An article from The Swazzle, September 2005 "Give 'em Some Stick Mr Punch….!"

Judy departs and is heard to call from below "look after the baby Mr Punch….I'll send him up to you", there's a pause whilst Punch awaits the arrival of his off spring and as it appears that he's not coming, swings his legs over the play board and starts to sing. Suddenly up pops the lad and bold as brass he tells his father that he's got a birthday or even father's day present for him.

"Close your eyes and I'll give it to you"; Punch turns his head away and there's a quiet momentary lull whilst the baby whips off to fetch the present, seconds later he returns, stick in hand and smacks Punch smartly on the back of the head!

Not so original I grant you and I'm prepared to wager that Joey has done this one before but letting the baby do it, goes down much better with the kids and the adults love it too.

Last Christmas I did my first shows in a shopping mall. I was to entertain the constantly moving queue of Father Christmas visitors with my Traditional constantly not moving Punch & Judy Show. To be frank the first show wasn't great. I was perched at least two feet off the ground on a temporary stage and also performing hands overhead. The second and third shows were done hands in front of face and went considerably better. Come the final show, my good lady, shouted to me, post warm up and just as I was clambering into the booth to give'em as much Judy and baby as you can "cause they love it!" Always one to oblige, this I duly did and we went home a hit.

There's something about my Judy, which always goes down well with the audience. I can't understand it! I look upon Judy as Piccini played her but always end up giving her a too realistic high female voice and lots of nice interaction with the crowd (well half a dozen normally but there you go!). You see I'm a product of the 70's in this respect, as anyone with a copy of Percy Press's Snr Children's Junior Showtime LP will attest, and my Judy owes more to the bland 'advertisement housewife' than to Shakespeare's 'Taming of the Shrew'.

When asked how I get such a high voice I tell 'em that I stand inside, legs a akimbo and the wife gives me a quick kick in the Charlie's! They seem to go away satisfied. They don't bother asking how Punch get's his voice anymore as they've told me how I do that already (ruddy Internet)!

Anyway back to the original intention of this piece, when a friend was developing his show, I tentatively suggested that when he'd played the intro for all it's worth and possibly got Mr Punch interacting with the audience, why not stage manage a piece where a member of the audience gives Punch his first stick. Think of the symbolism. It'll drive the P.C. lobby mad. The audience encouraging Punch to commit the very acts that they are supposed to be railing against!

It never came off but if you can keep a secret, I may yet develop the idea.

The Internet is once again providing fertile soil for investigation. Chris van Der Craats has been uploading 'easy carve' designs for Punch Figures and has subsequently applied his technique to the recreation of Picciini's Punch. The end results are not, by his own admission, "absolutely perfect" but the exercise was undertaken as much to learn by the experience as to the desire to reproduce a perfect copy of Cruikshanks illustrations.

The Piccini show, when analysed, throws up some interesting observations. The first stick we 'see' belongs to Scaramouch- a fine fiddle there, for which he suffers the indignity of having his head knocked clean off his shoulders. Next we meet Judy, who after learning the fate of her child rushes out, and returns with a stick with which she begins to belabour Punch. After some interaction with Polly and a visit by the Courtier, Punch is thrown from a horse, which necessitates a visit from the doctor. Physic is what is prescribed; the doctor retires and returns with a stick. A Negro servant suffers a cacophony of sound by which he gets beaten to death by an imaginary orchestra, only for his blind master to appear staff in hand by which he also gets dispatched. Finally the forces of law and order appear: an officer and constable both of which must come armed but who suffer the same fate as the doctor.

Finally Jack Ketch, the hangman, appears, his stick is declared a 'fine prospect', but it is only the hangman who gets to experience the realisation of this investment. Ultimately the devil arrives, stick in hand, in an attempt to claim his own. After a peculiar sliding routine Punch finally claims a stick of his own and despatches the devil to the land of 'boogety shogety'. And with that the show is over!

In each instance, Punch has been forced to take up arms; we see now whom the perpetrators of the 'violence' really are. The trademark Slapstick belongs not to Punch but to his victims, they are hoisted by their own petard!

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