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FREE PUNCH AND JUDY: A SHORT HISTORY WITH THE ORIGINAL DIALOGUE PDF John Payne Collier | 208 pages | 29 Sep 2006 | Dover Publications Inc. | 9780486449036 | English | New York, United States Punch and Judy: A Short History with the Original Dialogue The show is performed by a single puppeteer inside the booth, known since Victorian times as a " Professor " and assisted sometimes by a " Bottler ", who corrals the audience outside the booth, introduces the performance and collects the money "the bottle". The Bottler might also play accompanying music or sound effects on a drum or guitar and engage in back chat with the puppets. In Victorian times the drum and pan pipes were the instruments of choice. Today, the audience is also encouraged to participate, calling out to the characters on the stage to warn them of danger, or clue them into what is going on behind their backs. Also nowadays most Professors work solo since the need for a bottler became less important when busking with the show gave way to paid engagements at private parties or public events. The Punch Punch and Judy: A Short History with the Original Dialogue Judy show has roots in the 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte. The figure of Punch derives from the Neapolitan stock character of Pulcinella or Punchinello. He is a manifestation of the Lord of Misrule and Trickster figures of deep-rooted mythologies. Punch's wife was originally called "Joan. Punch made his first recorded appearance in England in May 9,which is traditionally reckoned as Punch's UK birthday. The diarist Samuel Pepys observed a marionette show featuring an early version of the Punch character in Covent Garden in London. It was performed by an Italian puppet showman, Pietro Gimondea. He is a hunchback whose hooked nose almost meets his curved, jutting chin. He carries a stick as large as himself, which he freely uses upon most of the other characters in the show. He speaks in a distinctive squawking voice, produced by a contrivance known as a swazzle or swatchel which the professor holds in Punch and Judy: A Short History with the Original Dialogue mouth, transmitting his gleeful cackle. So important is Punch's signature sound that it is a matter of some controversy within Punch and Judy circles as to whether a "non-swazzled" show can be considered a true Punch and Judy Show. In the early 18th century, the marionette theatre starring Punch was at its height, with showman Martin Powell attracting sizable crowds at both Covent Garden and Bath, Somerset. Ina puppet theater that would run for decades opened in Dublin. Punch was extremely popular in Parisand, by the end of the 18th century, he was also playing in Britain's American colonies, where even George Washington bought tickets for a show. However, marionette productions presented in empty halls, the back rooms of tavernsor within large tents at England's yearly agricultural events at Bartholomew Fair and Mayfair were expensive and cumbersome to mount and transport. In the latter half of the 18th century, marionette companies began to give way to glove-puppet shows, performed from within a narrow, lightweight booth by one puppeteer, usually with an assistant, or "bottler," to gather a crowd and collect money. These shows might travel through country towns or move from corner to corner along busy London streets, giving many performances in a single day. The character of Punch adapted to the new format, going from a stringed comedian who might say outrageous things to a more aggressive glove- puppet who could do outrageous—and often violent—things to the other characters. About this time, Punch's wife name changed from "Joan" to "Judy. Later Victorian booths, particularly those used for Christmas parties and other indoor performances, were gaudier affairs. In the 20th century, however, red-and-white-striped puppet booths became iconic features on the beaches of many English seaside and summer holiday resorts. Such striped cloth is the most common covering today, wherever the show might be performed. Originally intended for adults, the show evolved into primarily a children's entertainment in the late Victorian era. Ancient members of the show's cast, like the Devil and Punch's mistress "Pretty Polly," ceased to be included when they came to be seen as inappropriate for young audiences. The term "pleased as Punch" is derived from Punch and Judy; specifically, Mr. Punch's characteristic sense of gleeful self-satisfaction. The story changes, but some phrases remain the same for decades or even centuries: for example, Punch, after dispatching his foes each in turn, still squeaks his famous catchphrase: "That's the way to do it!! They can now be seen at carnivals, festivals, birthday parties, and other celebratory occasions. The characters in a Punch and Judy show are not fixed as Punch and Judy: A Short History with the Original Dialogue a Shakespeare play, for instance. Punch and Judy: A Short History with the Original Dialogue are similar to the cast of a soap opera or a folk tale like Robin Hood. While the principal characters must appear, the lesser characters are included at the discretion of the performer. New characters may be added as the tradition evolves, and older characters dropped. Along with Punch and Judy, the cast of characters usually includes their baby, a hungry crocodile, a clown, an officious policeman, and a prop string of sausages. The cast of a typical Punch and Judy show today will include:. Other characters included Boxers, Chinese Plate Spinners, topical figures, a trick puppet with an extending neck the "Courtier" and a monkey. A live Dog Toby which sat on the playboard and performed 'with' the puppets was once a regular featured novelty routine. There is no one definitive "story" of Punch and Judy. Collier, however, in the words of Speaight, is someone of whom "the full list of his forgeries has not yet been reckoned, and the myths he propagated are still being repeated. His 'Punch and Judy' is to be warmly welcomed as the first history of puppets in England, but it is also sadly to be examined as the first experiment of a literary criminal. Nonetheless, the skeletal outline is often recognizable. It typically involves Punch behaving outrageously, Punch and Judy: A Short History with the Original Dialogue with his wife Judy and the Baby, and then triumphing in a series of encounters with the forces of law and order and often the supernaturalinterspersed with jokes and songs. As performed currently in the UK a typical show will start with the arrival of Mr. Punch followed by the introduction of Judy. They may well kiss and dance before Judy requests Mr. Punch to look after the baby. Punch will fail to Punch and Judy: A Short History with the Original Dialogue this task out appropriately. It is rare for Punch to hit his baby these days, but he may well sit on it in a failed attempt to "babysit", or drop it, or even let it go through a sausage machine. In any event Judy will return, will be outraged, will fetch a stick and the knockabout will commence. A policeman will arrive in response to the mayhem and will himself be felled by Punch's slapstick. All this is carried out at breakneck farcical speed with much involvement from a gleefully shouting audience. From here on anything goes. Joey the Clown might appear and suggest it's dinner time. This will lead to the production of a string of sausages, which Mr. Punch must look after, although the audience will know this really signals the arrival of a crocodile whom Mr. Punch might not see until the audience shouts out and lets him know. Punch's subsequent comic struggle with the crocodile might then leave him in need of a Doctor who will arrive and attempt to treat Punch by walloping him with a stick until Punch turns the tables on him. Punch may next pause to Punch and Judy: A Short History with the Original Dialogue his "victims" by laying puppets on the stage only for Joey the Clown to move them about behind his back in order to frustrate him. A ghost might then appear and give Mr. Punch a fright before it too is chased off with a slapstick. In less squeamish times a hangman would arrive to punish Mr. Punch, only to himself be tricked into sticking his head in the noose. Some will include it where circumstances warrant such as for an adult audience but most do not. Some will choose to include it whatever the circumstances and will face down any critics. Finally the show will often end with the Devil arriving for Mr. Punch and possibly to threaten his audience as well. While Punch and Judy, as with the tale of Robin Hood, might follow no one fixed storyline, there are nevertheless episodes common to many recorded versions. It is these set piece encounters or "routines" which are used by performers to construct their own Punch and Judy shows. A visit to a Punch and Judy Festival at Punch's "birthplace" in London's Covent Garden will reveal a whole variety of changes that are wrung by puppeteers from this basic material and although scripts have been published at different times since the early 19th century none can be claimed as being the definitive traditional script of Punch and Judy. Each printed script reflects the era in which Punch and Judy: A Short History with the Original Dialogue was performed and the circumstances under which it was printed.

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