Punch and Judy

“ He is a taster of life. He goes about like a country boy at a fair, taking a shy at every Aunt Sally, a ride on every roundabout, a shot at every shooting-range. The bearded woman delights him, and Punch and Judy hold him as the glittering eye of the ancient mariner held the wedding guest. He never grows tired of the show. ”

“ Punch, I am going down stairs to bring up the Baby. (Exit Judy.)
(Punch—continues to dance—a negro comes up slyly behind him and hits him a heavy blow on the side of his head, and before Punch gets a glance at him, darts out of sight. Punch scratches his head, looks about the stage—seemingly much perplexed—but is soon relieved by the appearance of Judy with the Child. Enter Judy with the Baby.) ”

“ Punch who calls Judy to his aid. Here commences the dance by Punch and Judy, who bow to the audience, then to each other and at the sound of music move off in the dance.
It is not necessary that the feet of the Puppets should be seen, consequently they are seldom brought into view.
The person inside the Frame when dancing the Puppets, must go through all the capers he wishes the Figures to perform; and as he is entirely concealed from view, he can be just as funny as he pleases; and in proportion to his comic actions will the little Actors appear to the audience. ”

“ Judy.—I won't leave off. (Hits him.)
Punch.—Very well my lady; now comes my turn. (He snatches the stick from her, and strikes her on the head while she runs about to different parts of the stage to get out of his way.) How do you like that? old gal, and (hitting her) that?
Judy.—Mr. Punch, you ought to be ashamed of yourself to strike a woman! a helpless woman like me—get out with you.
Punch.—If a horse kicks me I'll kick him back if I can—if a dog bites me I'll bite him—you take that (hits) and one more [pg 9] (hits her again—she falls to the floor; Punch is alarmed.) No, no ”

“ There is another likeness between Attic tragedy and Punch and Judy; there is a limitation in the number of characters we are allowed to see at the same time. As the hidden performer who operates all the figures has only two hands, he can bring before us at any one moment only Mr. Punch and one other of the several characters. The fingers of the right hand animate Mr. Punch, and the fingers of the left hand animate in turn Mrs. Judy and the negro and the clown. ”

“ In 1874 the demand for puppets was so great that it became difficult to meet the wants of the many professors that had decided to become performers. Notwithstanding the growing number of actors, in the fall of 1876 not one unemployed Punch and Judy performer could be found in New York city.
As to the puppet-show of “Punch and Judy,” it never is looked at by our people but as a mere joke; and a most effective part of that joke is the ultimate triumph of the hero ”

“ I saw swings and merry-go-rounds, a circus, and a marionette theatre, and heard Punch and Judy discussing their domestic differences in Hungarian, and Toby barking in the same uncouth tongue. The joy with which the public greeted each crack on the head administered by Herr Punch's stick showed me how hopeless it was to write literary plays. For the primitive emotions will always be the most captivating. A fight must ever beat the most subtle psychology ”

“ In France the puppet-show is stationary; it has its fixed habitation and abode; and its lovers can easily discover where to find it when they seek the specific pleasure it alone can provide. In England the spectacle of Punch and Judy is ambulatory; the bloodthirsty hero and the bereaved heroine roam the streets at large, and their arrival in any one avenue of traffic can never be predicted with certainty. In the United States poor Punch has never ventured to show his face in the open street, seeking the suffrages of the casual throng ”

“ No; he has to confess, with deep thankfulness, that his success has far, very far, transcended his deserts. And, like many other men, he has found that one or two events in his life, which seemed disappointments at the time, were in truth great and signal blessings. Still, every one has known enough of the blank, desolate feeling of disappointment, to sympathize keenly with the disappointments of others. I feel deeply for the poor Punch and Judy man, simulating great excitement in the presence of a small, uninterested group, from which people keep dropping away. ”

“ Punch and Judy shows are getting scarce, what with yer cinematographs and pierrots and things. But there’s always customers for ’em and always will be. And it’s more than babies like ’em really. Many’s the time I’ve seen old gentlemen and fine ladies stop and watch when they think no one’s lookin’ at ’em, and the light comes into their eyes and the colour into their cheeks, and then they think that some one sees ’em and they creep away. It’s natural to like Punch; it’s the banging, knock-me-down kind of humour that’s the only genuine sort. ”

“ As long as you live, my lad, you’ll never hear a finer. But where is my Judy? My sweet Judy, why don’t you come.”
Meanwhile Punch has hidden the body of Scaramouch behind the curtain, and Judy, the ‘feminine’ pendant of her husband, with the same monstrous nose, enters. A comically tender scene ensues, after which Punch asks for his child; Judy goes to fetch it, and Punch breaks forth into an ecstatic monologue on his happiness as a husband and father. The little monster arrives, and now the parents can hardly contain themselves for joy, and lavish upon it the tenderest names and caresses. ”

“ Stiggins might be successfully acted in a spirited puppet-show, where conversation is of less importance than well-timed and well-bestowed pommeling. But we have now reached that point of humane seriousness when even puppet-shows cannot escape their educational responsibilities, and when Punch and Judy are gravely censured for teaching a lesson in brutality. ”

“ Susan very naturally sulked at being locked up, and at being deprived of her favorite amusement. Life had no joy for her without Punch and Judy. With Punch and Judy, existence was blissful; without Punch and Judy, existence was a blank. Regarding the twins as the cause of her imprisonment, she vented her spleen upon the unfortunate couple, and was spiteful enough to leave traces of yellow soap in their eyes when she washed them ”

“ MR. Punch thoughtfully scratched his head with his stick and stared philosophically at the four limp corpses in front of him.
"People may blame me," he reflected, "but what else could I have done? It is not as if these creatures had any real existence outside my own imagination. And surely I may be permitted to change my mind?
"Here, for instance, is all that remains of my idea of Judy. Once she was my notion of a wife—a notion that I cherished as long as could reasonably be expected from a person of my imagination. ”

“ But as we never look for perfection in human nature, it is too much to expect it in wood. We wish it to be understood that we repudiate such principles and conduct. We have a Judy of our own, and a little Punchininny that commits innumerable improprieties; but we fearlessly aver that we never threw him out of window, nor belaboured the lady with a stick—even of the size allowed by law.
There is one portion of the drama we wish was omitted, for it always saddens us—we allude to the prison scene. Punch, it is true, sings in durance, but we hear the ring of the bars mingling with the song. ”

“ Punch's man. It occurred in this way: One of the puppet-shows known as "Punch and Judy," arrived at Newmarket, to the great gratification of the neighborhood. Young Curran was an attentive listener at every exhibition of the show. At length, Mr. Punch's man fell ill, and immediately ruin threatened the establishment. Curran, who had devoured all the man's eloquence, offered himself to the manager as Mr. Punch's man. His services were gladly accepted, and his success so complete, that crowds attended every performance, and Mr. Punch's new man became the theme of universal panegyric. ”

“ Judy nodded her head mournfully. Black Sheep turned away in despair, but Judy's arms were round his neck.
"Never mind, Punch," she whispered. "I will speak to you just the same as ever and ever. You're my own own brother though you are—though Aunty Rosa says you're bad, and Harry says you're a little coward. He says that if I pulled your hair hard, you'd cry."
"Pull, then," said Punch. Judy pulled gingerly.
"Pull harder as hard as you can! There! ”

“ Punch. Pray, sir, bestow your charity upon a poor blind man, with a bad cough. (coughs.)
Punch. Get along, get along; don’t trouble me: nothing for you.
Blind Man. Only a half-penny! Oh, dear! my cough is so bad! (coughs and spits in Punch’s face.)
Punch. Hollo! Was my face the dirtiest place you could find to spit in? Get away! you nasty old blackguard! Get away! (seizes the Blind Man’s staff, and knocks him off the stage. Punch hums a tune, and dances to it; and then begins to sing, in the mock Italian style, the following words, pretending to play the fiddle on his arm, with the stick) ”

“ Punch has always greeted our ear. We therefore say by all means let it so continue. A little practice will soon enable you to articulate the sound of words intelligibly, and until you are proficient in its use, the answer of the other figure will convey the meaning. Thus, Punch, in his squeaking voice, asks for the baby. Judy answers, “Oh, Mr. Punch, you want the baby, do you? Well, I’m afraid it’s asleep, but I’ll go and see.” Let the squeaker be (a good one) placed on the centre of the tongue, held close to the roof of the mouth and the words spoken through it. ”

“ Punch. I know it. He wanted to hang me, and so I hung him.
Joey. Was that so? Well, what are we to do with him now?
Punch. Take him down.
Joey. That is so, Massa Punch. We will take his dead body down. (they take him down, and remove the gallows.)
Punch. Put him in his coffin.
Joey. Good, Mr. Punch. But why, massa, they have not made the coffin long enough!
Punch. Double him up.
Joey. Ah! that is so. We will double him up. But, Massa Punch, he’ll not go in the coffin now.
Punch. Well, ram him down. (Punch fetches his club, and tucks him down and in.) ”

“ Punch, already irritated at having missed clown, misses sausages, and exit in high dudgeon. Re-enter Judy, followed by sausaged clown, who comforts her. (Oh, Judy!) Re-enter Punch. Justifiable tussle. Punch sees sausages and begins to find his length. Clown sees stars and exit. Punch knocks out Judy with a left hook. To him, gloating, enter constable. It seems Judy's knock-out more serious than usual. Constable suggests that Punch shall go quietly. Punch does not see it, and retires to fetch persuader. Constable protests and is persuaded. (Laughter.) ”

“ Parents frequently employ the itinerant Punch-and-Judy man to astonish and delight a juvenile party with his comical puppets; and we are convinced that they act wisely, as children of all ages enjoy nothing so much as a good show. The reader, by following our directions, may exhibit the freaks of Punch and Judy, the dancing figures of the Fantoccini, the grotesque shadows of the Gallanty Show; in fine, he may become quite an expert showman. ”

“ All about the brick-paved school yard, on the walk, and in the street gutters, were scattered oblongs of blue paper as he scampered from the deserted building at noon. The boy picked one of the handbills up and read with an odd thrill:
Professor T. J. O'Reilley's PUNCH AND JUDY SHOW in Three Stupendous, Sidesplitting Parts at NEIGHBORHOOD HALL, Monday, October 4, at 4:15 p.m. I
Punch and Judy. The old favorite as played before the Crowned Heads of Europe. All the well-known characters, with added mirth provoking innovations. Alone worth the price of admission. ”

“ Judy.—Mr. Punch, here is our own little darling: you hold the child while I go down in the kitchen and prepare dinner—mind you—don't you slap or pinch it, to make it cry. (He takes the Child. Exit Judy.)
(Punch sings) "It is good to be a father," etc. ”

“ Punch, derived from the Latin Mimi, through the Italian Pullicenella. It was originally intended as a characteristic representation. The tale is this: Punch, in a fit of jealousy, strangles his infant child, when Judy flies to her revenge. With a bludgeon she belabors her husband, till he becomes so exasperated that he snatches the bludgeon from her, knocks her brains out, and flings the dead body into the street. ”

“ This advice is of special importance, and should be observed by the players. On no account should Mr. Punch be allowed to remain motionless, dull or stupid, with nothing to say or do. He is ever to be the gayest of the gay, king and conqueror of all before him. Once in view above the stage before the company, whilst waiting for an act to commence or for a figure to come up, he thumps his club down on the stage, throws it at the showman outside, dances, or sings a verse of a song. ”

“ There are some wise old people, who, when they hear the music of the showmen in the streets, are very much annoyed, and wish to have the vagrants sent off to the work-house. Gently—gently—Mr. Snarl. This very exhibition of Punch and Judy, has given more innocent pleasure than almost any other that was ever invented.
The story of Punch and his wife Judy, had its origin in Italy. As it is a pleasant story, I will tell it. In the district of Acezza, near Naples, the people are very much addicted to the making of wine from grapes ”