1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: to the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you so much for 3 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: tuning in. Uh it's a it's a lovely day today. 4 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: We have just survived what we were told was going 5 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: to be the storm of the century or the storm 6 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: of the decade. Excuse me, Hi, my name is Ben, 7 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 1: Hey Ben, my name is No. It's weird. I saw 8 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:52,280 Speaker 1: all of the preliminary forecasts and all that stuff, and 9 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: it seemed like it was really gonna be scary, and uh, 10 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: it was a little bit stormy, and then I slept 11 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: right through the worst of it. Um, I think I 12 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:01,319 Speaker 1: must have been exhausted and storms kind of tend to 13 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: put me to sleep anyway. But I woke up and 14 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: luckily my neighborhood wasn't hit, but I know that some were. Yeah. Yeah, 15 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,960 Speaker 1: it was a system that moved through the state overall, 16 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: not just here in Atlanta. Super producer Casey Pegram, how 17 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: is your storm experience? Yeah, I mean I stayed up 18 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: late to just kind of keep an eye on the 19 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: radar and everything, because you know, tornadoes freaked me out. 20 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: But um, the worst of it kind of passed by 21 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: us here, so it was no big deal. Nice, Yeah, 22 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: this is uh, you know, peek behind the curtain. Casey 23 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: and I live walking distance from each other, so I 24 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: kind of had a good idea, or at least an 25 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:43,680 Speaker 1: optimistic idea of how how your experience was. But but yeah, 26 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: even though the the hits keep coming, here in twenty 27 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: we are continuing to make episodes about weird, fascinating dare 28 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: I say, ridiculous people, places and events of the past. 29 00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: And this one, this one is a weird one. This 30 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: is uh, this is a doozy nol. Do you want 31 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: to set the scene for us? Oh? Absolutely? Uh So 32 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 1: it's six thirty pm on the sixteenth of January in 33 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: the year seventeen hundred and forty nine. Uh. There's an 34 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: advertisement that has graced the pages of the General Advertiser, 35 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: a London newspaper, promising the most incredible magical performance anyone 36 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:29,239 Speaker 1: has ever seen um at the Royal Theater. It promises 37 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: that this conjurer, which will get into the specifics that 38 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: differ between an illusionist and a conjuror and a magician, 39 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: would perform feats uh, such as being able to call 40 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: out the identity of any member of the audience that 41 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,679 Speaker 1: might be wearing a mask that was of course optional. UH. 42 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: The notion that this conjurer would play UH music that 43 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: could sound like any instrument on an ordinary cane or 44 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 1: walking stick, that he would get donated to him by 45 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: a member of the audience, and that he could impersonate 46 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: or dare the advertisement pointed out UH took an even 47 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: step further become embody any person alive or dead. And 48 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,519 Speaker 1: then the biggest claim of all that had people's imaginations 49 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: running wild, that this conjurer would be able to take 50 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: an ordinary UH wine bottle like you would see it 51 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: any any local pub and disappear into it. The language 52 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: used was climb into it. Yeah, that's that's true. That's 53 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: what was advertised, at least before we dive in. I 54 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: want to make maybe this is a disclaimer, maybe as 55 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: a confession. I want to make it known. I have 56 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: always had a deep instinctual UH distrust and dislike of 57 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: stage magicians. As a matter of fact, it's probably one 58 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: of the only biases I really have about humans. I 59 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: think they're smug. I think the smug and I don't 60 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: cott into it. But the show must go on, right, 61 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: And these claims that were made in this advertisement. Uh, 62 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: these claims hit home and people across London mobbed the 63 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: place trying to get into the theater. I think by 64 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 1: seven pm it was absolutely packed and there were still 65 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: people outside waiting to get inside. Correct. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 66 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 1: the demand was outrageous. Um. And this this, this, this 67 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: particular chronological account comes from an article on history extra 68 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: dot com. I think they might be taking a few 69 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: liberties with the timing, because, if I'm not mistaken, this 70 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: article or this advertisement would have been circulating for a 71 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: little bit longer than just the thirty minutes leading up 72 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,159 Speaker 1: to the performance. But uh, whatever the case might be. 73 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:50,159 Speaker 1: There was an announcement as people packed into this theater, 74 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 1: an announcement that the conjuror or or stage magician wasn't 75 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: it wasn't showing up and he wasn't there, and that 76 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,840 Speaker 1: if anyone wanted to they could get their money back. Uh. 77 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:08,719 Speaker 1: And this resulted in a absolutely massive riot. And somewhere 78 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: in the darkness of the theater, a very well to 79 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 1: do gentleman was looking on and snickering because he had 80 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: just won a pretty serious bet that he could fill 81 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:26,719 Speaker 1: a theater by promising the gullible public. Uh. Impossible feats 82 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:31,720 Speaker 1: that would be performed. So let's dive in for additional details. 83 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 1: Quite like the way the Vintage News dot Com sets 84 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:40,280 Speaker 1: up this story. Magicians, they say, or conjurers are a 85 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: smaller subset of a larger thing, the street performing scene. 86 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 1: And you know what we say when we say magicians 87 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: or conjurors, sleight of hand? Is this your card? Holy smokes? 88 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: How did you guess that number? Even though that's more 89 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: in the range of mentalists. And these people, despite my 90 00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: personal feelings about them, are are historically very popular. And 91 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:08,480 Speaker 1: usually they would work in their own kind of circuits 92 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: or maybe they'd have their own kind of turf, sort 93 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,359 Speaker 1: of like drug dealers today. Uh. Instead of you know, 94 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: they were solo acts. There would often be only one 95 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: magician in your town, and they wouldn't be part of 96 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:27,119 Speaker 1: a larger network of performers. And because of this, uh, 97 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: there was a mystique surrounding them. They were they were enigmatic, 98 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: they were mysterious, and a lot of that is probably 99 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:42,800 Speaker 1: a cultural descendant of earlier beliefs about hedge magicians, local healers, 100 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: or people who are alleged to be sorcerers. And this 101 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: popular perception is sort of Uh. I mean it's a 102 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 1: key piece of why the guy who makes the bet 103 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: is able to win the bet, because people still in 104 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: the mid seventeen hundred, it's you know, they might say, well, 105 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: I you know, magic, that's not real and these are 106 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 1: modern days of the eighteenth century. But then maybe in 107 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: private or maybe at home, they're like, I don't know. 108 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: I don't know though, because how did he know it 109 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 1: was my card? You know what I mean? Yeah, I 110 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: don't know. Ben. You and I kind of differ a 111 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: little bit on our feelings towards stage magicians. Yeah, like birds, 112 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 1: corvids are some of my favorite creatures. I know you 113 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: are a friend. You are a bird friend? Uh? There 114 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: should that would be like your native American nickname if 115 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: if you ever pulled the dances with wolves, you would 116 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: be Ben friend of bird Boland. Possibly that's just just 117 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: as my my particular idea there. But yeah, I know 118 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: I really like magicians and always have. Like I wouldn't 119 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 1: saw David Copperfield when I was a kid, and UM 120 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: really enjoyed that, actually met him and got him to 121 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,320 Speaker 1: sign a poster and all of that. And I recently 122 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:51,960 Speaker 1: um had the pleasure of going to the Magic Castle 123 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 1: in Los Angeles with with my kid, and it was 124 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: a really good time. I just you know, I I 125 00:07:57,040 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: kind of like the whole suspension of disbelief thing and 126 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 1: and not knowing and obviously I am armed with the 127 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: knowledge that magic isn't particularly real, and so I don't 128 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: necessarily wouldn't fall into the same boat as a lot 129 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: of these Londoners of the time who maybe in the 130 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: back of their mind we're like, oh, maybe there is 131 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: real magic. And I am distrustful of this individual because 132 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 1: of what you said about you know, the history of 133 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: things like hedge magicians and and wizards and conjurors, that 134 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: we're actually doing it for real. Um, So I'm able 135 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: to kind of put all that aside and just have 136 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: a good old time. But I definitely see where you're 137 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: coming from as well, Ben, But this um kind of distrust. Uh, 138 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: you can sort of take distrust and almost move it 139 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: into the realm of fascination. Distrust and fascination are kind 140 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: of two sides of the same coin, where um, you 141 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: can really work people into a frenzy by capitalizing on 142 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,559 Speaker 1: on that suspicion and being like, well, I've got to 143 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: see this if it's true. The idea that that a 144 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: person could disappear into a bottle, that's crazy town. And uh, 145 00:08:58,360 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: I I need to know, just from my own out 146 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: of action for the safety of my community, if there's 147 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:05,200 Speaker 1: someone like this out there. Um. And that is what 148 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: caused people to flock to the new theater in Haymarket 149 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: on that evening of January sixte of seventeen nine. Yep 150 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:18,320 Speaker 1: I was thinking about how best to give the context 151 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 1: of the excitement the gripped the city. Uh. And the 152 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,079 Speaker 1: best way that I could I spent some time thinking 153 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,720 Speaker 1: about this. The best way I could describe it is 154 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: the way people on the internet have been reacting to 155 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 1: the Tiger King. Here in these are days of Quarrantine 156 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: that everybody knew about this upcoming performance. London was talking 157 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: about this everywhere, from the like the the elite gentleman's 158 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: clubs to your local pub. People were excited. And then 159 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 1: sometimes you'll see it described the bottle He's gonna jump in. 160 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,720 Speaker 1: Sometimes you see it described as a court bottle, sometimes 161 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: as a wine bottle. And as people we're talking about this, 162 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,680 Speaker 1: maybe it was a slow news day, maybe like uh, 163 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: like the Tiger King. Now, people just wanted something to 164 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: distract them. But either way you cut it, this is 165 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:15,560 Speaker 1: a huge success. When we finally roll around to the 166 00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: night of the show, remember there's not really such a 167 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 1: thing as a fire code in these days, the theater 168 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 1: is literally packed to the gills. Every place you could 169 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,880 Speaker 1: put a person is taken up by a person. People 170 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: are standing, uh, people are waiting outside, you know, trying 171 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: to slip in uh by any means necessary. And it 172 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: rolls around to seven o'clock, right, the audience is waiting 173 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:44,680 Speaker 1: there and a lot of these people, understand, have been 174 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: standing in this very packed crowd for a long time 175 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:51,680 Speaker 1: and nothing crickets, casey, maybe get a cricket sound there. 176 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:55,280 Speaker 1: There's not even like an opening act, right, No, there's not. 177 00:10:55,760 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: Um and people were already getting a bit restless. Uh. 178 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,079 Speaker 1: The theater was over sold to the point where people 179 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:04,840 Speaker 1: were like, I mean it was you know, there was 180 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: no air conditioning in these times. It was very uncomfortable. 181 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:11,480 Speaker 1: Every single box seat, every single position in the pit 182 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: area and the gallery was taken uh. Standing room around 183 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:20,439 Speaker 1: the edges was completely packed. And eventually a gentleman came 184 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 1: out onto the stage, a representative of the theater. Uh, 185 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: to the sound of groans and whistles and cat calls 186 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:32,680 Speaker 1: and pounding canes and feet uh. And this person walked 187 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 1: out bowing uh and an apology UM, and said that 188 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:41,360 Speaker 1: if the performer wasn't going to appear in the next 189 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:45,680 Speaker 1: quarter hour, that refunds would be available at the door. Um. 190 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,960 Speaker 1: And this was followed by another suscerous as you like 191 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,480 Speaker 1: to say, been a hubbub, a commotion with groans and 192 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 1: hisses and cat calls and people mocking this poor hapless 193 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: sap that was just doing his job, literally shooting the messenger. Yeah, 194 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 1: my favorite part of this is this cacophony of groans 195 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,240 Speaker 1: and his is is this. There's a guy who's in 196 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:10,319 Speaker 1: the pit of the theater, so he's standing. There's a 197 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: guy in the pit who who decides the shout out. 198 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: He's like, if you pay me, double outcrowling, solidn't point bottle. 199 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 1: And then someone's like that guy, that guy's doing crowd work. 200 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:24,559 Speaker 1: So he he bought. He bought a little time. Basically, 201 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:28,000 Speaker 1: he bought a little time. People kind of got back 202 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,800 Speaker 1: in good spirits, but that wasn't gonna last for long. No, 203 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: it only lasts for about fifteen minutes when people are like, 204 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:43,800 Speaker 1: oh ha ha a tensions relieved. Before we continue, I 205 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: know it sounds like maybe we're making a big deal 206 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,599 Speaker 1: about this, but before we continue, it's necessary to know 207 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:54,199 Speaker 1: that the when when you hear the phrase theater crowd, uh, 208 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 1: we mean something very different in terms of socioeconomic status 209 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: and behavior. Because nowadays, when you hear like theater crowd, 210 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:07,560 Speaker 1: you might think people going to Broadway, or people are 211 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:11,120 Speaker 1: dressing up in suits and nice uh, nice outfits of 212 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:13,439 Speaker 1: some sort and then they're having a dinner at a 213 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:16,880 Speaker 1: nice restaurant or before No, no, no, not at all. Uh, 214 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 1: these places can turn ugly pretty quickly, and the crowd 215 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:22,200 Speaker 1: back that is much more like what you would expect 216 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:25,080 Speaker 1: out of out of a concert, you know what I mean, 217 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:28,720 Speaker 1: than what you would expect out of your local theaters 218 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,559 Speaker 1: production of Phantom of the Opera. Yeah. Yeah, And this 219 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 1: is definitely like there was all all this call and 220 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:37,719 Speaker 1: response and audience kind of participation and much more of 221 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:40,199 Speaker 1: just like you know, there was no decorum. This was 222 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:43,719 Speaker 1: not like a white glove opera situation. This was very 223 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:47,199 Speaker 1: much uh, a lot of the upper crust mixing with 224 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:50,440 Speaker 1: the quite lower crust um and it was the great 225 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:53,719 Speaker 1: equalizer was everyone was fascinated by the idea of of 226 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: what this uh, this magician conjuror was capable of, you know, 227 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 1: from dukes and and uh and royalty and relatives of 228 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 1: of such to the lowest peasants, you know. And the 229 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 1: tickets were not absurdly overpriced either, and this was something 230 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 1: that you know, you would pay a premium for the 231 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:13,080 Speaker 1: box seats obviously, but down in the gallery as they 232 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 1: tall out of the pit, that's where the lower class 233 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:18,559 Speaker 1: seats would would be. So that's also probably where the 234 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:21,360 Speaker 1: uh these this riot that was about to take place 235 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 1: reached a fever pitch much more quickly with like the 236 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: you know, the swells up in the up in the logs, 237 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:29,920 Speaker 1: the logs good or bad, I can never remember, uh, 238 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 1: up in the expensive seats, and we're able to make 239 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,840 Speaker 1: a getaway much much more effectively. And that's exactly what happened. Yeah, 240 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,320 Speaker 1: it's interesting point that out, and well because the upper 241 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 1: class actually started the riot or or set the spark 242 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: here because there was some guy, some some real winner 243 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 1: up in the boxes who after fifteen minutes or so 244 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:57,920 Speaker 1: from that previous crowd work joke, he got bored or 245 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:00,800 Speaker 1: he decided he would just stir the poe. Uh. He 246 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 1: threw a lit candle onto the stage, and this was 247 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: sort of like this was taken my this was this 248 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:11,920 Speaker 1: was taken as an announcement to riot. I guess sure 249 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 1: seems like it. I mean it sounds like the equivalent 250 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: of like throwing a Molotov cocktail over the wall, you know, 251 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: like during like some kind of like armistice, you know, 252 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 1: really uh, you know, like setting the powder keg on fire. 253 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: Literally what a thing to do, you know, especially from 254 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:30,760 Speaker 1: someone that was you know, it's coming from such a 255 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: protected position to pretty pretty lame, that's right. Noal So 256 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: the mob rises up like all at once. They're tearing 257 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,320 Speaker 1: the seats from the floor, they're upending the benches. They 258 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 1: decide that they're going to destroy the theater, and you know, 259 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 1: mob mentality is is just an insane thing. I don't 260 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 1: know if you guys have ever been in like a 261 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:53,800 Speaker 1: protest gone wrong or a riot that goes out of hand, 262 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:57,440 Speaker 1: But people just start breaking stuff. It doesn't matter what 263 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: they're protesting. It's crazy. It's sort of like a much 264 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: more violent version of the way people react when somebody yawns, 265 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: you know, like everyone gets on board super quickly. It's 266 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,280 Speaker 1: almost like this knee jerk reaction. That's what happened. There 267 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:13,040 Speaker 1: was this you know, the sound of like women screaming, 268 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: and there you know, their dudes or escorts, uh just 269 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: clawing their way to get to one of these exits. 270 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: And again the people up in the balconies were much 271 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: more uh at an advantage here. Um. Soon there's you know, 272 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 1: everyone's just climbing over each other in fear of being trampled. 273 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: People are pulling up the seats, throwing it into the 274 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 1: fire on the stage. Essentially the curtain was pulled down 275 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: and ripped into shreds and made into like a weird 276 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 1: like flag that was hoisted up on a pole on 277 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 1: the stage. Um, all of the money that was taken 278 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 1: in which was you know, a sold out house. I 279 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 1: don't have a number as to exactly how many people, 280 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 1: but this sounds like a medium's level theater, which would 281 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 1: probably be in the you know, five hundred plus, I 282 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:01,800 Speaker 1: would say, to have this kind of chaos going, maybe 283 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 1: even as many as a thousand. Um. Some of this 284 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:06,400 Speaker 1: almost sounds like like an old style kind of Broadway 285 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:08,280 Speaker 1: type theater or something on the West End. That you'd 286 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:11,679 Speaker 1: see in London. All of that money is looted. Uh, 287 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:15,960 Speaker 1: and the places just left in an absolute shambles um 288 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:18,159 Speaker 1: with no one really to blame, no one to be 289 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:23,919 Speaker 1: held accountable, right because these people are acting as a collective. Uh. 290 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:28,000 Speaker 1: They also after they after they tear down everything inside 291 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:32,120 Speaker 1: the theater, including like pulling down the boxes. After they've 292 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: done this, they've essentially gutted and dismantled the theater. And 293 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,080 Speaker 1: then they carry all the stuff they broke down into 294 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:44,400 Speaker 1: the street, and then they make a bonfire, and then 295 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:48,639 Speaker 1: they put the curtain of the theater on a pole. 296 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: And then by the time the guards get there, they 297 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 1: can't really do anything. They just sort of warmed themselves 298 00:17:54,359 --> 00:17:56,840 Speaker 1: by the fire. But I misunderstood a little bit when 299 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:58,520 Speaker 1: I was reading this material. I thought that they had 300 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,120 Speaker 1: actually because the candle was on the stage, that maybe 301 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:03,199 Speaker 1: there was a fire inside. But I think I got 302 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:05,399 Speaker 1: a little carried away. It's true they took all this 303 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:08,720 Speaker 1: stuff that essentially became the equivalent of like scrap wood 304 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:13,280 Speaker 1: out into like a lame Misserabla style barricade in the streets. 305 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,040 Speaker 1: They then set on fire and uh, and you know, 306 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:18,480 Speaker 1: hoisted this flag not on the stage at all, but 307 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 1: in the street up around that fire. What craziness. It 308 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: seems like there must have been something else at play. 309 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: Do you think it was because they were just so 310 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 1: disappointed they weren't going to get to see somebody jump 311 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 1: into a bottle? Do you think they felt as though 312 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,920 Speaker 1: they'd been had Maybe and they kind of knew that 313 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:35,560 Speaker 1: it was too good to be true and that's why 314 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: they reacted so violently. Or are people at this time 315 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 1: just kind of wild animals that did crazy violent things. Yeah, 316 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: I was thinking about that because you know, a lot 317 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:51,400 Speaker 1: of sociologists spend their lives studying how riots and outbreaks 318 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:57,399 Speaker 1: of panic begin. And sometimes it's a it's a projection, right, 319 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:01,320 Speaker 1: They're reacting to something that they can use as a 320 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 1: stand in for a real a real concern or or 321 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:10,199 Speaker 1: another social pressure. So I was looking into seventeen forty 322 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 1: nine London and I didn't see, you know, like a 323 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,760 Speaker 1: huge crisis that was happening. That doesn't mean that there 324 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: wasn't one. It could just mean that theater was a 325 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:24,440 Speaker 1: very different thing back then. But we do know despite 326 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:27,359 Speaker 1: the fact that there were, as you said, multiple socio 327 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:32,280 Speaker 1: economic classes there, Uh, they all reacted the same way. Uh. 328 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:39,159 Speaker 1: Newspapers started using this as a as a way to 329 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,200 Speaker 1: ridicule the public and say things that the journalists and 330 00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 1: comedians have said for years and years, which was that 331 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:50,879 Speaker 1: maybe a person is smart, but people together are stupid. Uh. 332 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:53,240 Speaker 1: And they went they went a little hard on the paint. Like. 333 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 1: They didn't just mention this in newspaper articles or in broadsheets. 334 00:19:56,800 --> 00:20:00,480 Speaker 1: They issued pamphlets that talked about how dumb the blake was. 335 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:05,439 Speaker 1: They made fake articles explaining why the conjuror didn't show up. 336 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: It was kind of like they were doing like onion 337 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: articles about this basically. Oh man, some of these are 338 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:13,640 Speaker 1: really funny. Can we read a few? Uh? My favorite 339 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 1: was the this this promises in appearance by the most 340 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 1: wonderful and surprising doctor benembe Zama Pongo occultist and body 341 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: surgeon to Emperor Mono Mungi Uh will perform on Saturday 342 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,640 Speaker 1: next at the Little t in the Haymarket the following 343 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:36,440 Speaker 1: surprising operations. First, he desires any one of the spectators 344 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:40,080 Speaker 1: only to pull out his own eyes, which is suoned 345 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,879 Speaker 1: as he uh, as these are the way this is 346 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 1: written is hard. Uh. As soon as he done, the 347 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:48,400 Speaker 1: doctor will show them to any lady or gentleman then 348 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: present to convince them there is no cheat, and then 349 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:57,200 Speaker 1: replace them in the sockets as perfect and entire as ever. Uh. Secondly, 350 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:01,639 Speaker 1: he desires any officer or any other to rip up 351 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 1: his own belly, which when he has done, he, without 352 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:10,440 Speaker 1: any equivocation, takes out his bowels, washes them, and returns 353 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:15,120 Speaker 1: them to their place, without the person suffering the least hurt. Thirdly, 354 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 1: he opens the head of a j of p I'm 355 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: not sure what that means, takes out his brains and 356 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,200 Speaker 1: exchanges them for those of a calf, the brains of 357 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:26,960 Speaker 1: a bow for those of an ass, and the here 358 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:30,160 Speaker 1: of a bully for that of a sheep, which operations 359 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,600 Speaker 1: will render that person more sociable and rational creatures than 360 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:36,960 Speaker 1: they were ever in their own lives. That's a really 361 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: long excerpt, and that's not even the whole thing like 362 00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 1: it goes on. Um, I'm not gonna put you through it, 363 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:46,960 Speaker 1: but that's that's like an example of how the how 364 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:51,200 Speaker 1: the advertisements started shifting from because because I've been talking 365 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,200 Speaker 1: about how they were making fake explanations what happened to 366 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,440 Speaker 1: the guy, they double down and started making explanation like 367 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: making new fake things right, just like it on your article, 368 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 1: Like here's another magician. Can't wait to see what this 369 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:08,920 Speaker 1: guy does. Right, And this one is just so beyond absurd. 370 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:12,399 Speaker 1: It involves people like literally being so stupid as to 371 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: allow someone to pluck their eyeballs out or remove their 372 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:18,720 Speaker 1: brains from their head and implies that if they put 373 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,119 Speaker 1: the brain of a sheep back in there that they 374 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:23,359 Speaker 1: would end up smarter than they were in the first place. 375 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 1: So this really is completely mocking the public. And you 376 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,479 Speaker 1: can find more of this in the Paris Review uh 377 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:33,120 Speaker 1: dot org article on the Great Bottle Conjurer hoax. It's 378 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: really really great. I love the Paris Review, by the way, 379 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,320 Speaker 1: not to um go. I don't want to go on like, uh, 380 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 1: really lengthy excerpt here, but just for examples that you 381 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 1: can find in Paris Review. Uh, there's one guy says 382 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:46,959 Speaker 1: he's gonna jump down his own throat. There's another guy 383 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: says I'm going to change myself into a rattle. And 384 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:52,480 Speaker 1: then someone said I'm gonna shoot myself with two pistols, 385 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:55,719 Speaker 1: once through my stomach and once through my brain. Uh 386 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,680 Speaker 1: and and uh, you know that's the kind of trick 387 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: you can do, but you can only really do it once. 388 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:09,560 Speaker 1: No one was really talking at first about how this 389 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:14,480 Speaker 1: situation came to pass socio economic factors aside, what was 390 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: the origin of this. It turns out that this hoax 391 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,760 Speaker 1: was all a bet. It was all based on a bet. 392 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:26,479 Speaker 1: And even though people didn't really know what was happening, uh, 393 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:29,119 Speaker 1: we learned through an artis with the help of an 394 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:32,760 Speaker 1: article by Jerry Walton over at the Vintage News, that 395 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 1: there was a real story. People of London initially suspected 396 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:43,399 Speaker 1: the theater manager, Samuel Foote, had perpetrated a hoax. Now 397 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,160 Speaker 1: note here the theater manager is not the same guy 398 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: as the theater owner. That's a guy named John Potter. 399 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,320 Speaker 1: He just gets the money from owning it. Both of 400 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:56,200 Speaker 1: these dudes say they're innocent. They say there's somebody else 401 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:59,440 Speaker 1: behind this. We don't know who it is. But he 402 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: made all the arrangements, he paid us, and then Potter. 403 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,080 Speaker 1: I think Potter is worried that he might be the 404 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:09,200 Speaker 1: victim of violence here because he says, look, if you 405 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: guys hadn't stolen the box of ticket receipts, I would 406 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:16,120 Speaker 1: refund the cost for every single person in the audience. 407 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:19,120 Speaker 1: He didn't even mention if you guys hadn't destroyed my theater, 408 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:21,680 Speaker 1: I would refund it. Oh, I know that this is 409 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:23,600 Speaker 1: the guy that got screwed in all of this, the 410 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:26,639 Speaker 1: fourth small business owner. I mean, you know, no one 411 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:29,240 Speaker 1: was injured in any of this. Um, I think the 412 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: worst thing that happened was there was a young nobleman 413 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:37,960 Speaker 1: who slightly injured his chin um and also the brother 414 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:40,600 Speaker 1: of the king at the time, the Duke of Cumberland. 415 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:45,479 Speaker 1: Um was able to escape, but sadly lost his jeweled sword. 416 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:49,159 Speaker 1: His jeweled sword, Ben. I mean, you don't want to 417 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:53,680 Speaker 1: walk around with an undecorated sword like a Jabroni and 418 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,880 Speaker 1: you imagine what people would say. You've got a certain expectation. 419 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:02,720 Speaker 1: But here's the thing. We don't know for sure who 420 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 1: the culprit was, but we're like I would say, eighty 421 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:10,520 Speaker 1: percent sure it was a guy named John Montague, the 422 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,600 Speaker 1: second Duke of Montague. Uh. He he had the bona 423 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:18,040 Speaker 1: fides for it. He was a known practical joker, right, 424 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,480 Speaker 1: Uh he was. He He fit the profile of the 425 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:25,480 Speaker 1: kind of prankster who would think this was worth a giggle. Yeah, 426 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:30,119 Speaker 1: he was a known uh, sort of man child. I 427 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: guess there's a description of him by his mother in 428 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:39,120 Speaker 1: law as um quote, having all the talents that lie 429 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:43,800 Speaker 1: in things only natural and boys of fifteen years old. Uh, 430 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 1: and he at the time was about forty two years old. 431 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,880 Speaker 1: He would occasionally, this is again from her account, get 432 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,840 Speaker 1: people into his garden and wet them with squirts city 433 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:59,120 Speaker 1: and invite people to his country houses, and put things 434 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,919 Speaker 1: in beds to make them itch and twenty such pretty 435 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:07,920 Speaker 1: fancies as these. What a guy. Here's why we think 436 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:12,439 Speaker 1: that he was involved so earlier in the year, earlier 437 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:16,159 Speaker 1: in seventeen forty nine now or a bunch of uh, 438 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:21,440 Speaker 1: distinguished Englishmen that we're talking about human gullibility, right, about 439 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:25,359 Speaker 1: how credulous people can be. And among them were the 440 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:28,399 Speaker 1: Duke of Portland's, the Duke of Montague, and the Earl 441 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,720 Speaker 1: of Chesterfield. This comes to us again from the Paris Review. 442 00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: One of the dukes said something like, I will wage 443 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 1: of that letterman advertised, the most impossible thing in the world. 444 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: He will find fools enough in London to fill a 445 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 1: playhouse and pay handsomely for the privilege of being there. 446 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:51,360 Speaker 1: And then accordingly, you know, apparently the Earl of Chesterfield 447 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:55,400 Speaker 1: is like, for sure, surely if a man should say 448 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:57,960 Speaker 1: that he would jump into a court bottle, nobody would 449 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: believe that. Uh. And they argued back and forth about this. Uh. 450 00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: And apparently the Duke of Montague made a wager, you know, 451 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:10,240 Speaker 1: if this guy existed. Now, I would not be surprised 452 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:13,159 Speaker 1: if he had a show like Nathan for You or 453 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:16,879 Speaker 1: Jackass or something. Uh And and people would watch it. 454 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:19,680 Speaker 1: But that's that's what we think happened. We think it 455 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:22,960 Speaker 1: was a bet that went wrong for the public but 456 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,520 Speaker 1: went very very right for the Mary prankster, the Duke 457 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:30,159 Speaker 1: of Montague. Yeah, but again, like his summer homes. And 458 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:33,240 Speaker 1: this guy's like totally screwing over a small business owner. 459 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:34,639 Speaker 1: I mean I call it a small business. I mean 460 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:38,359 Speaker 1: obviously the it's a theater. Dude obviously had you know, means, 461 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:44,520 Speaker 1: but totally annihilated this working gentleman's livelihood, you know, for 462 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:46,880 Speaker 1: a lark. I mean, this guy seems like a real 463 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: piece of work if you ask me, the worst of 464 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:52,320 Speaker 1: the worst of the upper class. And this really represents 465 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:56,680 Speaker 1: the kind of flippant, you know, banality of evil kind 466 00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:00,119 Speaker 1: of thing. Uh. For his own amusement. Just watch in 467 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: the world burn because he's too bored to do anything 468 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:05,359 Speaker 1: else And and the description from his mother in law 469 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:08,760 Speaker 1: holds true. Yeah, you know, it reminds me of the 470 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: Bullingdon Club. Have you guys ever heard of the Bullingdon Club. 471 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:17,879 Speaker 1: It's an elite dining club at Oxford University. Dining clubs 472 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:20,359 Speaker 1: are you know just what they sound like. It's where 473 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:23,600 Speaker 1: a social group gets together and they have dinner discussion. 474 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,440 Speaker 1: Sometimes they have guest speakers. But the Bullingden Club is 475 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:32,320 Speaker 1: different from the more prestigious dining clubs because they have 476 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:36,040 Speaker 1: this practice where they would they were known for going 477 00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:39,680 Speaker 1: on these big banquets and then vandalizing the restaurants they 478 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 1: went to. And this is like not something where a 479 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,040 Speaker 1: party gets out of hand. It's what they do because 480 00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 1: they think it's a funny prank. They also like they 481 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:53,760 Speaker 1: they're really hoity toity. Membership is super expensive and uh, 482 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,520 Speaker 1: super exclusive. The one thing they do that makes it right. 483 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:00,960 Speaker 1: One of the reasons Bullington is tinue for so long 484 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:05,240 Speaker 1: is their members have to have a tradition of pain 485 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 1: on the spot for damage. So, like, how aristocratic and 486 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:13,240 Speaker 1: jerk like is that you intentionally ruin someone's restaurant and 487 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:15,680 Speaker 1: they say you've done thousands of dollars of damage and 488 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 1: then you say, okay, here's fifty grand. Get out of 489 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: my face. Like that's the kind of mentality and we 490 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 1: can joke about it. But but but I think socially 491 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:27,680 Speaker 1: there's a lot to be said here, and that's that's 492 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:32,760 Speaker 1: where the bottle conjuror hoax ends. Thankfully, Right, the city 493 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 1: didn't descend into multiple riots over this. It was just 494 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:37,880 Speaker 1: the one, right, it was just the one. Yeah, But 495 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,200 Speaker 1: it's uh, I don't know. It's an interesting testament to uh, 496 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:45,960 Speaker 1: the willful suspension of disbelief by the public um, the 497 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 1: idea of all of the kind of tricklings of history 498 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:53,160 Speaker 1: of England, uh and belief in magic, and the kind 499 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:55,440 Speaker 1: of high water mark of where those two things sort 500 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:58,239 Speaker 1: of meat um and become more of a modern thing 501 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:02,160 Speaker 1: as people sort of opt believing in magic. But I 502 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:04,880 Speaker 1: really do think that the actual riotous nature of this 503 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:08,560 Speaker 1: had to do with um. People were just so worked 504 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:11,520 Speaker 1: up over the potential of what this thing had to 505 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:14,040 Speaker 1: offer that they felt as though they'd been cheated in 506 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:16,360 Speaker 1: some way. But obviously they were gonna get their money back. 507 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:19,560 Speaker 1: But they that wasn't enough for them. They wanted to actually, uh, 508 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:22,440 Speaker 1: you know, tear the place apart, piece by piece and 509 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:25,000 Speaker 1: then set it all on fire in the streets. Um. 510 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 1: That is a very fascinating impulse to me, and for 511 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: the mob to have taken to it so quickly really 512 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:32,600 Speaker 1: speaks to kind of the mentality of the time. I 513 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:35,600 Speaker 1: think it's interesting and greed and we'd like to hear 514 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 1: your stories about some more terrible, terrible things in history 515 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:46,600 Speaker 1: that are associated directly with stage magicians. Uh and Uh, 516 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:49,960 Speaker 1: I'd like to hear about him especially. I'm kidding j K, 517 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:53,840 Speaker 1: j K not JK, But thank you for tuning in, folks. 518 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:59,600 Speaker 1: Thanks as always to our super producer Casey Pegram missed 519 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:02,040 Speaker 1: them lat episode in the credits, but shout out as 520 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 1: always to our own Alex Williams uh the designated Ridiculous 521 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:09,040 Speaker 1: History composer, at least for that song that we love. 522 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:13,000 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I gotta love Alex. Thanks to Gabe Luzier, 523 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,480 Speaker 1: our Reachard associate extraordinaire. Thanks to Christopher Aciotes here in spirit, 524 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:21,760 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland, the notorious uh and and and dubious quister. Um, 525 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:24,040 Speaker 1: We'll have to have him back from his particular bunker. 526 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: I think it's like a holid out um snow cap 527 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:31,120 Speaker 1: in Antarctica or something. Right, Yeah, it's it's been a while, 528 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:34,120 Speaker 1: you know, and he was already kind of well. I 529 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:37,160 Speaker 1: guess madness is its own isolation, you know what I mean. 530 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:42,440 Speaker 1: So I hope you hear that. Uh So as always, 531 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: UM as always we uh we can't wait to get 532 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:48,280 Speaker 1: back to on the next episode. Uh. You can find 533 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:51,200 Speaker 1: us all over the internet. We're on Instagram, Facebook, and 534 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:55,320 Speaker 1: Twitter and of course uh as as I always like 535 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:57,600 Speaker 1: to say, for any show we do, uh, we are 536 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 1: open to criticism or complaints to send them to directly 537 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:05,680 Speaker 1: to our complaint email. That is Jonathan Strickland at iHeartMedia 538 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:10,440 Speaker 1: dot com Open seven. Don't be don't be afraid he's 539 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:13,760 Speaker 1: gonna kill me. Don't be afraid to make your voice 540 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:25,240 Speaker 1: known specifically there. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 541 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:27,920 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 542 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:29,640 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.