“Roll up! Roll up!” cried the man in a dull grey suit. “Roll up and see the Amazing Accountival!”
The crowd shuffled through the ticket booth in quiet confusion. The posters had plastered the town for the past week. All who saw them paused for a moment, baffled. ’Let’s go,’ they told each other, ‘just to see what it is.’
The result was a packed house on the opening night.
The audience settled into the strings of office seats, swiveling slightly. A huge desk lamp illuminated a single spotlight. The dull grey suited man stepped forward again.
“Welcome all! Welcome to the Accountival! Here, in this very tent, you will see the greatest and most daring feats of Accounting the world has ever known. See the swiftest double-entry book-keeping ever set to paper! Wonder at the acrobatics of the world’s greatest tax dodgers! Chuckle at the antics of the auditors!”
By the end of the first act, a man sitting at a desk writing, only half the audience had left. The troupe considered it a good night.