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Some people see them as low class, idiot humor.  Others say to hell with humor grandstanding and just learn to love it all.  Other say, "Haha!  Fart funny!" 

I think fart jokes have the potential of being funny, but are not funny in and of themselves.  I think it's all in the timing, really.  Then again, I suppose that can be said about any form of comedy, no matter how intelligent or simple, how subtle or blatant.  It's all in the timing.  And if it weren't for farts, I wouldn't have invented the code language I use at work.  "Man, DFOTE!" "What?" "Don't Fart On The Elevator!"

All depends on how it's done. George Carlin had a great routine on farts, and he was a great believer that anything could be funny if you did it right. But that's what observational comedy is about - finding the common knowledge everyone has but doesn't normally share with others. For a skilled comedian like the late Mr. Carlin, farts can be a goldmine of observational humour.

Likewise, Blazing Saddles did fart jokes well, partly because it showed a previously unseen reality of a movie cliche - cowboys sitting around the campfire eating beans - and partly because it went so far over the top. Funny how a barrage of farts can be less offensive than one, just by the sheer absurdity of it. Of course, the fart routine lasted a few seconds in an appropriate place, and did not find its way into the rest of the movie.

These days, fart jokes are often just tossed in for a cheap laugh, especially in kids' movies and lowbrow comedies. Nothing clever or surprising, just the notion that farts are inherently funny. That I'm not so crazy about. There has to be something more to the joke.

Farts should be used sparingly and are better when unexpected. Otherwise you cheapen the fart.

Simplely . . .

Children love 'em.
Adults hate 'em.

When Roald Dahl wrote the children's book "BFG," her gave the hero an extraordinary bad case of flatulence. Children wrote to him and told him how much they loved it. Adults, on the other hand, wrote to him and told him how much they hated it.

In the teen book "Swim the Fly" by Donald Calame, the hero gets out of a swim meet by faking an appendicitis attack. But, when his mother takes him to the hospital, and they want to operate and remove his appendix, he had to find some way to get out of the operation. Thus, he and his grandfather fake an extreme case of farts.

In the juvenile series "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer, there's a dwarf called Diggums who suffers from explosive farts, which he uses to good effect. Whether its repelling a goblin or propelling himself out of a window.

Simplely . . .

Children love 'em.
Adults hate 'em.

Oddly enough, farting was not always considered lowbrow entertainment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A9tomane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A9tomane)

Quote from: AndyC on October 26, 2009, 06:23:32 PM
Oddly enough, farting was not always considered lowbrow entertainment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A9tomane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A9tomane)

Wow, here's a video of a recording of that guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tixKopGjn5s

Wow, just wow.  :buggedout: I can't say it's a fail... but it isn't a win either.

Fart jokes 98% of the time now are unfunny.  Its been killed by the likes of Troma and the producers of spoof films. 

Farting on purpose or too often isn't funny.  Farting on accident, especially in someones ear, is totally funny.

A bad fart joke can spoil the atmosphere.  :twirl:

If used well in a totally unexpected situation, they can leave me LMAO, gasping for breath as it were.  But if used poorly in a totally expected situation, they just stink;  like most of the "humor" these days.

Quote from: Paquita on October 27, 2009, 12:30:01 AM
Farting on purpose or too often isn't funny.  Farting on accident, especially in someones ear, is totally funny.

While I'm curious, I don't really think I want to know how this particular situation could ever occur.  :question: :teddyr: :question:

Quote from: Jack on October 27, 2009, 06:15:41 AM
If used well in a totally unexpected situation, they can leave me LMAO, gasping for breath as it were.  But if used poorly in a totally expected situation, they just stink;  like most of the "humor" these days.

I agree.

I'll admit I've found some movie farts funny-but these are also the movies I usually have no real desire to watch again after I've seen them.  If I was offered a free copy of Dumb and Dumber or one of the Marx Brother's Duck Soup-I'm definately siding with Groucho.

Apparently, there is a book which contains an essay by Benjamin Franklin called Fart Proudly!  :bouncegiggle: :bouncegiggle:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fart_Proudly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fart_Proudly)

I learned quite a lot of American history in high school, but not this!  :teddyr:

Since it's Halloween, I'll resurrect this thread and put it to the test. Here's a paragraph I wrote this morning, and I'll let you be the judges: Funny, not funny, or just gross.

Warning: Major League TMI ahead (fictional TMI, but TMI just the same).

As the almost-bad potato salad started to affect my digestive tract, I ran into the bathroom. I let escape a series of farts that both repulsed and fascinated me. These were noises that hadn't been heard for sixty-five million years. They were like unto the great dinosaur farts of old. It started with the basso profundo of the Brachiosaur bottom burps that would boil prehistoric swamps, killing first below and then above the waterline with the stench of half-digested greenery. As this finally played out, it turned into a passable imitation of a T-Rex Twizzler, that fweet-fweet-fweet-fweet that would trumpet through Jurassic forests as the mighty predator ran, swiveling hips of doom that would loosen the bowels of even the stoutest Triceratops. Which, not coincidentally, was my next imitation: Following my auditory visit to Dino-Land, I was next allowed the distinct privilege of forming my own supply of coprolite-to-be, enough to supply future jewelry shops worldwide.

Quote from: Derf on October 31, 2009, 03:11:56 PM
Since it's Halloween, I'll resurrect this thread and put it to the test. Here's a paragraph I wrote this morning, and I'll let you be the judges: Funny, not funny, or just gross.

Warning: Major League TMI ahead (fictional TMI, but TMI just the same).

As the almost-bad potato salad started to affect my digestive tract, I ran into the bathroom. I let escape a series of farts that both repulsed and fascinated me. These were noises that hadn't been heard for sixty-five million years. They were like unto the great dinosaur farts of old. It started with the basso profundo of the Brachiosaur bottom burps that would boil prehistoric swamps, killing first below and then above the waterline with the stench of half-digested greenery. As this finally played out, it turned into a passable imitation of a T-Rex Twizzler, that fweet-fweet-fweet-fweet that would trumpet through Jurassic forests as the mighty predator ran, swiveling hips of doom that would loosen the bowels of even the stoutest Triceratops. Which, not coincidentally, was my next imitation: Following my auditory visit to Dino-Land, I was next allowed the distinct privilege of forming my own supply of coprolite-to-be, enough to supply future jewelry shops worldwide.

I would like to option this treatment.  Will Ferrell has already expressed interest.

Hasn't Ferrell already made about a hundred coprolite-to-be movies? However, I'm willing to negotiate option rights with you. Call my people and we'll do lunch.

I heard Adam Sandler and Mike Myers have both expressed interest.

Quote from: AndyC on November 01, 2009, 01:48:41 PM
I heard Adam Sandler and Mike Myers have both expressed interest.

There's no reason to get ugly about it! If you don't like it, just offer some constructive criticism like "That's the worst piece of filth I've ever read!!" You don't have to bring Sandler into the discussion; that's just mean.  :tongueout: