How Pujol Made the Act Work
Joseph Pujol’s performance depended on muscular control, not simply on producing intestinal gas. Accounts of his act describe him drawing air into his rectum and then releasing it deliberately. By varying the airflow and timing, he could make different sounds, imitate familiar noises, and perform tricks such as extinguishing a candle with a burst of air.
That control turned a private bodily function into something closer to a live sound effect. The skill was unusual, but the audience’s reaction also depended on the contrast: the sounds were recognizable, yet came from a source that polite entertainment normally kept offstage.
A Stage Built Around Surprise
At the Moulin Rouge, Pujol presented the act as a sequence of demonstrations rather than a single joke. Mimicry gave the performance variety, while the physical feats made the source of the sounds part of the spectacle. The audience could hear a tune or imitation and then watch the performer reveal how he had made it.
That combination—comic timing, visible control, and deliberate impropriety—helped make the act a distinctive feature of the variety stage. It also gave Pujol a persona audiences could remember: “Le Pétomane,” a name built around the very skill that respectable performers would usually conceal.
Why the Earnings Story Stuck
Stories that Pujol earned more than celebrated actress Sarah Bernhardt capture the act’s fame, though such comparisons are difficult to verify precisely. The striking point is that a skill treated as embarrassing in ordinary life could become valuable when a performer turned it into disciplined, repeatable entertainment. Pujol did not just surprise audiences with a bodily sound; he made control of it the show.
