around the world with mr. punch

(May 9, 2012; London; midnight)
 

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Mr. Punch has infiltrated popular culture in many forms over the years and inspired some of the greatest comedic talents. The Marx Brothers certainly were well acquainted with Punch, as this excerpt from their film, "Monkey Business," illustrates:



I love the layers of homage in this routine! Vaudeville, which regurgitated the Marx Brothers whole, owed a huge debt to the comic traditions of Punch and Judy. Another layer: In my own Professor Freshwater's Punch and Judy Show, the Crocodile pretends to be several critters other than a Croc to fool Mr. Punch. At one point the clever reptile quacks. When Punch says "It's a duck!", Mr. Bottles (my bottler) quotes the famous Marx line "A duck? Why a duck!" Only the most devout Marxophiles in the audience ever get that joke!

Sean Keohane contributes additional information about this video: "The Punchman from "Monkey Business" (unseen, surreally, even in backstage shots), was Al Flosso... He was a friend of the Marx Brothers-- Bud Abbott had worked as his bottler at Coney Island-- and ran a magic shop in Manhattan that had once belonged to Houdini. Edgar Bergen was known to stop in, and so was my brother, when Al's son took over."
 

Posts on the blog came to a temporary halt for a couple of months whilst events on the ground in the UK for Mr. Punch and me whirled at a wilder pace than normal. Not least was my taking on the editor's chair of The Swazzle - newsletter of the Punch & Judy Fellowship (now working in partnership with the Punch & Judy College of Professors).

Additionally came news that a project for which I'd applied for funding got the green light from Britain's Heritage Lottery Fund. This involves a number of South Coast museums, municipal authorities and schoools in a Punch & Judy 'seaside footsteps heritage trail' celebrating Old Red Nose.

On top of that came news that the same funding body would approve an initial application for The Big Grin - the national project for Punch's 350th birthday bash in 2012.

Postings on each of these will follow - but for now here's a catch-up on how the tale of Mr. Punch versus the Town Hall finally played out in Brighton (as trailed in previous postings.) Read More »
 

The Daily Mail online has just published a nice story about the Codman Family's Punch and Judy Show. The Codmans' Punch tradition has passed from generation to generation within their family for 150 years. That's their way to do it!
 

This is a continuation of the tale begun in an earlier posting (Jan 28th) about Mr. Punch and the bureaucracy in Brighton. An official decision was handed down 'declining the offer' of Mr. Punch performing on the seafront. A wonderful piece of council gibberish in a town with an official busker-friendly policy and to whom no 'offer' had been made - purely an attempt to negotiate their labyrinth of obfuscation and obstruction. I responded to the Seafront Development Officer who had signed the email and asked to be told the grounds upon which the decision had been made and said that I would be seeking to have the decision reviewed. I copied the correspondence to an elected councillor who had told me on a previous occasion to contact her if I had difficulties. I told her that now was the time to take her up on the offer. Accordingly - a week later - I was informed that a Councillor X (the name has been with-held to protect him from public scorn) wished to see my show in order to 'inform the decision making process'. Presumably he is the elected councillor who in days gone by would have been Chair of Local Censorship Committee - except that we no longer have them. He was also a councillor I had emailed almost a year ago and who had not deigned to reply. I responded that as I'd been privileged to escort Mr. Punch to - amongst other places - the British Embassy in Moscow, then popping him along to Brighton Town Hall would not be a problem. It would require the said Councillor to act as an honorary seven year old for the duration of the performance (or to have supplied some genuine seven year olds) if the performance were not to be lacking the appropriate atmosphere. Alternatively I could supply a DVD of my performance filmed on the Prom at a different resort. I also supplied some archive photos showing Punch & Judy on the contested seafront and taken from 1909 onwards. Tune in next week for further developments (as they say).
 

I've been playing around updating my own website since becoming a mac person instead of a PC person. The iWeb templates may constrict true layout creativity - but they are still a zillion miles ahead of what a non-techie, non-designer like me can do thudding around in Dreamweaver and the enormous upside is the ability to stick all kinds of media in the site as easy as breathing. So that's what I've been up to recently. (Santa gave me an iPhone for Xmas which is what sold me on stuff that 'just works'.) Now all I have to do is sort out the other Punch and puppetry sites I look after!
 

I'm chronicling this unfolding tale to get it out of my system. It will take you into the labyrinth of UK local authority officialdom where the spirit of Bumble the Beadle is to be found alive and well in the 21st Century. Indeed, the overlapping multi-tiered, multi-directorate, Policy,Strategy and Directive driven empires that thrive inside a Civic Centre have created an ecological niche in which bumbledom thrives, flourishes and mutates into bizarre new forms. The pens of Dickens and Lewis Carroll in tandem are needed to pin these New Bumbles down in their absurdities. This blog can only point you to the inkwell into which the satirists could dip their pens. Mr. Punch is at the heart of my story, and the tale starts here.

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This is the title of Mr. Punch's 350th Birthday project being organised by The 350 Committee. It's a network of projects across the UK in 2012 with a very special Big Birthday Bash in Covent Garden in May of that year, including overseas performers, a giant birthday cake, a world record attempt and some Punch & Judy Olympics. It's not an exclusive affair - all Punch enthusiasts anywhere are welcome to run with the ball and get something going during the year on their patch. The 350 Committee hope to get funding for a fun kit of activities and information which can be widely distributed and help bring all events under the one big banner of The Big Grin. A dedicated website will be up and running in due course, but information will be spread through existing networks in the meantime. Check back with this site for any developments. The 350 Committee is an updated version of the 325 Committee which organised the celebrations nearly a quarter of a century ago in Covent Garden. This time round it will have a wider spread. Already nearly a dozen museums across the UK are signed up to join the fun, along with half a dozen local authorities, several puppet festivals and a couple of university departments. 2012 is, of course, London Olympics year and Mr. Punch will have to work hard not to be overwhelmed by festivities other than his own. But lets face it, he's been around longer than the modern Olympics and - if the roots of his family tree roots are as deep as some historians suggest - his spiritual ancestry even predates the original Olympics. Let the fun and the games commence!


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Bombadier beer has got a cracking new 'Positively English' ad campaign based on the official icons of Englishness promoted via the government's Icons Online initiative. They've got sponsorship from English Heritage (a normally aloof and snooty mob so far as this blogger can tell) to be their 'official beer' and have worked up various icons into fake coats of arms. If you're outside the UK they'll not all be familiar - but they resonate a lot with Brits. On this version (there are three in all) you can spot Punch and Judy - and they look even better on the large street posters. So what's stopping you? Buy a beer and drink to Mr. Punch's health.
 

The trippers have gone now and the beach is pretty empty. In fact it's often empty when we set up and the leisurely process of putting the booth up is all part of the warm-up: alerting people to the fact that Mr. Punch will be here today. It only takes one person to start an audience. The trick is to keep them amused and attract more. It's a bit like lighting a fire with one match. Our final day coincided with Pier Day - when the local voluntary arts groups showcase their skills and celebrate the Pier. It was an event formerly run by the Council but now handed over to volunteers. From Mr. Punch's perspective it brought a few more people to the seafront than the late September weather would have done by itself. The crowds were big enough to block the walkway on several occasions - so Mr. Punch ended his season on a high note. Not a show stopper - but a Prom stopper. The council have sent their official feedback questionnaire to all beach concessions now. Paperwork is everywhere. We'll see what they make of Mr. Punch's comments.