author
Samuel Johnson
1691–1773
Best remembered for the wildly eccentric stage piece Hurlothrumbo, this 18th-century performer brought together music, comedy, and theatrical chaos in a way that baffled some audiences and delighted others. His career moved between the worlds of dancing, violin playing, and playwriting, leaving behind one of the stranger success stories of Georgian entertainment.
1 Audiobook
Hurlothrumbo : or, The super-natural
by Samuel Johnson
About the author
Born in 1691 and associated with Cheshire, Samuel Johnson made his living as a dancing-master, violinist, and dramatist. He appears in records from Manchester and London in the 1720s, already working as a performer and pursuing the theatrical project that would define his reputation.
That project was Hurlothrumbo, staged in 1729. The piece became notorious for its unusual, mixed-up style and for the attention it drew from other writers, including satirists. Johnson's odd public persona was memorable enough that later accounts described him as a kind of last professional jester in England.
He died in 1773. Although he is far less famous than the later Dr. Samuel Johnson, his story offers a lively glimpse of 18th-century popular entertainment, where music, spectacle, and sheer eccentricity could make a performer impossible to forget.