Punch and Judy

Punch and Judy, performed by seasoned professional Uncle Brian, 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. The show is traditionally performed by a single puppeteer, known as a Professor.

Staring Mr. Punch, Judy, the Baby,

Staring Mr. Punch, Judy, the Baby, the Policeman, Joey the Clown, the Ghost and the Crocodile etc. Each show lasts for 30 minutes and includes a traditional striped booth & PA system. By and large for a full day affair artist alternate 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off for spells longer than an hour. For details of costs and times please contact me directly using the details to the left of this page. I am always happy to give advice on punch and judy shows and welcome enquires from all over the United Kingdom.

Hire Punch and Judy

Hire Punch and Judy, the conventional, widely known British hand puppet 'carry on' starring the husband and wife team of Punch and Judy. My Punch and Judy show is based on a program of brief acts, each portraying two-way exchange among a couple of personalities, characteristically the chaotic Mr Punch and another wooden-headed persona, one on each of my hands as the solo puppeteer customarily referred to as a Professor, a Victorian honorific younger than the Punch & Judy show itself which dates back to the 16th century and a higher sounding qualification than the Bachelor of Science I gained reading Chemistry at the University of Manchester.

Punch and Judy Show History

The Punch and Judy show can track its origin back to the sixteenth century commedia dell'arte of Italy. The Punch character hereditary springs from Pulcinella the Neapolitan personage, which became Punchinello for the British to get their tongue around. Mr Punch's character is based upon the Abbot of Unreason and mythological Clowns. Punch's wife used to be called Joan. Around 1818 when Punch swapped from being a string puppet (or marionette) to glove puppet not only did his wife's name changed to Judy her personality also altered from an irascible woman in the eighteenth century who on being asked for a kiss by Mr Punch hit him to the dupe subject to Mr Punch's unprovoked attacks.

In Great Britain Punch's birthday is said to be May 9th, 1662 by "Professors" based upon that being the first sighting recorded in Samuel Pepys' diary of a puppet that developed into Mr. Punch. Pepys saw a marionette puppet show inside a tent by Pietro Gimonden, an Italian puppeteer using the stage name "Signor Bologna".

Uncle Brian's Punch & Judy Show

I have Punch wearing a jack-a-dandy costume with a hunchback and a red hooked nose which nearly touches the protruding arch of his chin in my Punch and Judy show. I arm Punch with a slap stick almost as big as he is, that he wheels blows with care free abandon on every cast member of my Punch and Judy show. My Mr Punch talks in his quintessential stridor tones, brought about by a gimmick referred to by fellow Punch and Judy Professors as a swazzle or swatchel being held on the roof of my mouth, conveying Punch's gleesome palaver - "That's the way to do it". This unmistakable dialect of Mr. Punch would be so conspicuous by its absence that there is some contention within Punch and Judy Professor camps as to whether or not a show without this swazzle gadget could be seen as a bona fide Punch and Judy Show.

My introduction to the Punch and Judy glove-puppet shows was on the sandy beaches of Scarborough seafront. My father and I performed from within an easily-transportable, narrow, lightweight red and white stripped booth (known professionally as a "fit-up") with one as puppeteer whilst the other acted as an assistant "bottler" to collect our earnings from a crowd. By swapping roles we were giving many performances in a single day.

I don't use antique personnel of the Punch and Judy troupe, like the historical hangman Jack Ketch, the devil and Punch's mistress Pretty Polly with them being unsuitable for a crowd of children.

Nowadays my presentations of the Punch and Judy puppet pantomime are not solely as a classical children's amusement in North Yorkshire seaside towns, caravan parks and holiday camps over the summer holidays. These days my Punch and Judy shows are crowd pleasers at school fetes, weddings, fun fairs, shop openings, birthday parties and every other shindig.

In addition to Punch & Judy, my traditional cast members comprise of the baby, a snappy crocodile, Joey the Clown, Mr Policeman (taking the place of the antiquated Beadle), a hairy spider and a range of props including the baby's milk bottle, string of sausages, frying pan, police whistle and Punch's slap stick. There may have been alterations in the plot, but a handful of enduring catch phrases are still those used for decades or before I was born: for instance, Mr Punch, whilst chasing Judy, always squawks "Give us a kiss" or after whacking everyone which his slap stick Punch comes out with the audiences favourite "That's the way to do it"

My whole Punch and Judy show is acted out as flamboyant preposterous farce and is aimed to court appalled guffaw. The Victorian's Punch & Judy may well have been played to the ethicality of the era, where as my Punch and Judy action is more along the lines of a slapstick cartoon like Tom and Jerry. My Punch and Judy story line is analogous to a basic edition of The Simpsons opening titles.