0791475662.
  28. ^ Thompson, Paul (1999-11-06). Waikato Times. Hamilton, New Zealand. p. 14. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  29. ^ TV.com web site
  30. ^ Beavis and Butt-head: Butt Flambe Recap - TV.com
  31. ^ a b Callaghan, S. (2005; “Family Guy Viewer Mail #1.”, 152–155.). Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. HarperCollins, New York. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ^ Bud Light Sleigh Ride » The Inspiration Room Daily
  33. ^ Johnny Test - Watch Kids' WB! every Saturday morning 7AM - 12PM
  34. ^ "Spitting Image: The Complete Series 1". Network DVD. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
  35. ^ "Spitting Image plans TV comeback", The Guardian, Monday May 17, 2004
  36. ^ [4]
  37. ^ Zanakis, Michael F. (2 May 2000). "Toy Gas Fired Missile and Launcher Assembly". U.S. Patent Office, Patent number: 6055910; Filing date: Jun 1, 1998; International Classification - F42B 406. Retrieved 2008-01-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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