Burroughs' Cut-Up Curse Shut Down London's First Espresso Bar in 1972

In 1972, William S. Burroughs used an audio-visual cut-up technique to curse London's first espresso bar, the Moka Bar, which subsequently closed. Burroughs, a London resident from the late 1960s to early 1970s, was disillusioned with rising costs and rude service. He recorded sounds outside the bar and played them back later, aiming to disrupt its "time position." The method, derived with Brion Gysin, was part of Burroughs' belief in a magical universe. The Moka Bar, opened in 1953 at 29 Frith Street, Soho, was a youth culture hub. Burroughs' recordings and playback were described in his essay "Feedback from Watergate to the Garden of Eden" from the collection Electronic Revolution. The bar closed on October 30, 1972, becoming the Queens Snack Bar. Burroughs also applied the technique to film, as seen in the 1966 short "The Cut Ups" with Antony Balch.