Punch and Judy - Characters, History, Story, Published scripts, Derived usage

A glove-puppet show - named after the man and wife who are its central characters - which developed in Britain from the marionette plays based on Pulcinella, the impudent hunchback of the commedia dell'arte. The Victorian era was the heyday of the itinerant puppeteer with his portable open-air booth, but the tradition has survived and its major features have remained constant. Being a one-man show, only two hand-puppets can appear at a given time. Punch, operated by the right hand, is a constant figure, while the challenges of the left hand introduce character after character to be defeated by Punch's anarchic vigour. The French equivalent of the British Punch, German Hanswurst or Kasperl, Russian Petroushka, is the Guignol. In Paris the name attached itself in the 1890s to cabarets which specialized in short puppet plays of violence, murder, and ghostly apparitions. Its home now remains in the portable booths and small theatres of Montmartre.

Punch and Judy is a popular puppet show featuring Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Punch and one other character.

Characters

Punch wears a jester's motley, is hunchbacked and his hooked nose almost meets his curved jutting chin. So important is Mr. 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.

History

The Punch and Judy show can trace its roots to the 16th century to the Italian commedia dell'arte. The figure of Punch derives from the stock character of Pulcinella, which was Anglicized to Punchinello.

May 9, 1662 is traditionally reckoned by 'Professors' as Punch's UK birthday, for that was the first recorded date on which the figure who later became Mr. Punch was seen in Britain. The diarist Samuel Pepys observed a puppet show featuring an early version of the Punch character near St. Paul's Church in London's Covent Garden.

The British "Punch and Judy" show is derived from the puppet character who spread across Europe. In Germany, Punch is called "Kasper" and Judy is "Grete". In the Netherlands, Punch is called Jan Klaassen (and Judy is Katrijn);

In the late 18th and early 19th Century the familiar Punch and Judy hand puppet show that existed in Britain was performed in an easily-transportable booth (known as a fit-up).

Modern British performances of Punch and Judy are no longer the traditional seaside entertainments, found in holiday resorts during the summer months, but a public attraction that can be seen at carnivals, festivals, birthday parties, and all manner of similar celebratory occasions. Apart from Punch and Judy, there is usually also their baby, a crocodile, and a string of sausages. The story changes, but some punchlines remain the same: Punch, for example, always says "That's the way to do it!"

Story

The tale of Punch and Judy varies from puppeteer to puppeteer and has changed over time. 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). The stereotypical view of Punch casts him as a deformed, child-murdering, wife-beating psychopath who commits appalling acts of violence and cruelty upon all those around him and escapes scot-free, - and is thus greatly enjoyed by small children. In actual fact, Punch has long since reverted to his origins as a clown figure whose acts of violence are in the same tradition as those to be seen in all classic cartoons.

Published scripts

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. Punch is primarily an oral tradition, handed down (or copied) from live performances more than from scripts. A transcript of a typical Punch and Judy show in London of the 1840s can be found in Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor.

Derived usage

Punch, a long running British humour magazine, derives its name from Mr. Punch. Riddley Walker, a 1982 novel by Russell Hoban, features as its main character a wandering Punch and Judy man in a post-apocalyptic world where Punch and Judy shows serve as the civic religion. The Punch and Judy shows have changed, however, and now tell the story of how civilization was destroyed. The Punch and Judy Man was a 1961 movie, starring Tony Hancock as the title character. The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch: A Romance, a 1995 graphic novel by writer Neil Gaiman and artist Dave McKean, features a boy whose memories are triggered by a Punch and Judy show.