around the world with mr. punch http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/ The official blog-based journal of The Worldwide Friends of Punch and Judy en-us Nucleus CMS v3.32 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog//nucleus/nucleus2.gif around the world with mr. punch http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/ Gone to the Dogs! A Fur-ther Look At Toby Tradition http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=17 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?

THE HISTORIC TOBY

Henry Mayhew’s 1851 interview with an itinerant Punchman gives Professor Pike credit for introducing the live Toby:

A few years ago Toby was all the go. Formerly the dog was only a stuffed figure, and it was Mr. Pike what first hit upon introducing a live animal; and a great hit it war. It made a surprising alteration in the exhibition, for till lately the preformance was called Punch and Toby as well.

But performing animals had been associated with puppetry long before the Victorian era. Live monkeys, pigs, and cats sometimes accompanied or participated in 17th century European puppet shows. Still, in the mid-19th century live Tobies seemed to be particularly popular. They are mentioned frequently in letters and literature of the time. Punch magazine, the famous satirical publication, regularly included Toby dog graphics in its pages and on its cover. (Some of them accompany this blog article.)

Charles Dickens penned my favorite Toby-related passage, in The Uncommercial Traveller (1860):

In a shy street behind Longacre, two honest dogs live, who perform in Punch's shows. I may venture to say that I am on terms of intimacy with them both, and that I never saw either guilty of the falsehood of failing to look down at the man inside the show, during the whole performance. The difficulty other dogs have in satisfying their minds about these dogs, appears to be never overcome by time. The same dogs must encounter them over and over again, as they trudge along in their off-minutes behind the legs of the show and beside the drum; but all dogs seem to suspect their frills and jackets, and to sniff at them as if they thought those articles of personal adornment, an eruption — a something in the nature of mange, perhaps. From this Covent-garden window of mine I noticed a country dog, only the other day, who had come up to Covent-garden market under a cart, and had broken his cord, the end of which he still trailed along with him ... The ways of the town confused him, and he crept inside and lay down in a doorway. He had scarcely got a wink of sleep, when up comes Punch with Toby. He was darting to Toby for consolation and advice, when he saw the frill and stopped, in the middle of the street, appalled. The show was pitched, Toby retired behind the drapery, the audience formed, the drum and pipes struck up. My country dog remained immovable, intently staring at these strange appearances, until Toby opened the drama by appearing on his ledge, and to him entered Punch, who put a tobacco pipe into Toby's mouth. At this spectacle, the country dog threw up his head, gave one terrible howl, and fled due west.

In the 20th century, Bert Codman was one of the best known Punchmen to feature a live Toby. Codman purchased his (female) terrier in 1949 at St. John’s Market in Liverpool for 7/6d. The dog performed with him for 20 years and died in 1969. Codman died two days later. Some wonderful photos of Prof. Codman and Toby can be found online at punchandjudy.com and London’s Museum of Childhood.

BUT WHAT DID THEY DO?

Though historic reference to live Toby dogs can be easily found, it’s often harder to determine the exact role played by these special animals. Was there one traditional bit of business that all Tobies performed? Most often mentioned is the scenario of “dog bites Punch’s nose.” Many Tobies apparently “smoked” a pipe. They usually wore a ruffed collar and sat on the playboard. But was that all?

I have a suspicion that historic Toby routines may have varied more than written records reveal. That’s to be expected from a live animal performance. After all, each dog had its own personality, abilities, and likes/dislikes. Any Punch Prof would be foolish to not exploit his dog’s particular talents, whether they exceeded traditional bounds or not. Perhaps variation was the tradition with live Toby bits.

Prof. Pike’s Tobies, as described by Mayhew’s informant, seem quite exotic:

We used to go about the streets with three dogs, and that was admirable, and it did uncommon well as a new novelty at first, but we can't get three dogs to do it now. The mother of them dogs, ye see, was a singer, and had two pups what was singers too.

Bert Codman’s Toby, in addition to playboard-sitting and nose-biting, posed for photos wearing sunglasses and with a cigarette dangling from her lips. In later years Codman’s (by then rather famous) Toby played an increasingly larger role in the show. But what did she do?

PRESERVE TOBY HISTORY

Thanks to books, active Professors, and the Internet, the tradition of Punch and Judy is in no danger of dying out. But, without help, we may lose sight of live Tobies and their unique role in Mr. Punch’s colorful history. Already the living, acting, canine foil of Mr. Punch has fallen out of favor in Great Britain. May their history not be lost, as well. Those who have knowledge of these remarkable animals must help keep the live Toby tradition going.

Let’s keep those those tales happily wagging!
]]> punch and judy faq http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=17 Tue, 22 Jan 2008 04:35:34 +0000 Punch rises to a new station http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=15

Three cheers for London’s St. Pancras station. The grand opening season of the new international Eurostar terminus included Punch and Judy. Three Profs performed on three different Saturdays as part of the upscale Victorian Christmas market and ‘place to be’ activities. Prof Eek, Prof David Wilde and myself did the honours and grand fun was had by all. The terminus is a showpiece, a grand refurbishment of a Victorian masterpiece once threatened with demolition – and now where the rail service from lands beyond the Channel Tunnel arrives in central London. (The temporary terminus prior to this was Waterloo Station – a galling destination for visitors from France, perpetually reminded of their defeat at the hands of the Brits in 1815). With all the national attention that was focussed on the opening of the new station it was grand to see that no-one thought that Mr. Punch was too outmoded or controversial to be part of the Xmas Festivities. It was an exciting venue to play, with the arrivals and departure boards showing services to Paris, Brussels and connections across Europe. The festive Londoners in the audience were joined by all manner of international Xmas travellers passing through in an excited holiday atmosphere. The picture above shows the official pitch in a quiet moment. That roped off area was the source of much to-ing and fro-ing between rival clipboard wielding functionaries in charge of respective aspects of public safety. It was positioned and re-positioned with all the concentration of a chess match. As one technician observed “You wouldn’t believe the Health & Safety implications here. We’re simultaneously a Grade 1 Listed Heritage Building, an international transport terminal and a building site”. Like Canute and the tide, however, the public ebbed and flowed where they chose. The clip-boards wielded no especial powers over them.]]> general http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=15 Thu, 3 Jan 2008 17:51:00 +0000 Sioux City in 1940 http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=14

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?]]> general http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=14 Thu, 3 Jan 2008 17:50:00 +0000 The greatest of clowns http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=13

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. ]]> punch and judy faq http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=13 Thu, 3 Jan 2008 17:44:00 +0000 Inspiring Riddley Walker http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=16

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. It was intellectual polymath Edmund Wilson who mused about English puppeteers in these articles, and in the online guide to the Yale Collection of American Literature you can find Wilson’s papers and pictures of his own Punch, Judy and a number of other figures. They are in the Room 26 Cabinet of Curiosities.]]> general http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=16 Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:54:00 +0000 The purpose of Punch and Judy http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=12
On your web site you said that Punch is "a key figure in society's development; a figure able to turn shared values upside down for the shocked amusement of the community and the ultimate strengthening of the bonds that mutually bind it". Do you think this is still true, and as such do you think he is able to and / or should address issues that exist today?

You also said that Mr. Punch has "amused generations of ordinary people - particularly those with no power of their own. For them Punch has been a subversive superhero." What exactly is Mr Punch "flying in the face" of? And does he have any merit as an activist, or is he merely parody?

Do you think Punch's message could be expressed in other ways? I am discovering that different types of puppets have different character traits, and obviously hand puppets such as Punch are brilliant at manipulating objects, and also have a definite sense of removed comedy- they are clearly not human and yet can reach something very human inside us and make us laugh. Is it best with hand puppets? What about actors/ animation?

I look forward to any answers you may have!

This was a recent email from a student and with her permission I'm posting it - and my attempts to answer the questions - as part of the debate anyone may join as to the purpose of Punch and Judy.

I think I meant that the Trickster tradition (of which Punch is a part) is where the 'key figure....' quote is relevant. I'm not an expert here but my general reading of 'Ethnography/sociology for Dummies' literature over the years seems to make it apparent that at some stage in the transition from bands of wandering apes to emergent human societies it has been important that 'rules' were required - and were also required to be scrutinised. Looking at them in an outrageous way (as Trickster stories tend to)is a way of seeing things from different perspectives and testing the validity of communal assumptions. Ultimately the shared stories reinforce the society that tells them rather than tears it apart. In a 21st Century post-modern era a mere puppet show can no longer be a key medium for transmitting ideas to a mass audience - but 'the arts' in their widest sense can do.

I think Punch still works as a subversive parodist today in a simple vein. He's restricted to making these observations to family audiences in public places but there's always something topical a good performer will pick up on. Poking fun at politicians is always popular (Cameron's 'end to Punch & Judy' politics' call was a boon here. References to 'wooden headed politicians' get a chuckle) and modern policing methods usually provide comic fodder. I don't think Punch can work as an activist - he (or rather his show) is more of a commentator. Making the Doctor in the show a New Age quack provides a chance to send up current obsession with alternative therapies. Introducing a character bent on enforcing Health and Safety regulations seems to strike a chord in these days of excessive officialdom. Everyone knows what Mr. Punch will make of this! References to asking him to show his ID usually work anywhere (his stick his, of course, his ID).

So it's not the Big Things that Punch can overturn - he's an irritant who reminds us we don't have to conform. His generic enemy is 'them' and he's on the side of 'us' (well he's on the side of Punch actually - in a way that we root for him). That's why he can't go around reinforcing yesterday's stereotypes (be they gender issues, ethnicity or cultural). Nevertheless in an inclusive society the general public still have their 'hate figures'. Most often they are the representatives of authority. No one likes being told what to do by people they don't trust, admire or respect.

As to 'other ways'. Well, I think Punch only works as a hand puppet (for the reasons you have pinned down so well). Also, however, my current favourite analogy is to ask people to think of Punch and Judy as a very early forerunner of something like the Simpsons where a dysfunctional family and surreal comedy also make references to contemporary culture within a popular entertainment.
]]> punch and judy faq http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=12 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 02:14:11 +0000 Punchcast (episode #1): That seaside song http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=11 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.'
It's been called the most successful song of the Edwardian era (and was on the playlist of the band on board the Titanic). In the UK it's passed into the nursery rhyme and junior music lesson singalong session repertoire. (Well, the chorus has anyway. Only wonks/geeks/nerds/anoraks know the verses - and they are not school song material.) Originally, however, it was sung by comic songster Mark Sheridan (1876-1918). His stage wear looks pretty good to me. Just the thing to inspire a Prof wanting an eccentric yet authentic 'Victorian' look. Meanwhile, we can take a trip back to the London of 29th November 1909 and listen to the song as recorded on that day by Music Hall artiste Florrie Forde. She'd not know about podcasts - but she'd sure know about Mr. Punch. And his Profs soon got to know all about this song and made it his own. How the world turns! Stand by to join in the chorus. Here we go..... I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside
]]> Punchcasts (audio) http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=11 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 01:36:25 +0000 Punchcasts http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=10 Punchcasts! These mp3 and/or video posts are our version of podcasts. Primarily audio material is assigned the Category "Punchcast (audio)." Videophiles can join The Worldwide Friends of Punch and Judy for access to video Punchcasts in the "Punchcast (video)" category. Members can also receive our RSS feed, where they will find notification of new Punchcast episodes.]]> Punchcasts (audio) http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=10 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 01:18:28 +0000 How Old Is Mr.Punch? http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=9 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.
That's the year London hosts the Olympics so there'll already be plenty happening in the city where Punch and Judy first hit the streets. Watch out for news posted by 'The 350 Committee' who will be in charge of making sure that Old Red Nose and his family get celebrated in style as well. Mr. Punch's 325th Birthday in 1987 made it into the Guinness Book of Records (see the 1990 edition) so the sky is the limit when it comes to celebrating 350 years of madcap mischief. If you've got some thoughts on how to make it magically memorable then don't be backward in coming forward to tell us. The birthday countdown starts now.........


until Mr. Punch's 350th!
(May 9, 2012; London; midnight)]]> punch and judy faq http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=9 Sun, 25 Nov 2007 04:04:15 +0000 ....and you takes your choice http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=8





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.

The Lowry was painted in 1943 and is available from a company specialising in prints for schools and the (award winning) Punch show ballooon display was created by Bubblz the Clown whose page link is given by way of acknowleding use of her photo!
]]> general http://punchandjudyworld.org/portalblog/index.php?itemid=8 Fri, 23 Nov 2007 05:49:15 +0000