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Punch and Judy

Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr. Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically Mr. Punch and one other character who usually falls victim to Punch's slapstick. The Daily Telegraph called Punch and Judy "a staple of the British seaside scene".[1] The various episodes of Punch comedy—often provoking shocked laughter—are dominated by the clowning of Mr. Punch.[2]

A traditional Punch and Judy booth, at Swanage, Dorset, England
Punch and Judy at a fete

The show is performed by a single puppeteer inside the booth, known since Victorian times as a "professor" or "punchman", and assisted sometimes by a "bottler" who corrals the audience outside the booth, introduces the performance, and collects the money ("the bottle"). The bottler might also play accompanying music or sound effects on a drum or guitar, and engage in back chat with the puppets, sometimes repeating lines that may have been difficult for the audience to understand. In Victorian times, the drum and pan pipes were the instruments of choice. Today, most professors work solo, since the need for a bottler became less important when street performing with the show gave way to paid engagements at private parties or public events. In modern shows the audience is encouraged to participate, calling out to the characters on the stage to warn them of danger or clue them in to what is going on behind their backs.

History edit

"[Pulcinella] went down particularly well with Restoration British audiences, fun-starved after years of Puritanism. We soon changed Punch's name, transformed him from a marionette to a hand puppet, and he became, really, a spirit of Britain – a subversive maverick who defies authority, a kind of puppet equivalent to our political cartoons."

—Punch and Judy showman Glyn Edwards.[1]

The Punch and Judy show has roots in the 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte. The figure of Punch is derived from the Neapolitan stock character of Pulcinella, which was anglicized to Punchinello.[3] He is a variation on the same themes as the Lord of Misrule and the many Trickster figures found in mythologies across the world. Punch's wife was originally called "Joan."

 
Plaque commemorating the first recorded performance of Punch and Judy on St Paul's in Covent Garden

The figure who later became Mr. Punch made his first recorded appearance in England on 9 May 1662, which is traditionally reckoned as Punch's UK birthday.[4] Punch and Judy began to emerge during the Restoration Period (beginning in 1660),[5] a period during which art and theatre thrived. King Charles II took the throne in 1660 and replaced Puritan leaders Oliver Cromwell and Richard Cromwell, and theatre culture began to change. Cromwell strictly adhered to the Puritan belief that theatre was immoral and should be banned, resulting in their closure in 1642. Charles II's ascension to the throne ended the interregnum and ushered in a more tolerant period of art and culture.[6][7] The diarist Samuel Pepys observed a marionette show featuring an early version of the Punch character in Covent Garden in London. It was performed by Italian puppet showman Pietro Gimonde, a.k.a. "Signor Bologna." Pepys described the event in his diary as "an Italian puppet play, that is within the rails there, which is very pretty."[8]

In the British Punch and Judy show, Punch speaks in a distinctive squawking voice, produced by a contrivance known as a swazzle or swatchel which the professor holds in his mouth, transmitting his gleeful cackle. This gives Punch a vocal quality as though he were speaking through a kazoo. Joan's name was changed to Judy because "Judy" was easier to enunciate with the swazzle than "Joan". So important is Punch's signature sound that it is a matter of some controversy within Punch and Judy circles as to whether a "non-swazzled" show can be considered a true Punch and Judy Show. Other characters do not use the swazzle, so the Punchman has to switch back and forth while still holding the device in his mouth.

Punch and Judy shows were traditionally marionette shows when they were brought over from Italy, but were later reinvented in the glove puppet style to accommodate the characters' violent movements without the obstruction of marionette strings.[9] Glove puppets were often operated by placing the thumb in one arm, the middle, ring, and pinky fingers in the other arm, and the index finger in the head.

In the early 18th century, the puppet theatre starring Punch was at its height, with showman Martin Powell attracting sizable crowds at both his Punch's Theatre at Covent Garden and earlier in provincial Bath, Somerset.[3] Powell has been credited with being "largely responsible for the form taken by the drama of Punch and Judy".[10] In 1721, a puppet theatre opened in Dublin that ran for decades. The cross-dressing actress Charlotte Charke ran the successful but short-lived Punch's Theatre in the Old Tennis Court at St. James's, Westminster, presenting adaptations of Shakespeare as well as plays by herself, her father Colley Cibber, and her friend Henry Fielding. Fielding eventually ran his own puppet theatre under the pseudonym Madame de la Nash to avoid the censorship concomitant with the theatre Licensing Act 1737.[11]

Punch was extremely popular in Paris and, by the end of the 18th century, he was also playing in Britain's American colonies, where even George Washington bought tickets for a show. However, marionette productions were expensive and cumbersome to mount and transport, presented in empty halls, the back rooms of taverns, or within large tents at England's yearly agricultural events at Bartholomew Fair and Mayfair. In the latter half of the 18th century, marionette companies began to give way to glove-puppet shows, performed from within a narrow, lightweight booth by one puppeteer, usually with an assistant, or "bottler," to gather a crowd and collect money. These shows might travel through country towns or move from corner to corner along busy London streets, giving many performances in a single day. The character of Punch adapted to the new format, going from a stringed comedian who might say outrageous things to a more aggressive glove-puppet who could do outrageous—and often violent—things to the other characters.

 
A Punch and Judy show attracts a family audience In Thornton Hough, Merseyside, England

The mobile puppet booth of the late 18th- and early 19th-century Punch and Judy glove-puppet show could be easily fitted-up and was originally covered in checked bed ticking or whatever inexpensive cloth might come to hand. Later Victorian booths were gaudier affairs, particularly those used for Christmas parties and other indoor performances. In the 20th century, however, red-and-white-striped puppet booths became iconic features on the beaches of many English seaside and summer holiday resorts. Such striped cloth is the most common covering today, wherever the show might be performed.[4]

A more substantial change came over time to the show's target audience. The show was originally intended for adults, but it changed into primarily a children's entertainment in the late Victorian era. Ancient members of the show's cast ceased to be included, such as the Devil and Punch's mistress "Pretty Polly," when they came to be seen as inappropriate for young audiences.

The story changes, but some phrases remain the same for decades or even centuries. For example, Punch dispatches his foes each in turn and still squeaks his famous catchphrase: "That's the way to do it!"[2] The term "pleased as Punch" is derived from Punch and Judy; specifically, Mr. Punch's characteristic sense of gleeful self-satisfaction.

Modern British performances of Punch and Judy are no longer exclusively the traditional seaside children's entertainments which they had become. They can now be seen at carnivals, festivals, birthday parties, and other celebratory occasions. The association of Punch with the seaside is still very strong however, as demonstrated by Wisbech Town council's annual Wis-BEACH day each summer, "all the seaside favourites are on show, including a donkey, deck chairs, Punch and Judy and fish and chips".[12]

Characters edit

 
Punch and Judy, taken in Islington, north London.
 
Punch and Judy characters, Sydney, 1940

The characters in a Punch and Judy show are not fixed. They are similar to the cast of a soap opera or a folk tale such as Robin Hood: the principal characters must appear, but the lesser characters are included at the discretion of the performer. New cast may be added and older cast dropped as the tradition changes.

Along with Punch and Judy, the cast of characters usually includes their baby, a hungry crocodile, a clown, an officious policeman, and a prop string of sausages.[13] The devil and the generic hangman Jack Ketch may still make their appearances but, if so, Punch will always get the better of them. The cast of a typical Punch and Judy show today will include:

  • Mr. Punch
  • Judy
  • The Baby
  • The Constable (a.k.a. Policeman Jack)
  • Joey the Clown
  • The Crocodile
  • The Skeleton
  • The Doctor

Characters once regular but now occasional include:

  • Toby the Dog
  • The Ghost
  • The Lawyer
  • Hector the Horse
  • Pretty Polly
  • The Hangman (a.k.a. Jack Ketch)
  • The Devil
  • The Beadle
  • Jim Crow ("The Black Man")
  • Mr. Scaramouche
  • The Servant (or "The Minstrel")
  • The Blind Man

Other characters included Boxers, Chinese Plate Spinners, topical figures, a trick puppet with an extending neck (the "Courtier"), and a monkey. A live Toby the Dog was once a regular featured novelty routine, sitting on the playboard and performing "with" the puppets.

Punch wears a brightly coloured (traditionally red) jester's motley and sugarloaf hat with a tassel. He is a hunchback whose hooked nose almost meets his curved, jutting chin. He carries a stick (called a slapstick) as large as himself, which he freely uses upon most of the other characters in the show. Judy wears an apron, a blue dress, and a bonnet and always tries to tell Punch off when he uses the slapstick

Story edit

 
Mr. Punch

Glyn Edwards has likened the story of Punch and Judy to the story of Cinderella.[14] He points out that there are parts of the Cinderella story which everyone knows, namely the cruel step sisters, the invitation to the ball, the handsome prince, the fairy godmother, Cinderella's dress turning to rags at midnight, the glass slipper left behind, the prince searching for its owner, and the happy ending. None of these elements can be omitted and the famous story still be told. The same principle applies to Punch and Judy. Everyone knows that Punch mishandles the baby, that Punch and Judy quarrel and fight, that a policeman comes for Punch and gets a taste of his stick, that Punch has a gleeful run-in with a variety of other figures and takes his stick to them all, that eventually he faces his final foe (which might be a hangman, the devil, a crocodile, or a ghost). Edwards contends that a proper Punch and Judy show requires these elements or the audience will feel let down.[14]

Peter Fraser writes, "the drama developed as a succession of incidents which the audience could join or leave at any time, and much of the show was impromptu."[15] This was elaborated by George Speaight, who explained that the plotline "is like a story compiled in a parlour game of Consequences ... the show should, indeed, not be regarded as a story at all but a succession of encounters."[16] Robert Leach makes it clear that "the story is a conceptual entity, not a set text: the means of telling it, therefore, are always variable."[17] Rosalind Crone asserts that the story needed to be episodic so that passersby on the street could easily join or leave the audience during a performance.[18]

Much emphasis is often placed on the first printed script of Punch and Judy, in 1827. It was based on a show by travelling performer Giovanni Piccini, illustrated by George Cruikshank, and written by John Payne Collier. This is the only surviving script of a performance, and its accuracy is questioned. The performance was stopped frequently to allow Collier and Cruikshank to write and sketch and, in the words of Speaight, Collier is someone of whom "the full list of his forgeries has not yet been reckoned, and the myths he propagated are still being repeated. (His) 'Punch and Judy' is to be warmly welcomed as the first history of puppets in England, but it is also sadly to be examined as the first experiment of a literary criminal."[19]

The tale of Punch and Judy varies from puppeteer to puppeteer, as previously with Punchinello and Joan, and it has changed over time. Nonetheless, the skeletal outline is often recognizable. It typically involves Punch behaving outrageously, struggling with his wife Judy and the baby, and then triumphing in a series of encounters with the forces of law and order (and often the supernatural), interspersed with jokes and songs.

Typical 21st-century performance edit

A typical show as performed currently in the UK will start with the arrival of Mr. Punch, followed by the introduction of Judy. They may well kiss and dance before Judy requests Mr. Punch to look after the baby. Punch will fail to carry out this task appropriately. It is rare for Punch to hit his baby these days, but he may well sit on it in a failed attempt to "babysit", or drop it, or even let it go through a sausage machine. In any event, Judy will return, will be outraged, will fetch a stick, and the knockabout will commence. A policeman will arrive in response to the mayhem and will himself be felled by Punch's stick. All this is carried out at breakneck farcical speed with much involvement from a gleefully shouting audience. From here on anything goes.

Joey the Clown might appear and suggest, "It's dinner time." This will lead to the production of a string of sausages, which Mr. Punch must look after, although the audience will know that this really signals the arrival of a crocodile whom Mr. Punch might not see until the audience shouts out and lets him know. Punch's subsequent comic struggle with the crocodile might then leave him in need of a Doctor who will arrive and attempt to treat Punch by walloping him with a stick until Punch turns the tables on him. Punch may next pause to count his "victims" by laying puppets on the stage, only for Joey the Clown to move them about behind his back in order to frustrate him. A ghost might then appear and give Mr. Punch a fright before it too is chased off with a stick.

In more uncritical times, a hangman would arrive to punish Mr. Punch, only to himself be tricked into sticking his head in the noose. "Do you do the hanging?" is a question often asked of performers. Some will include it where circumstances warrant (such as for an adult audience) but most do not. Some will choose to include it whatever the circumstances and will face down any critics. Finally, the show will often end with the Devil arriving for Mr. Punch (and possibly threatening his audience as well). Punch—in his final gleefully triumphant moment—will win his fight with the Devil, bring the show to a rousing conclusion, and earn a round of applause.

Plots reflect their own era edit

 
A traditional Punch and Judy show dating from World War II with the addition of a Hitler Character as a figure of derision to reflect the times. Taken at the History On Wheels Museum, Eton Wick, UK.

Punch and Judy might follow no fixed storyline, as with the tales of Robin Hood, but there are episodes common to many recorded versions. It is these set piece encounters or "routines" which are used by performers to construct their own Punch and Judy shows. A visit to a Punch and Judy Festival at Punch's "birthplace" in London's Covent Garden will reveal a whole variety of changes that are wrung by puppeteers from this basic material. Scripts have been published at different times since the early 19th century, but none can be claimed as the definitive traditional script of Punch and Judy. Each printed script reflects the era in which it was performed and the circumstances under which it was printed.

The various episodes of the show are performed in the spirit of outrageous comedy—often provoking shocked laughter—and are dominated by the anarchic clowning of Mr. Punch. Just as the Victorian version of the show drew on the morality of its day, so also the Punch & Judy College of Professors considers that the 20th- and 21st-century versions of the tale is used as a vehicle for grotesque visual comedy and a sideways look at contemporary society.

In my opinion the street Punch is one of those extravagant reliefs from the realities of life which would lose its hold upon the people if it were made moral and instructive. I regard it as quite harmless in its influence, and as an outrageous joke which no one in existence would think of regarding as an incentive to any kind of action or as a model for any kind of conduct. It is possible, I think, that one secret source of pleasure very generally derived from this performance… is the satisfaction the spectator feels in the circumstance that likenesses of men and women can be so knocked about, without any pain or suffering.

— Charles Dickens, Letter to Mary Tyler, 6 November 1849, from The Letters of Charles Dickens Vol V, 1847–1849

An awareness of the prevalence of domestic abuse, and how Punch and Judy could be seen to make light of this, threatened Punch and Judy performances in the UK and other English-speaking countries for a time,[20] but the show is having one of its cyclical recurrences[21] and can now be seen in England, Wales, and Ireland—and also in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean and Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. In 2001, the characters were honoured in the UK with a set of British commemorative postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail.[22] In a 2006 UK poll, the public voted Punch and Judy onto the list of icons of England.[23]

Comedy edit

Despite Punch's unapologetic murders throughout the performances, it is still a comedy. The humour is aided by a few things. Rosalind Crone (2006, p. 1065) suggests that, since the puppets are carved from wood, their facial expressions cannot change, but are stuck in the same exaggerated pose, which helps to deter any sense of realism and to distance the audience.[18] The use of the swazzle also helps to create humour, and that the swazzled sound of Punch's voice takes the cruelty out of Punch.[24] According to Crone, a third aspect that helped make the violence humorous was that Punch's violence toward his wife was prompted by her own violence toward him.[18] In this aspect, he retains some of his previous hen-pecked persona. This would suggest that, since Punch was merely acting violently out of self-defence, it was okay. This is a possible explanation for the humour of his violence toward his wife, and even towards others who may have somehow "had it coming."[18] This suggestion better explains the humour of the violence toward the baby. Other characters that had to incur the wrath of Punch varied depending on the punchman, but the most common were the foreigner, the blind man, the publican, the constable, and the devil.[18]

Published scripts edit

Punch is primarily an oral tradition, adapted by a succession of exponents from live performances rather than authentic scripts, and in constant evolution. There exist, however, some early published scripts of varying authenticity.

In 1828, the critic John Payne Collier published a Punch and Judy script under the title The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Punch and Judy.[25][26] The script was illustrated by the well-known caricaturist George Cruikshank. Collier said his script was based on the version performed by the "professor" Giovanni Piccini in the early 19th century, and Piccini himself had begun performing in the streets of London in the late 18th century. The Collier/Cruickshank Punch has been republished in facsimile several times. Collier's later career as a literary forger has cast some doubt on the authenticity of the script, which is rather literary in style and may well have been tidied up from the rough-and-tumble street-theatre original.

A transcript of a typical Punch and Judy show in London of the found in Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor.[27]

Legacy edit

Musical theatre edit

In 2013, a musical inspired by the Punch and Judy characters premiered in Sweden at Arbisteatern in Norrköping, Carnival Tale (Tivolisaga) written by Johan Christher Schütz and Johan Pettersson.[28] With a storyline loosely inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a travelling carnival arrives in a small town and the foreign carnival's star jester Punch falls in love with the Mayor's daughter Judy. The original Swedish cast recording is freely available online and features Disney Channel Scandinavia presenter Linnéa Källström as Judy. The story and songs originate from a pop band called Punch and Judy Show, started by Schütz and Pettersson in the late 1990s.[29]

Film edit

Judy and Punch is a 2019 Australian film written and directed by Mirrah Foulkes which retells the plot of the puppet show as a black comedy-drama. It stars Damon Herriman as "Punch" and Mia Wasikowska as "Judy". The film first premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. The plot reimagines the classic puppet show as a revenge tale, in which Judy and Punch are married puppeteers in the fictional town of Seaside, with a popular show about themselves. Following the traditional element of the show, Punch's carelessness leads to the death of their baby, prompting a fight between him and Judy. However, having been thought dead after Punch's beating, Judy survives with the help of village outcasts and decides to enact her revenge on her husband, who has scapegoated their servants. The film took Best Original Music Score and Best Actor (Herriman) at the 9th AACTA Awards, and had seven other nominations.

Song edit

The tradition is celebrated in the song "Punch and Judy Man" by British folk singer John Conolly. The British prog rock group Marillion also included an allegorical song called "Punch and Judy" on their 1984 album, Fugazi. American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith included a song titled after the show on his 1997 album, Either/Or.

The show is also referenced in Jack Stauber's "Good Morning Blondie" as to compare the Blondie resembling a puppet and having an unhealthy relationship with the singing character.

Punch is also faithfully celebrated in the 1977 UK novelty hit, "Naughty Naughty Naughty", in which the performer, Joy Sarney (born Florence Joy Crabtree in 1944), interacts romantically with an authentic Mr Punch, complete with swazzle, stick, and his traditional catch phrases including "That's the way to do it" and "Oh no it isn't". The song made it into the top 30 of the UK pop charts and was performed on the popular television show, Top Of The Pops. "Naughty Naughty Naughty" remains Joy Sarney's only hit.

Video games edit

A video game called "Punchy" was released for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 home computers in the 1980s. In the game, Punch holds Judy hostage in the booth, and the player takes the role of Bobby the policeman who has to rescue her, overcoming custard pies, tomatoes and pits, as well as tackling Mr Punch himself.

Literature edit

The novel Rivers of London (Midnight Riot in the US) by Ben Aaronovitch is embedded in the story of Punch and Judy to tell a story of a ghostly serial killer.

Russell Hoban's 1980 novel Riddley Walker features a post-apocalyptic version of a Punch and Judy show.

Terry Pratchett’s 1993 short murder mystery story “Theatre of Cruelty” was inspired by Punch and Judy. It’s set in his Discworld fantasy universe, and a “Punch and Judy show” is also referenced briefly in the 2003 Discworld novel Monstrous Regiment.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Punch and Judy around the world". The Telegraph. 11 June 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Mr Punch celebrates 350 years of puppet anarchy". BBC. 11 June 2015.
  3. ^ a b Wheeler, R. Mortimer (1911). "Punch (puppet)" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 648–649.
  4. ^ a b Patterson, Alice. "All About Punch And Judy". Oddle Entertainment Agency. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  5. ^ "V&A · That's the Way to Do it! A History of Punch & Judy". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  6. ^ "When Christmas carols were banned". BBC. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  7. ^ "From pandemics to puritans: when theatre shut down through history and how it recovered". The Stage.co.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  8. ^ "Friday 9th May, 1660". www.pepysdiary.com. 10 May 2005. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  9. ^ Philpott, A. R. (1969). Dictionary of Puppetry.
  10. ^   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainSeccombe, Thomas (1896). "Powell, Martin". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 46. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  11. ^ Cleary, Thomas R. (1 January 2006). Henry Fielding: A Political Writer. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-88920-858-2.
  12. ^ "Video - Sun and sand at WisBEACH". Fenland Citizen. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  13. ^ . Speckinspace.com. Archived from the original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  14. ^ a b Edwards, Glyn. (2000) Successful Punch and Judy, Second Edition 2011. Worthing: The Fedora Group. ISBN 9780956718914. p. 19.
  15. ^ Fraser, Peter (1970) Punch and Judy. London: B.T Batsford. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company. ISBN 0-7134-2284-X. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 71-110085. p. 8.
  16. ^ Speaight, George. (1955) Punch and Judy: A History, Revised Edition 1970. London: Studio Vista Ltd. ISBN 0-289-79785-3. p. 78.
  17. ^ Leach, Robert. (1985) The Punch & Judy Show: History, Tradition and Meaning. London: Batsford Academic and Educational; Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. ISBN 0713447842
  18. ^ a b c d e Crone, Rosalind (2006). "Mr and Mrs Punch in Nineteenth-Century England." The Historical Journal, 49(4) pp. 1055–1082.
  19. ^ Speaight (1970), p. 82.
  20. ^ "Puppet show faces knockout punch?". BBC News. London. 8 November 1999. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
  21. ^ . Punchandjudyworld.org. 14 August 2008. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  22. ^ ""Stamp of Approval for Punch and Judy", BBC News, 20 August 2001". BBC News. 20 August 2001. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  23. ^ "New icons of Englishness unveiled". No. 27 April 2006. BBC News. 11 June 2015.
  24. ^ Proschan, Frank (1981). "Puppet Voices and Interlocutors: Language in Folk Puppetry." The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 94, No. 374, Folk Drama (Oct.–Dec. 1981), pp.527–555. The American Folklore Society.
  25. ^ "Punch & Judy: 1832 Book pdf file". Spyrock.com. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  26. ^ The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Punch and Judy, p.65, John Payne Collier with illustrations by George Cruikshank, Internet Archive
  27. ^ London Labour and the London Poor, Vol III , Henry Mayhew, p.54, Internet Archive
  28. ^ "Tidernas saga för vår tid (Timeless tale for our times)". No. 26 August 2013. Norrköpings Tidningar. 26 August 2013.
  29. ^ "Förmiddag i P4 Östergötland (AM in P4 Östergötland)". No. 1 March 2019. SR Swedish Broadcasting Corporation P4 SR Östergötland. 1 March 2019.

Further reading edit

  • Punch and Judy: A Short History with the Original Dialogue by John Payne Collier, illustrated by George Cruikshank (1929, 2006) Dover Books
  • Mr. Punch by Philip John Stead (1950) Evans Brothers Ltd.
  • The Art of the Puppet by Bil Baird (1965) Ridge Press/MacMillan
  • Punch & Judy: A Play for Puppets by Ed Emberley (1965) Little, Brown
  • Punch and Judy: Its Origin and Evolution by Michael Byrom (1972, 1988) DaSilva Puppet Books
  • Punch and Judy: Inside the Booth. Geoff Felix, 2016.

External links edit

  • A program featuring Punch and Judy, as well as Santa Claus
  • Punch and Judy on the Web
  • The Punch and Judy Club - "Custodians of Mr Punch's Heritage"
  • The Punch & Judy Fellowship: The largest and oldest organisation of its kind devoted to keeping alive the tradition of Punch & Judy shows
  • The Punch and Judy College of Professors: detailed site of leading UK professionals
  • The Worldwide Friends of Punch and Judy: an international assemblage of people who love Punch

punch, judy, other, uses, disambiguation, traditional, puppet, show, featuring, punch, wife, judy, performance, consists, sequence, short, scenes, each, depicting, interaction, between, characters, most, typically, punch, other, character, usually, falls, vict. For other uses see Punch and Judy disambiguation Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr Punch and his wife Judy The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes each depicting an interaction between two characters most typically Mr Punch and one other character who usually falls victim to Punch s slapstick The Daily Telegraph called Punch and Judy a staple of the British seaside scene 1 The various episodes of Punch comedy often provoking shocked laughter are dominated by the clowning of Mr Punch 2 A traditional Punch and Judy booth at Swanage Dorset England Punch and Judy at a feteThe show is performed by a single puppeteer inside the booth known since Victorian times as a professor or punchman and assisted sometimes by a bottler who corrals the audience outside the booth introduces the performance and collects the money the bottle The bottler might also play accompanying music or sound effects on a drum or guitar and engage in back chat with the puppets sometimes repeating lines that may have been difficult for the audience to understand In Victorian times the drum and pan pipes were the instruments of choice Today most professors work solo since the need for a bottler became less important when street performing with the show gave way to paid engagements at private parties or public events In modern shows the audience is encouraged to participate calling out to the characters on the stage to warn them of danger or clue them in to what is going on behind their backs Contents 1 History 2 Characters 3 Story 3 1 Typical 21st century performance 3 2 Plots reflect their own era 4 Comedy 5 Published scripts 6 Legacy 6 1 Musical theatre 6 2 Film 6 3 Song 6 4 Video games 6 5 Literature 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksHistory editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Punch and Judy news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Pulcinella went down particularly well with Restoration British audiences fun starved after years of Puritanism We soon changed Punch s name transformed him from a marionette to a hand puppet and he became really a spirit of Britain a subversive maverick who defies authority a kind of puppet equivalent to our political cartoons Punch and Judy showman Glyn Edwards 1 The Punch and Judy show has roots in the 16th century Italian commedia dell arte The figure of Punch is derived from the Neapolitan stock character of Pulcinella which was anglicized to Punchinello 3 He is a variation on the same themes as the Lord of Misrule and the many Trickster figures found in mythologies across the world Punch s wife was originally called Joan nbsp Plaque commemorating the first recorded performance of Punch and Judy on St Paul s in Covent GardenThe figure who later became Mr Punch made his first recorded appearance in England on 9 May 1662 which is traditionally reckoned as Punch s UK birthday 4 Punch and Judy began to emerge during the Restoration Period beginning in 1660 5 a period during which art and theatre thrived King Charles II took the throne in 1660 and replaced Puritan leaders Oliver Cromwell and Richard Cromwell and theatre culture began to change Cromwell strictly adhered to the Puritan belief that theatre was immoral and should be banned resulting in their closure in 1642 Charles II s ascension to the throne ended the interregnum and ushered in a more tolerant period of art and culture 6 7 The diarist Samuel Pepys observed a marionette show featuring an early version of the Punch character in Covent Garden in London It was performed by Italian puppet showman Pietro Gimonde a k a Signor Bologna Pepys described the event in his diary as an Italian puppet play that is within the rails there which is very pretty 8 In the British Punch and Judy show Punch speaks in a distinctive squawking voice produced by a contrivance known as a swazzle or swatchel which the professor holds in his mouth transmitting his gleeful cackle This gives Punch a vocal quality as though he were speaking through a kazoo Joan s name was changed to Judy because Judy was easier to enunciate with the swazzle than Joan So important is Punch s signature sound that it is a matter of some controversy within Punch and Judy circles as to whether a non swazzled show can be considered a true Punch and Judy Show Other characters do not use the swazzle so the Punchman has to switch back and forth while still holding the device in his mouth Punch and Judy shows were traditionally marionette shows when they were brought over from Italy but were later reinvented in the glove puppet style to accommodate the characters violent movements without the obstruction of marionette strings 9 Glove puppets were often operated by placing the thumb in one arm the middle ring and pinky fingers in the other arm and the index finger in the head In the early 18th century the puppet theatre starring Punch was at its height with showman Martin Powell attracting sizable crowds at both his Punch s Theatre at Covent Garden and earlier in provincial Bath Somerset 3 Powell has been credited with being largely responsible for the form taken by the drama of Punch and Judy 10 In 1721 a puppet theatre opened in Dublin that ran for decades The cross dressing actress Charlotte Charke ran the successful but short lived Punch s Theatre in the Old Tennis Court at St James s Westminster presenting adaptations of Shakespeare as well as plays by herself her father Colley Cibber and her friend Henry Fielding Fielding eventually ran his own puppet theatre under the pseudonym Madame de la Nash to avoid the censorship concomitant with the theatre Licensing Act 1737 11 Punch was extremely popular in Paris and by the end of the 18th century he was also playing in Britain s American colonies where even George Washington bought tickets for a show However marionette productions were expensive and cumbersome to mount and transport presented in empty halls the back rooms of taverns or within large tents at England s yearly agricultural events at Bartholomew Fair and Mayfair In the latter half of the 18th century marionette companies began to give way to glove puppet shows performed from within a narrow lightweight booth by one puppeteer usually with an assistant or bottler to gather a crowd and collect money These shows might travel through country towns or move from corner to corner along busy London streets giving many performances in a single day The character of Punch adapted to the new format going from a stringed comedian who might say outrageous things to a more aggressive glove puppet who could do outrageous and often violent things to the other characters nbsp A Punch and Judy show attracts a family audience In Thornton Hough Merseyside EnglandThe mobile puppet booth of the late 18th and early 19th century Punch and Judy glove puppet show could be easily fitted up and was originally covered in checked bed ticking or whatever inexpensive cloth might come to hand Later Victorian booths were gaudier affairs particularly those used for Christmas parties and other indoor performances In the 20th century however red and white striped puppet booths became iconic features on the beaches of many English seaside and summer holiday resorts Such striped cloth is the most common covering today wherever the show might be performed 4 A more substantial change came over time to the show s target audience The show was originally intended for adults but it changed into primarily a children s entertainment in the late Victorian era Ancient members of the show s cast ceased to be included such as the Devil and Punch s mistress Pretty Polly when they came to be seen as inappropriate for young audiences The story changes but some phrases remain the same for decades or even centuries For example Punch dispatches his foes each in turn and still squeaks his famous catchphrase That s the way to do it 2 The term pleased as Punch is derived from Punch and Judy specifically Mr Punch s characteristic sense of gleeful self satisfaction Modern British performances of Punch and Judy are no longer exclusively the traditional seaside children s entertainments which they had become They can now be seen at carnivals festivals birthday parties and other celebratory occasions The association of Punch with the seaside is still very strong however as demonstrated by Wisbech Town council s annual Wis BEACH day each summer all the seaside favourites are on show including a donkey deck chairs Punch and Judy and fish and chips 12 Characters edit nbsp Punch and Judy taken in Islington north London nbsp Punch and Judy characters Sydney 1940The characters in a Punch and Judy show are not fixed They are similar to the cast of a soap opera or a folk tale such as Robin Hood the principal characters must appear but the lesser characters are included at the discretion of the performer New cast may be added and older cast dropped as the tradition changes Along with Punch and Judy the cast of characters usually includes their baby a hungry crocodile a clown an officious policeman and a prop string of sausages 13 The devil and the generic hangman Jack Ketch may still make their appearances but if so Punch will always get the better of them The cast of a typical Punch and Judy show today will include Mr Punch Judy The Baby The Constable a k a Policeman Jack Joey the Clown The Crocodile The Skeleton The DoctorCharacters once regular but now occasional include Toby the Dog The Ghost The Lawyer Hector the Horse Pretty Polly The Hangman a k a Jack Ketch The Devil The Beadle Jim Crow The Black Man Mr Scaramouche The Servant or The Minstrel The Blind ManOther characters included Boxers Chinese Plate Spinners topical figures a trick puppet with an extending neck the Courtier and a monkey A live Toby the Dog was once a regular featured novelty routine sitting on the playboard and performing with the puppets Punch wears a brightly coloured traditionally red jester s motley and sugarloaf hat with a tassel He is a hunchback whose hooked nose almost meets his curved jutting chin He carries a stick called a slapstick as large as himself which he freely uses upon most of the other characters in the show Judy wears an apron a blue dress and a bonnet and always tries to tell Punch off when he uses the slapstickStory edit nbsp Mr PunchGlyn Edwards has likened the story of Punch and Judy to the story of Cinderella 14 He points out that there are parts of the Cinderella story which everyone knows namely the cruel step sisters the invitation to the ball the handsome prince the fairy godmother Cinderella s dress turning to rags at midnight the glass slipper left behind the prince searching for its owner and the happy ending None of these elements can be omitted and the famous story still be told The same principle applies to Punch and Judy Everyone knows that Punch mishandles the baby that Punch and Judy quarrel and fight that a policeman comes for Punch and gets a taste of his stick that Punch has a gleeful run in with a variety of other figures and takes his stick to them all that eventually he faces his final foe which might be a hangman the devil a crocodile or a ghost Edwards contends that a proper Punch and Judy show requires these elements or the audience will feel let down 14 Peter Fraser writes the drama developed as a succession of incidents which the audience could join or leave at any time and much of the show was impromptu 15 This was elaborated by George Speaight who explained that the plotline is like a story compiled in a parlour game of Consequences the show should indeed not be regarded as a story at all but a succession of encounters 16 Robert Leach makes it clear that the story is a conceptual entity not a set text the means of telling it therefore are always variable 17 Rosalind Crone asserts that the story needed to be episodic so that passersby on the street could easily join or leave the audience during a performance 18 Much emphasis is often placed on the first printed script of Punch and Judy in 1827 It was based on a show by travelling performer Giovanni Piccini illustrated by George Cruikshank and written by John Payne Collier This is the only surviving script of a performance and its accuracy is questioned The performance was stopped frequently to allow Collier and Cruikshank to write and sketch and in the words of Speaight Collier is someone of whom the full list of his forgeries has not yet been reckoned and the myths he propagated are still being repeated His Punch and Judy is to be warmly welcomed as the first history of puppets in England but it is also sadly to be examined as the first experiment of a literary criminal 19 The tale of Punch and Judy varies from puppeteer to puppeteer as previously with Punchinello and Joan and it has changed over time Nonetheless the skeletal outline is often recognizable It typically involves Punch behaving outrageously struggling with his wife Judy and the baby and then triumphing in a series of encounters with the forces of law and order and often the supernatural interspersed with jokes and songs Typical 21st century performance edit A typical show as performed currently in the UK will start with the arrival of Mr Punch followed by the introduction of Judy They may well kiss and dance before Judy requests Mr Punch to look after the baby Punch will fail to carry out this task appropriately It is rare for Punch to hit his baby these days but he may well sit on it in a failed attempt to babysit or drop it or even let it go through a sausage machine In any event Judy will return will be outraged will fetch a stick and the knockabout will commence A policeman will arrive in response to the mayhem and will himself be felled by Punch s stick All this is carried out at breakneck farcical speed with much involvement from a gleefully shouting audience From here on anything goes Joey the Clown might appear and suggest It s dinner time This will lead to the production of a string of sausages which Mr Punch must look after although the audience will know that this really signals the arrival of a crocodile whom Mr Punch might not see until the audience shouts out and lets him know Punch s subsequent comic struggle with the crocodile might then leave him in need of a Doctor who will arrive and attempt to treat Punch by walloping him with a stick until Punch turns the tables on him Punch may next pause to count his victims by laying puppets on the stage only for Joey the Clown to move them about behind his back in order to frustrate him A ghost might then appear and give Mr Punch a fright before it too is chased off with a stick In more uncritical times a hangman would arrive to punish Mr Punch only to himself be tricked into sticking his head in the noose Do you do the hanging is a question often asked of performers Some will include it where circumstances warrant such as for an adult audience but most do not Some will choose to include it whatever the circumstances and will face down any critics Finally the show will often end with the Devil arriving for Mr Punch and possibly threatening his audience as well Punch in his final gleefully triumphant moment will win his fight with the Devil bring the show to a rousing conclusion and earn a round of applause Plots reflect their own era edit nbsp A traditional Punch and Judy show dating from World War II with the addition of a Hitler Character as a figure of derision to reflect the times Taken at the History On Wheels Museum Eton Wick UK Punch and Judy might follow no fixed storyline as with the tales of Robin Hood but there are episodes common to many recorded versions It is these set piece encounters or routines which are used by performers to construct their own Punch and Judy shows A visit to a Punch and Judy Festival at Punch s birthplace in London s Covent Garden will reveal a whole variety of changes that are wrung by puppeteers from this basic material Scripts have been published at different times since the early 19th century but none can be claimed as the definitive traditional script of Punch and Judy Each printed script reflects the era in which it was performed and the circumstances under which it was printed The various episodes of the show are performed in the spirit of outrageous comedy often provoking shocked laughter and are dominated by the anarchic clowning of Mr Punch Just as the Victorian version of the show drew on the morality of its day so also the Punch amp Judy College of Professors considers that the 20th and 21st century versions of the tale is used as a vehicle for grotesque visual comedy and a sideways look at contemporary society In my opinion the street Punch is one of those extravagant reliefs from the realities of life which would lose its hold upon the people if it were made moral and instructive I regard it as quite harmless in its influence and as an outrageous joke which no one in existence would think of regarding as an incentive to any kind of action or as a model for any kind of conduct It is possible I think that one secret source of pleasure very generally derived from this performance is the satisfaction the spectator feels in the circumstance that likenesses of men and women can be so knocked about without any pain or suffering Charles Dickens Letter to Mary Tyler 6 November 1849 from The Letters of Charles Dickens Vol V 1847 1849 An awareness of the prevalence of domestic abuse and how Punch and Judy could be seen to make light of this threatened Punch and Judy performances in the UK and other English speaking countries for a time 20 but the show is having one of its cyclical recurrences 21 and can now be seen in England Wales and Ireland and also in Canada the United States the Caribbean and Puerto Rico Australia New Zealand and South Africa In 2001 the characters were honoured in the UK with a set of British commemorative postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail 22 In a 2006 UK poll the public voted Punch and Judy onto the list of icons of England 23 Comedy editDespite Punch s unapologetic murders throughout the performances it is still a comedy The humour is aided by a few things Rosalind Crone 2006 p 1065 suggests that since the puppets are carved from wood their facial expressions cannot change but are stuck in the same exaggerated pose which helps to deter any sense of realism and to distance the audience 18 The use of the swazzle also helps to create humour and that the swazzled sound of Punch s voice takes the cruelty out of Punch 24 According to Crone a third aspect that helped make the violence humorous was that Punch s violence toward his wife was prompted by her own violence toward him 18 In this aspect he retains some of his previous hen pecked persona This would suggest that since Punch was merely acting violently out of self defence it was okay This is a possible explanation for the humour of his violence toward his wife and even towards others who may have somehow had it coming 18 This suggestion better explains the humour of the violence toward the baby Other characters that had to incur the wrath of Punch varied depending on the punchman but the most common were the foreigner the blind man the publican the constable and the devil 18 Published scripts editPunch is primarily an oral tradition adapted by a succession of exponents from live performances rather than authentic scripts and in constant evolution There exist however some early published scripts of varying authenticity In 1828 the critic John Payne Collier published a Punch and Judy script under the title The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Punch and Judy 25 26 The script was illustrated by the well known caricaturist George Cruikshank Collier said his script was based on the version performed by the professor Giovanni Piccini in the early 19th century and Piccini himself had begun performing in the streets of London in the late 18th century The Collier Cruickshank Punch has been republished in facsimile several times Collier s later career as a literary forger has cast some doubt on the authenticity of the script which is rather literary in style and may well have been tidied up from the rough and tumble street theatre original A transcript of a typical Punch and Judy show in London of the found in Henry Mayhew s London Labour and the London Poor 27 Legacy editMusical theatre edit In 2013 a musical inspired by the Punch and Judy characters premiered in Sweden at Arbisteatern in Norrkoping Carnival Tale Tivolisaga written by Johan Christher Schutz and Johan Pettersson 28 With a storyline loosely inspired by Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet a travelling carnival arrives in a small town and the foreign carnival s star jester Punch falls in love with the Mayor s daughter Judy The original Swedish cast recording is freely available online and features Disney Channel Scandinavia presenter Linnea Kallstrom as Judy The story and songs originate from a pop band called Punch and Judy Show started by Schutz and Pettersson in the late 1990s 29 Film edit Judy and Punch is a 2019 Australian film written and directed by Mirrah Foulkes which retells the plot of the puppet show as a black comedy drama It stars Damon Herriman as Punch and Mia Wasikowska as Judy The film first premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival The plot reimagines the classic puppet show as a revenge tale in which Judy and Punch are married puppeteers in the fictional town of Seaside with a popular show about themselves Following the traditional element of the show Punch s carelessness leads to the death of their baby prompting a fight between him and Judy However having been thought dead after Punch s beating Judy survives with the help of village outcasts and decides to enact her revenge on her husband who has scapegoated their servants The film took Best Original Music Score and Best Actor Herriman at the 9th AACTA Awards and had seven other nominations Song edit The tradition is celebrated in the song Punch and Judy Man by British folk singer John Conolly The British prog rock group Marillion also included an allegorical song called Punch and Judy on their 1984 album Fugazi American singer songwriter Elliott Smith included a song titled after the show on his 1997 album Either Or The show is also referenced in Jack Stauber s Good Morning Blondie as to compare the Blondie resembling a puppet and having an unhealthy relationship with the singing character Punch is also faithfully celebrated in the 1977 UK novelty hit Naughty Naughty Naughty in which the performer Joy Sarney born Florence Joy Crabtree in 1944 interacts romantically with an authentic Mr Punch complete with swazzle stick and his traditional catch phrases including That s the way to do it and Oh no it isn t The song made it into the top 30 of the UK pop charts and was performed on the popular television show Top Of The Pops Naughty Naughty Naughty remains Joy Sarney s only hit Video games edit A video game called Punchy was released for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 home computers in the 1980s In the game Punch holds Judy hostage in the booth and the player takes the role of Bobby the policeman who has to rescue her overcoming custard pies tomatoes and pits as well as tackling Mr Punch himself Literature edit The novel Rivers of London Midnight Riot in the US by Ben Aaronovitch is embedded in the story of Punch and Judy to tell a story of a ghostly serial killer Russell Hoban s 1980 novel Riddley Walker features a post apocalyptic version of a Punch and Judy show Terry Pratchett s 1993 short murder mystery story Theatre of Cruelty was inspired by Punch and Judy It s set in his Discworld fantasy universe and a Punch and Judy show is also referenced briefly in the 2003 Discworld novel Monstrous Regiment See also editGuignol KasperleReferences edit a b Punch and Judy around the world The Telegraph 11 June 2015 a b Mr Punch celebrates 350 years of puppet anarchy BBC 11 June 2015 a b Wheeler R Mortimer 1911 Punch puppet In Chisholm Hugh ed Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 22 11th ed Cambridge University Press pp 648 649 a b Patterson Alice All About Punch And Judy Oddle Entertainment Agency Retrieved 2 February 2020 V amp A That s the Way to Do it A History of Punch amp Judy Victoria and Albert Museum Retrieved 2 February 2020 When Christmas carols were banned BBC Retrieved 2 April 2022 From pandemics to puritans when theatre shut down through history and how it recovered The Stage co uk Retrieved 2 April 2022 Friday 9th May 1660 www pepysdiary com 10 May 2005 Retrieved 9 January 2020 Philpott A R 1969 Dictionary of Puppetry nbsp This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Seccombe Thomas 1896 Powell Martin In Lee Sidney ed Dictionary of National Biography Vol 46 London Smith Elder amp Co Cleary Thomas R 1 January 2006 Henry Fielding A Political Writer Wilfrid Laurier Univ Press ISBN 978 0 88920 858 2 Video Sun and sand at WisBEACH Fenland Citizen 30 September 2019 Retrieved 9 January 2019 A Brief History of Punch and Judy with an introduction to the characters Speckinspace com Archived from the original on 23 November 2010 Retrieved 2 August 2012 a b Edwards Glyn 2000 Successful Punch and Judy Second Edition 2011 Worthing The Fedora Group ISBN 9780956718914 p 19 Fraser Peter 1970 Punch and Judy London B T Batsford New York Van Nostrand Reinhold Company ISBN 0 7134 2284 X Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 71 110085 p 8 Speaight George 1955 Punch and Judy A History Revised Edition 1970 London Studio Vista Ltd ISBN 0 289 79785 3 p 78 Leach Robert 1985 The Punch amp Judy Show History Tradition and Meaning London Batsford Academic and Educational Athens Georgia University of Georgia Press ISBN 0713447842 a b c d e Crone Rosalind 2006 Mr and Mrs Punch in Nineteenth Century England The Historical Journal 49 4 pp 1055 1082 Speaight 1970 p 82 Puppet show faces knockout punch BBC News London 8 November 1999 Retrieved 3 September 2008 around the world with mr punch Silly Season On Sea Punchandjudyworld org 14 August 2008 Archived from the original on 23 February 2012 Retrieved 2 August 2012 Stamp of Approval for Punch and Judy BBC News 20 August 2001 BBC News 20 August 2001 Retrieved 2 August 2012 New icons of Englishness unveiled No 27 April 2006 BBC News 11 June 2015 Proschan Frank 1981 Puppet Voices and Interlocutors Language in Folk Puppetry The Journal of American Folklore Vol 94 No 374 Folk Drama Oct Dec 1981 pp 527 555 The American Folklore Society Punch amp Judy 1832 Book pdf file Spyrock com Retrieved 2 August 2012 The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Punch and Judy p 65 John Payne Collier with illustrations by George Cruikshank Internet Archive London Labour and the London Poor Vol III Henry Mayhew p 54 Internet Archive Tidernas saga for var tid Timeless tale for our times No 26 August 2013 Norrkopings Tidningar 26 August 2013 Formiddag i P4 Ostergotland AM in P4 Ostergotland No 1 March 2019 SR Swedish Broadcasting Corporation P4 SR Ostergotland 1 March 2019 Further reading editPunch and Judy A Short History with the Original Dialogue by John Payne Collier illustrated by George Cruikshank 1929 2006 Dover Books Mr Punch by Philip John Stead 1950 Evans Brothers Ltd The Art of the Puppet by Bil Baird 1965 Ridge Press MacMillan Punch amp Judy A Play for Puppets by Ed Emberley 1965 Little Brown Punch and Judy Its Origin and Evolution by Michael Byrom 1972 1988 DaSilva Puppet Books Punch and Judy Inside the Booth Geoff Felix 2016 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Punch and Judy A program featuring Punch and Judy as well as Santa Claus Punch and Judy on the Web The Punch and Judy Club Custodians of Mr Punch s Heritage The Punch amp Judy Fellowship The largest and oldest organisation of its kind devoted to keeping alive the tradition of Punch amp Judy shows The Punch and Judy College of Professors detailed site of leading UK professionals The Worldwide Friends of Punch and Judy an international assemblage of people who love Punch Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Punch and Judy amp oldid 1185448017, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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