“The silver vase is to be the prize of the victor.
“A jury is chosen among the chief people of the town to decide with the public on the merits of each pun.
“It is agreed that they will applaud if they think a pun good; they will say nothing to a passable one, but groan at a bad one.
“The room is always crowded, for people come less to see the performance, which they know by heart, than to display their wit publicly. Each makes his jest, and receives a greeting more or less favorable; and, lastly, the vase is decreed to the cleverest among them. {176}
“Any other than Anderson would be satisfied with the enormous receipts his performance produces; but the Great Wizard of the North has not finished yet. Before the audience leaves the house he states that a short-hand writer has been hired by him to take down all the puns, and that they will be published as a Miscellany.
“As each spectator who has made a joke likes to see it in print, he purchases a copy of the book for a shilling. An idea of the number of these copies may be formed from the number of puns they contain. I have one of these books in my possession, printed in Glasgow in 1850, in which there are 1091 of these facetiæ.”
Here is one of Anderson’s typical programmes, dated 1854:
MUSIC HALL, LEEDS
20,139 of the inhabitants of Leeds have SURRENDERED to Marshal Professor Anderson during the past Fortnight.