blog around the world with mr. punch

Posted on November 13, 2007 by profreshwater

Welcome to the Around the World With Mr. Punch, the official journal of The Worldwide Friends of Punch and Judy. This lively periodical has been a source of information and inspiration for Punch professionals and amateur enthusiasts since 1993. Your Editors, Glyn Edwards (UK) and Professor Freshwater (aka Diane Rains) (USA), are pleased now to bring you our signature, one-of-a-kind publication in a bold new format. Here in our Around the World With Mr. Punch blog you will find a wealth of articles, media, and special features devoted to The Punch and Judy Show tradition. New content may show up at any time!

Punch has always been on my mind a lot

Posted on November 13, 2007 by glyn

OK it’s a silly title but the photo came as an extra piece of fun from a recent publicity shoot. And it kind of serves as an introduction to the new look of Around the World With Mr. Punch.

Introducing Punch and Judy

Posted on November 13, 2007 by glyn

Sometime last year I was asked to write an article about Punch and Judy for a Brazilian puppetry magazine. That was quite an interesting challenge because I know next to nothing about Brazilian culture and so interpreting a pretty unusual bit of English culture without many obvious shared concepts to help the explanation meant thinking a bit harder than usual about how to introduce Old Red Nose to a new audience. I thought that it might be worth a place online here as well.

Gone to the Dogs! A Fur-ther Look At Toby Tradition

Posted on January 22, 2008 by profreshwater

It has been said that a savvy performer should "never follow kids or live animals.” Mr. Punch, being quite sure of his audience appeal, has no qualms about sharing his show with a live Toby Dog. Just how prevalent has this partnership been through Punch’s long and colorful history, and how did it begin?

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Punch rises to a new station

Posted on January 03, 2008 by glyn

Three cheers for London’s St. Pancras station. The grand opening season of the new international Eurostar terminus included Punch and Judy. Read More »

Sioux City in 1940

Posted on January 03, 2008 by glyn

Someone forwarded this from the ‘discussion’ page of the Wikipedia article on Punch and Judy. It shows a poster from the Library of Congress for an event at the Sioux City Art Centre in 1940. Anyone know any more?

The greatest of clowns

Posted on January 03, 2008 by glyn

At pantomime season in Britain it's timely to pay a small tribute to the great Joseph Grimaldi - clown superstar of Harlequinades and Pantomime and commemorated to this day on stage with Mr. Punch. He it was who brought the string of sausages into the show (one of his bits of stage biz involved stealing a long string of sausages) and he played a great part in establishing audience participation in pantomimes. With his catchphrase of ‘Here we are again!” and his teasing the audience with a questioning ‘”Shall I???” to which they would roar back YES!!! we can feel his legacy at work everytime we do similar. Joey’s gone - but never to be forgotten.

Inspiring Riddley Walker

Posted on December 24, 2007 by glyn

This is a Judy puppet belonging to the man whose articles in the New Yorker magazine started Russell Hoban on the road to writing Riddley Walker. Read More »

The purpose of Punch and Judy

Posted on December 10, 2007 by glyn

Hello! I am a puppetry student very interested to learn about Punch, and what it is about him that means he has popped up throughout history all over the world. I was wondering if you have any answers to a few questions. And anything else you can tell me about Mr. Punch would be really great!

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Punchcast (episode #1): That seaside song

Posted on December 10, 2007 by glyn

Wonderful thing the internet! Look what you can find. Hats off to the chap in the picture. He was the first performer to sing what has turned into Mr. Punch's theme tune: 'I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside.'
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Punchcasts

Posted on December 10, 2007 by profreshwater

The hills are alive with the sound of...
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How Old Is Mr.Punch?

Posted on November 25, 2007 by glyn

Looking ahead (way, way ahead). Well, it may be five years into the future for us mere mortals but for a 345 year old wooden star it's as near as tomorrow. Yes Mr. Punch is heading for his 350th 'Official' Birthday in 2012.

....and you takes your choice

Posted on November 23, 2007 by glyn

No reason for posting these except that a loose Punch themed connection between iconic British artist L.S. Lowry and a balloon modelling clown amused me.

Yours curiously.....crocs and sausages

Posted on November 23, 2007 by glyn

Just before this blog was launched the Worldwide Friends of P&J website had a query from a journalist who signed off 'Yours curiously'. If that's not a great title for an embryonic FAQ archive I don't know what is. The query was about the crocodile and the sausages. Read More »

But wait! There's more!

Posted on November 13, 2007 by profreshwater

What you've just read is but a taste of the meaty content to be found in Around the World With Mr. Punch!

"What?" you ask. "There's more???"

Yes, indeed there is! If you join The Worldwide Friends of Punch and Judy, you will gain complete access to our blog-based journal, Around the World With Mr. Punch. And it won't cost you a cent, euro or any other form of currency! Membership is absolutely free and without obligation.

As a member, you'll be able to read new and archived blog articles about Punch and Judy tradition, performance, and history. You can subscribe to an RSS feed for the blog, so that you will always know when new content has been added. You'll learn the secret URL for our journal archives, where dozens more pre-blog issues of Around the World With Mr. Punch are ready for download as PDF files. And you can contribute to the blog's content through Punchlines, our members-only comment/discussion avenue.

Whether you're a professional Punch performer, an enamored amateur, or just a curious bystander — The Worldwide Friends of Punch and Judy is meant for you!

How to join? Click the "Join Us" link in this page's sidebar and follow the one-step instruction.

That's the way to do it!