Did you know the average human farts 14 times a day? Former Machine Gun Fellatio singer, cabaret performer and chanteuse Christa Hughes certainly does.
In fact she says: ‘I’m not your average human and my farts are far from average. I am indeed one of the world’s greatest flatulists, a phenomenal fartiste!’
Christa has teamed up with her former Circus Oz buddy Jim Dunlop to create The World According to Farts and Other Extraordinary Sounds of the Human Body, a show for kids that celebrates the tuneful delights of the human body.
It is delightfully tuneful and to demonstrate this my recital of ground-breaking fart facts will include musical interludes (during which I will perform the classics and some all-time favourites of my rear end’s ripper repertoire), an all-inclusive let-go-and-let-off workshop, a master-blaster class and plenty more surprises. The extraordinary sounds of the human body will be performed Ioudly and proudly by the participants and celebrated by all. May the force of nature be with you. It will be a blast.
The show came into being when Hughes was asked to create a kids’ show for Way Out West Festival. ‘I thought, FARTS. I love farts. Kids love farts.’
And that was that.
In her adult shows, Beer Drinking Woman in particular, Hughes manages some impressive gargling. That made its way to the show as well.
‘I have done my fart research,’ she laughs.
‘Girls and women fart as much as blokes. Some farts can go as fast as eleven kilometres an hour. The power of your fart and the sound of your fart depends on how much gas and on the tightness of your bottom. So everyone’s fart sounds different.’
To Christa, farts are musical.
‘The body can make some beautiful sounds, some really abstract sounds. I really wanted to use the show to get kids slowing down and listening.’
And farting.
She gets them farting as well. In fact at the end of the show she has them all on the stage farting the Australian national anthem as per the chap who used to close the Moulin Rouge by farting the French national anthem.
And of course, the kids absolutely love it!
‘I love the chaos of the kids onstage,’ says Christa of the grand finale. People going wild! Sydney is so crazy at the the moment – so many rules! Harmless chaos is so much fun and kids absolutely love it.’
Catch this very farty party, The World According to Farts and Other Extraordinary Sounds of the Human Body at the Brunswick Picture House, | Wednesday 17–Saturday 20 Jan | 2pm | Tix are $15 | Family of 4 $55 | For tickets and more show info go to www.brunswickpicturehouse.com