Pull my finger is a joke or prank regarding flatulence in which a mark is asked to pull the finger of the illusionist (or person playing the joke), who simultaneously flatulates so as to suggest a causal relationship between the pulling of the finger and the subsequent expulsion of gas. References in popular culture tend to treat "pull my finger" as a meme, saying the line but not showing the result, apparently on the assumption that the result is well known.
The original reference to the phrase was derived from a 1923 stage play Directed by Constantine Vega called "The Great Caper", in which the supporting, albeit comic relief character, Thurston Niles, constantly insists that the protagonist, Johnson Clarke, pull his finger, as the flatulent relief that followed would result in comedic debacles meant to entertain audiences of the day.
A comparable activity is referenced in a short story in Mordecai Richler's collection, The Street (1969), wherein Richler writes of a character:
“ He settled in sullenly at the kitchen table, his smile morose, and suddenly he would call out, "Pull my finger!" If you did he let out a tremendous burp. ”
A variation on this joke appears in Yasujiro Ozu's 1959 film 'Good Morning'. Schoolchildren ask each other to push their foreheads, and the child responds with an expulsion of gas.
In 2008, an iPhone app called Pull My Finger was one of the most popular apps in Apple's App Store, purchased over 50,000 times in less than one week. It allowed users to pull a virtual finger, activating the sound.
The phrase is now the focus of a legal battle between Pull My Finger and iFart over the use of the phrase.[