First they done a lecture on temperance; but they didn’t make enough for them both to get drunk on. Then in another village they started a dancing-school; but they didn’t know no more how to dance than a kangaroo does…They tackled missionarying, and mesmerizing, and doctoring, and telling fortunes, and a little of everything; but they couldn’t seem to have no luck.
– Mark Twain
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 31. The two conmen, the King and Duke, travel from place to place trying on their scams but don’t have much luck making money.