In 1873 Busch returned several times to Munich, and took part in the intense life of the Munich Art Society as an escape from provincial life. In 1877, in a last attempt to be a serious artist, he took a studio in Munich. He left Munich abruptly in 1881, after he disrupted a variety show and subsequently made a scene through the effects of alcohol. The 1878 nine episode illustrated tale "Eight Sheets in the Wind" describes how humans behave like animals when drunk. Busch's biographer Weissweiler felt the story was only superficially funny and harmless, but was a study on addiction and its induced state of delusion.