With Mr. Punch the Online Journal of the Worldwide Friends of Punch and Judy Volume 7 No 3 Dec 2003

Around The World With Mr. Punch The Online Journal of the worldwide friends of punch and judy Volume 7 No 3 Dec 2003

The Clown Prince of Spin

puppet routine was conceived. The puppet was made by Brian Davey at the request of your Editor (who did the plate-spinning) and drew additional media attention to the Festival by being featured in at least one mass circulation UK daily paper as well as Jolly on TV. Holidays Punch ‘Profs’ and partners performing that week-end were Dan Bishop, Rod Burnett, and a Clive Chandler, Tony Clarke, Brian & Alison Davey and Glyn &Mary Edwards. These Happy were augmented by the Walking Tall Theatre New Year It’s always nice to keepCompany’s troupe of Giant Dancing Punch tradition alive - especially theand Judy figures (Punch, Judy, the baby, and to all our tradition of using puppets toClown Joey) accompanied by the Jumbo poke fun at our politicalJazz Band. Also on hand were the Bostin’ readers masters. Anyway, that wasArts Puppet Workshop running a free puppet the thought behind lettingmaking stall for passers-by. Special Tony Blair appear as Tonyoverseas guest was Andras Lenardt from The Clown at theHungary with his inimitable Mikropodium Aberystwyth Punch and Judytheatre presenting micro-scale puppets of Festival last August. Lettingjewel like quality. him take over the plate- The event was described by Aberystwyth as spinning routine in the show “wall-to-wall Punch and Judy” and took place provided the perfect reason mainly along the seafront promenade (which for introducing him as Tony, still has traditional donkey rides). An evening the Clown Prince of Spinand event in a small local theatre saw the thus firmly aiming at his College perform to a full house with a government’s perceived mixture of puppet routines plus question and weakness as being strong on answer sessions to an enthusiastic spin and short on substance. audience. Coming, as it did, during the legal enquiry into the eventsThe Festival was organised by Jim Griffiths, surrounding the tragic deathTown Clerk of Aberystwyth, with Clive of weapons expert Dr. DavidChandler of the Punch and Judy College of Kelly and the so-calledProfessors. It attracted some 5,000 visitors “sexing-up” of the Britishto the town over the August Bank Holiday government dossier on Iraq’sand was short-listed for an award by the alleged weapons of massWelsh Tourist Authority. If anyone thinks that destruction it had a morePunch and Judy are not welcome at the pointed (and poignant)seaside these days - let them consider topicality than when theAberystwyth and reflect. PUNCH AND THE UK LICENSING BILL

it had done for centuries and plays were subject to official censorship (by means of the dreaded ‘blue pencil’) by the functionaries in his department. The 1960s legislation was designed to sweep away this anachronism and bring the whole field up to date. Various new statutes were enacted about where entertainments could be mounted and what licenses and permissions the various premises would need. Along with this went various categories in which different types of performance were defined so that everyone knew what was what when actually seeing that they law was carried out correctly. Prof. John Codman’s celebrated Llandudno Punch Show ofyesteryear These categories are being carried forward to the new Licensing Bill - and one of them Punch and Judy performers - alongrewards of suing for damages at the defines the Punch and Judy Show with puppeteers and other artists or sprain of a wrist. as being carried out in ‘premises’. entertainers working in their traditional areas in the UK - have And then came the Licensing Bill.In the intervening years there found a great deal of extra red tape have been no cases of any town surrounding their activities over the This new piece of legislationcouncil or other similar licensing past few years. Starting with thecurrently undergoing a authority actually treating a Punch ubiquitous Public Liability Insurancegovenmental ‘consultation process’ and Judy booth as ‘premises’ requirements introduced a few years(Hah!) before becoming UK law is requiring a license - but that is not back there soon followed the need to complex and contentious. Itto say that this state of affairs will fill in Risk Assessment Forms inproposes to update radically the continue. Cash-strapped local order to comply with various entertainment laws previouslygovernment is under a legal provisions of the Health and Safetyupdated in the 1960s and only obligation to maximise its income. Inspectorate when performing in tinkered with since. Whether itIf it overlooks taking money from public. Later came the requirement torepresents a ferocious unleashing Punch and Judy it will be in have a certificate stating that an of further red tape that will interferebreach of its duty. Hence the fight official Criminal Records Bureauin such inoccuous pastimes as pub to secure exemption. check had been run for the purposessingalongs or whether it represents of gaining clearance for working witha landscape of new opportunities The government doesn’t - of children and other vulnerable for working performers is hotlycourse - talk directly to Punch and members of society. Not all of thesecontended. Equity, the actors and Judy performers (although represent nanny state bureaucracy entertainers union, believes itindividuals can in theory petition gone mad. Some are a genuinerepresents new opportunities with their MP to make the case on response to societies changing the exception of one or two areastheir behalf). Serious discussions attitudes towards the care of thefor which it is seeking exemption. are carried out with bodies such young and the scare of paedeophilia as Equity and Arts Council and others (we Brits blame thePunch and Judy Shows are one of England - and the Punch and Yanks!) are due to the increase in the those areas. Judy performers of England have culture of litigation. ‘Ambulance good contacts with both. chasing’ lawyers (an unknownAt this point the story veers off into phenomenon in the UK until verythe bizarre and we need to go back Equity is making the case for recently) have caused a sea-change to the 1960s. At this time The LordPunch and Judy with vigour - and in public attitude to risk - and theChamberlain’s Office held sway as spaces such as seaside promenades, if any resulting costs are passed on to the performers it will have the same terminal effect.

If this government is to go down in social history as the one which finally ended a much loved seaside tradition it should at least be made fully aware of what it is doing, and it needs organisations of the weight Postcard of Ryde on the Isle of Wight (date and provenance of Equity and unknown). The side of the booth also advertises ACE to draw it to their attention. ‘marionettes’. Needless to say there have been we expect no less from Artsseaside which is the perceived mis-informed scare stories in Council England. cultural stereotype as to where sections of the UK press to the you'll find Punch and Judy) a effect that the Licensing Bill will The preceding information sets outdifferent set of factors come into put an end to Punch and Judy. the background to the story. Theplay. It has long been a bone ofThis is manifestly not so - but the extracts below (from the a letter bycontention that seaside borough long pedigree of the show has Punch and Judy College ofcouncils will make performers resulted in the quirky situation of it Professors to their contact at Artstender for a concession in the being classed as a play which Council England) explains what itsame manner as ice-cream vans requires premises for a could mean in practice ifand donkey rides. Having to pay forperformance - rather than as ‘an exemption is not gained. a 'pitch' - and often then having to entertainment’ (such as a street- compete for custom with the same entertainer might provide) which council's programme of free does not. “It's a simple message to the effect summer entertainments which that the final half a dozen or so paradoxically may well contain UK Profs should - I suppose - be beach Punch and Judy Shows in street theatre - has virtually thankful that they don’t receive the UK will be put out of business extinguished Punch and Judy atfunding from central government. unless they are exempted from the the seaside. It's a commercially Were this to be the case a whole provisions of the Bill. This may not fragile proposition at the best offresh set of paperwork would seem a great deal - but if it were times and any additional outgoings descend requiring each Prof to the last half dozen exponents of in the way of a license fee will - I am provide ‘statistical evaluation and Hebridean mouth music (or some convinced - be its death knell.monitoring feedback’ along with similar cultural curiosity of long Although the Minister's stated detailed information about pedigree) you'd find musicologists intention is to encourage local‘performance indicators and equally up in arms and rightly so. authorities to license public open ethnic monitoring’. Don’t ask! You'll know that The College takes a pro-active stance on the best interests of the Punch and Judy tradition and we trust that ACE can help us.

I would imagine that 99.9% of Punch and Judy performances will not be affected by the provisions of the new bill as the tradition of Punch and Judy as primarily a busking entertainment has long given way to Punch and Judy as a pre-booked attraction at various venues. These venues are always appropriately licensed. But to keep a seaside pitch alive (and it is the Unidentified seaside show of recent times. MARI LWYD

There seems to be a Welsh theme within this issue - although your Editor’s Welsh ancestry plays no conscious part in this. It is as well, however, to remind North American readers that Wales (like Quebec) has a political party with aspirations to Welsh separation from England. There is already a devolved Welsh Regional Assembly and the Welsh language is alive and kicking. Indeed at least one this prowling monster peepingblacked up. They were Prof at the recent Aberystwyth around into the room ordressed, not only in their best Festival was dissuaded by sometimes shewing his headbut decorated with ribbons. locals from flying the red white by pushing it through anThe Mari also was decorated, and blue UKnational flag in the upstairs window.... when thebeing the pride of the village. heartland of the Welsh Red procession approached aAn article by Cadrawd in Dragon flag. The Welsh are house it was intended to visit,'Cymru' 1912, refers to a Celts and still resent conquest the leader tapped the doorparty of revellers calling by the Romans and the while the party sang thethemselves 'Hoen subsequent Ango-Saxon tribes. traditional rhymes..... TheDawnswyr'. They carried a Nevertheless, Mr. Punch has party outside engaged in aMari Lwyd, who must be able made himself at home in Wales battle of wits with theto dance a jig. There was and has even penetrated one of householders and sangalso a Punch and Judy. They the more obscure corners of extempore verses to whichhad no music, but Punch Welsh folklore as the following those indoors were obliged tobeat time with his cudgel, article indicates. reply in a similar.... The Mariwhile they danced. They Lwyd then entered the housewould end by gripping each and paid special attention toother's wrists and whirling the womenfolk, nudging,round "with such velocity that playing, neighing and biting The Mari Lwyd custom has been they would end up quite then, besides talking... Having described as "a pre-Christian dazed." Before Y Fari was sung, danced and played horse ceremony which may be admitted, those inside would about the party sat down to associated with similar customs sit back around the walls. food and drink. spread over many parts of the The Mari Lwyd and her world"..... and it was associated leader would come first, then These carrying horses are still in North Wales with both the Punch and Judy side by believed to bring good luck Christmas and the New Year. It is side.The leader would then and fertility to the houses they likely, however, that visits by the drop the reins and perform a visit and those who are Mari Lwyd party were made over step dance with Punch and touched by them. It is therefore a period of several days in each Judy. These two were very strange that, in Wales, case and that the association dressed as nearly as sometimes a singing contest with any particular day during the possible, like the popular takes place between the Christmas season had become puppets. In Mumbles, one residents of the house and the exceedingly tenuous. member would play the part Mari Lwyd party, apparently The Mari Lwyd.... was carried of coachman and whip the designed to keep the luck- about and the first intimation horse until it slowly died. This bringing visitors out. The Mari often received was the sight of is unusual, although there is Lwyd men were normallyritual beating of the Pinhole Cave, Derbyshire, shows a man wearing a horse's mask, while those drawings in the caves of the Dordogne and Northern Spain show that the veneration of these and other herd animals was one of the earliest known beliefs. The Christian missionaries tried to stamp out these pagan practices and what they could note eliminate, they finally adopted. Hence Gwasseilwyr and of Punchstuffed with straw and carried on the Biblical interpretations beating Judy. According to aa pitchfork. This, according to and co-ordination with the report in ArcheologiaMarie Trevillian, was known as festivals of the Church. Cambrensis 1888, work of the'Aderyn bec lwyd' or 'Bwca The Mari Lwyd should not be Mari Lwyd originally belongedLwyd' (Bird with the grey beak confused with the Hobby or to another party, theor grey puck). The name 'Mari Tourney horse, which owes Gwasseilwyr Lwyd' has been subjected to its form to the age of We have also included in ourseveral interpretations. The chivalry. This consisted of a researches such Seasonalmost convincing is that from horse and rider; the body customs as the Mari Lwyd. AnDr.Peate, who suggests that it is and trappings of the horse example of this carrying horsesimply the grey mare. being slung from the rider's was taken to the FolkestoneAntiquarians have called it the shoulders. The Mari Lwyd Festival in 1961 by theblessed Mary and have given it belongs to the same family Llangollen dancers. Kent has aall sorts of Biblical associations, as the Kentish Horse, the similar Hooden Horse, which issuch as the flight to Egypt, wild white horse of Ireland carried round at ChristmasBalaam and the Ass, and the and the wild horse of the time. It is smaller than the Maridonkey turned out of its stall to Cheshire souling play. and has a wooden head withmake way for the birth of Christ. These carrying horses are champing jaws. It is coveredBut its origin goes much further still believed to bring good with a dark brown horse clothback, to prehistoric times. The luck and fertility to the and is generally in a crouchinghorse and stag has long been houses they visit and those position; a striking contrast toregarded as symbols of fertility. who are touched by them. the tall white Mari Llwyd. TheA palaeolithic drawing in unrehearsed meeting between these horses was an amusing episode to an otherwise dull festival. The Mari Lwyd is a primitive type of seasonal horse, carried round at Christmas time. It consists of a horse's skull, set on a pole and carried upright by a man, completely hidden by a white cloth. The impressive example at St.Fagans has bottle ends set in the eye sockets, ears made of cloth and profusely decorated with ribbons. A variation from Pembroke is made of cloth and THE BACK PAGE

EDITORIAL PUNCHUSA “in a rough building of pine poles covered with canvas” Readers will have noticedUK residents (and even Profs)1876So popular had Punch and the slightly truncated lengthoften register amazement at theJudy become in post-civil-war of this issue which is due toexistence of a Punch and JudyUnited States that in the fall of a number of reasons - sometradition in the USA. Here then1876 “not one unemployed Punch trivial; others of more are one or two snippets from aand Judy performer could be found moment. recent historical timelinein New York City” published by the Puppeteers of1895 As a young man, Harry On the trivial side the America (and reprinted here withHoudini is hired to work in circus shortage of material is due to all due acknowledgements). Thesideshows doing magic and carelessness. Your Editor playing Punch and Judy. shamefacedly admits to first entry below is also the first recorded example of a puppet having mislaid beyond the Considering this last entry, maybe call of duty a couple of show in America. David Blaine could be tempted to articles held over for take up Punch? publication. Less trivial, 1745 The Pennsylvania Gazette however, is the underlyingadvertises “an agreeable comedy cause of this error: the or tragedy by changeable figures The Swazzler current workload of the of two feet high....a merry Editor whose hands are keptdialogue between Punch andThe Punch and Judy Fellowship pretty full by Mr. Punch andJoan his wife.” Newsletter (named The Swazzler) a variety of other wooden1828 The Collier-Cruikshankhas a new Editor in Paul Jackson. headed wonders. version of “Punch and Judy” is published in London and aPaul will be known to readers of the Neverthless the future is production based on that text is looking very positive as Journal as an occasional contributor performed in New York by Mr. Diane (Prof. Freshwater) in the days when we were a printed Matthews. Rains has agreed to Co-Edit publication and will wish to join in the Journal. This will be part1850 Punch and Judy follow thesending him best wishes on his new of a general makeover of theGold Rush west performing at(and inevitably time-consuming) WorldWide Friends web Sandy Bar, near San Fransisco,undertaking. presence which - at the time of writing is ranked No 1 by Google if you search the toby’s tailpiece web for Punch and Judy) Plucked from cyberspace and forwarded to the Journal came this The Journal can only be as posting to an online forum. “Paul Zaloom does a very interesting good as its contents, Punch and Judy show, although it's Punch and Jimmy, with a however, and readers are gay/queer/homosexual Punch. There will be an interview with urged to forward any articlesZaloom about this in the next issue of Puppetry International, or snippets on Punch relatedwhich is focused on sex and puppets.”(The mailto address that was matters. In our incarnation asatttached was: [email protected] in case a printed Journal there were anyone wants to track down further info.) many more technical and performing issues submitted Personally I’d always thought that Punch and Joey would have been for publication than is the neater gay storyline for anyone wishing to create one. The puppets currently the case. These are are already in the cast and most of the set routines would still work. The particularly welcome. ‘outing’ of Punch in an “Oh Yes he is - Oh No he isn’t” exchange would All correspondence (as ever)no doubt be a popular piece of audience participation and plenty of to [email protected] publicity surely awaits the first traditional Prof to opt for a gay ‘Kissy Kissy Kissy’ sequence. Glyn Edwards