Don't Be Afraid to Let 'Er Rip

Leslie Nielsen with some wise parting words.

Howdy! It’s Joey, back with more Fun Fact Friyay. Today’s fact is a breezy one.

Leslie Nielsen’s gravesite reads “Let ‘er rip” because he enjoyed fart machines so much.

I like to think I have a pretty expansive sense of humor.

I appreciate a delicious one-liner, such as the many clever musings from Mitch Hedberg or Steven Wright.

I giggle at fast-paced jokes where the words bounce off each other effortlessly, like basically the entire Bridesmaids movie.

I enjoy a nice meandering story, a la the ones Norm MacDonald liked to tell on talk shows, or these silly animal jokes from Madison Sinclair.

But one thing I never really got into were fart jokes. Is it mildly amusing when you ask Alexa to make a fart sound, then ask her what time it is, and she says, “It’s fart o’clock” and farts again?

Sure, but I still don’t know what time it is.

While I’d prefer not to smell these kinds of jokes, the actor Leslie Nielsen was legendary for loving a good fart prank.

Bill Hader recently-ish appeared on an episode of “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” and recounted how Nielsen would use a fart machine during meetings with SNL’s Lorne Michaels.

Conan should not be surprised by this story, because his very own talk show once welcomed Nielsen (and his fart machine) as a guest.

In fact, Nielsen would regularly bring a fart machine with him to prank people. He enjoyed everything fart-related so much that he put a reference to it on his headstone.

If you head to Nielsen’s gravesite at Evergreen Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale, you’ll notice a simple inscription: “Let ‘er rip.”

People also sometimes put mini airplanes or other mementos in honor of his films and TV shows. He was in about 250 movies and shows, so there’s lots to pull from.

And should you walk around enough, you might notice a bench with another Nielsen quote: “Sit down whenever you can.”

Nielsen would tell actors and comedians that phrase when they asked for advice. I would argue that even if you’re not an actor or a comedian, it’s very practical. I’m sitting down right now, and I’m loving it.

Here’s a three-minute compilation of Nielsen’s best “work” with his fart machine. And you know what? After watching it, I think I might get why he found it so funny.