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According to Wikipedia, a Flatulist is:

A Professional farter is a performer who receives payment for expelling flatus in an amusing and/or musical manner. They may also be referred to as Flatulists or Fartistes

There are a number of scattered references to ancient and medieval flatulists, who could produce various rhythms and pitches with their intestinal wind. Saint Augustine in City of God (De Civitate Dei) (14.24) mentions some performers who did have

such command of their bowels, that they can break wind continuously at will, so as to produce the effect of singing.

Juan Luis Vives in his 1522 commentary to Augustine's work testifies to having himself witnessed such a feat, a remark referenced by Michel de Montaigne in an essay.

The occupation of the flatulist appears to have been common at the courts of European nobility during the Dark Ages, and may even have Proto-Germanic roots. The peordh rune of the Anglo-Saxon futhorc has been suggested to be named after the fart based on the rune poem stanza:

([a fart?] is a source of recreation and amusement to the great, where warriors sit blithely together in the banqueting-hall.)

An example of a late medieval flatulist is preserved in an entry in the 13th century English Liber Feodorum (Book of Fees), listing one Roland the Farter, who held Hemingstone manor in the county of Suffolk, for which he was obliged to perform "Unum saltum et siffletum et unum bumbulum" (one jump, one whistle, and one fart) annually at the king Henry II's court every Christmas. But professional farting no longer seems to be restricted to the aristocracy. The Activa Vita character in the 14th century allegorical poem Piers Plowman appears to number farting among the abilities desirable in a good entertainer in general, paralleling with storytelling, fiddling or playing the harp:

Ac for I kan neiþer taboure no trompe ne telle no gestes Farten ne fyþelen at festes, ne harpen

("As for me, I can neither drum nor trumpet, nor tell jokes, nor fart amusingly at parties, nor play the harp.")

19th through 21st Centuries

A notable flatulist in Victorian times was Joseph Pujol, known by his stage name le Pétomane (pictured above), who performed in France from 1887. A contemporary flatulist, allegedly the only professional of his trade today, appears as Mr. Methane. Another famous flatulist, an amateur known as Dan the Farter, is a member of the Howard Stern "Wack Pack."