I didn't post the first obit/tribute on the 'net of Leslie Nielsen but I may have been the first to make mention of his love of an invention called the Handi-Gas. If you search, you'll see that almost every personal remembrance of Mr. Nielsen since has mentioned how he would constantly use a concealed device to emit fart sounds in public places, sometimes even during television appearances. Some of the pieces called it a Whoopie Cushion but that's not correct. You sit on a Whoopie Cushion. Leslie's weapon of choice was the Handi-Gas, so-called because it was cradled in the palm of one's hand for just the perfect moment. I mentioned here that I'd been unable to find the one he gave me or to locate a photo (or even any mention) of this scientific marvel on the Internet.
The fine cartoon voice actor Greg Berg wrote me that one day when he was working with Howie Mandel, he witnessed Howie use one he'd gotten from Leslie Nielsen. The setting was in an elevator and the "victim" on whom the prank was played was Gary Owens…whose reaction, Greg says, was "polite." Greg then went out to get one of his own but couldn't find a Handi-Gas anywhere. He wound up purchasing a Pooter-Tooter — that's one in the photo above — which is identical except for coloration. The Handi-Gas I got from Leslie Nielsen was flesh-colored, though Leslie's was wrapped in electrical tape and he suggested I do the same with mine. "It makes them last longer," he said. The way Leslie used his, he should have reinforced it with titanium pegs and a cast-iron bellows.
(Greg Berg, by the way, should not be confused with Gregg Berger, who is another fine cartoon voice actor…and we've all spent a lot of time trying to straighten out the Internet Movie Database on which is which. Greg Berg — with one less "g" and no "er" — counts among his many fine roles the part of Baby Fozzie on The Muppet Babies. Fozzie Bear is just the kind of character to use one of these things.)
Getting back to the Pooter-Tooter (and there's a phrase I've never used before and will never use again): I would like you to all know that I have only dwelled on this topic as a matter of historical record. Although I had and still have the greatest respect for Leslie Nielsen as a comic actor, I think making fart sounds to embarrass or discomfort others is just about the most childish, unfunny thing a person can do, right up there with lighting a bag of dogshit, leaving around rubber vomit or performing Jackie Mason's current act. On the other hand, I do find the tutorial for the Pooter-Tooter rather amusing…
