Even the king’s second son, the Duke of Cumberland, was there.
Every seat in the theater was sold, and even standing room was at premium.
The appointed hour came, but nothing happened.
The audience waited patiently at first, but as the minutes dragged on, they grew restless.
Perhaps some music would have soothed the waiting crowd, but none was provided.
The crowd began to hiss and groan.
Some pounded their canes and others stomped their feet.
Cries went out demanding the show to begin.
This announcement was met with more boos and catcalls.
This generated laughter and seemed to relieve some of the tensions.
Then suddenly, someone threw a lighted candle onto the stage, and immediately chaos broke out.
The sensible ones among the audience left at this point, while the rest tore up the theater.
They ripped out all the woodwork and carried it out into the streets and made a large bonfire.
Everything that could be removed was dragged out from the theater and dumped into the fire.
Photo:British Museum
The incident of the Bottle Conjuror became the joke of the town.
The conjurer consented to crawl into a bottle for five pounds.
Some newspapers sought to unmask the identity of the perpetrators of hoax.
Did the theaters manager, Samuel Foote, originated the hoax?
References:# William Shepard Walsh, Handy-book of Literary Curiosities,Archive.org
