# What are your thoughts on Punch and Judy shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964 "2010-10-22T01:42:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/1 "2010-10-22T01:42:09Z")
Without introducing any ideas of my own at this point, I’m interested in knowing how people feel about Punch and Judy puppet shows. Have you seen one? Many? What do you think? If you could tell me which side of the Atlantic you’re from, that, too, would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/2 "2010-10-22T02:47:01Z")
I’ve seen a couple (one here, one in the UK). They just seemed pointless and tedious to me. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/3 "2010-10-22T02:52:45Z")
Punch and Judy are secret tools of Satan. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/4 "2010-10-22T02:55:39Z")
They’re obviously politically incorrect and must be banned. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/5 "2010-10-22T03:03:53Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen one. Are they more a British thing? ETA: I’m in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/6 "2010-10-22T03:17:56Z")
[Wikipedia link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_and_Judy) for reference. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/7 "2010-10-22T04:03:46Z")
They were fresh and daring back in 1700. Not really since. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/8 "2010-10-22T05:26:54Z")
My father was a Punch & Judy puppeteer in Kansas City, Missouri. It was the third part of his show - magic, then me as a ventriloquist, then Punch. I have no idea if it is politically correct, but it was funny, and the kids enjoyed yelling at Punch, and cheering as he was dragged away by an alligator. Dad had Punch, Judy (obviously), their baby, the Devil, the Policeman, the Hangman - these are from a 35 year old memory, as I don’t want to look at the Wikipedia article and wind up conflating my memory with the information in the WP article. By the way, my Dad did not use a reed to do Punch’s voice. It cost him, as he developed nodes on his vocal chords. He lost a Christmas season having an operation. As the dates were all “play or pay”, he recorded the whole show and taught my Mom how do do both the puppetry and the magic act (this was before I joined the act, and my bother was probably doing his unicycle routine at the time). ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/9 "2010-10-22T05:32:19Z")
I saw my first Punch & Judy show just a couple weeks ago. It was…definitely from an earlier time. eta: US ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/10 "2010-10-22T05:35:34Z")
I went and read the Wikipedia article, and I didn’t find anything about Punch’s voice. Why would one use a reed to perform it? I mean, my guess would be it somehow raises the pitch or something, and that would be very interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buckler_of_Swashing)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/11 "2010-10-22T06:04:10Z")
It’s in the history section of the wiki: [QUOTE=the wiki] He speaks in a distinctive squawking voice, produced by a contrivance known as a swazzle or swatchel which the professor holds in his 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. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/12 "2010-10-22T09:59:30Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I went and read the Wikipedia article, and I didn’t find anything about Punch’s voice. Why would one use a reed to perform it? I mean, my guess would be it somehow raises the pitch or something, and that would be very interesting. It makes the voice unpleasantly distorted rather like when you blow over a tissue and comb, or the chorus in Cher’s ‘Life After Love’. I’m English and I dislike Punch & Judy shows. I think I missed them in my childhood so saw them when I was too old really. But I also never liked pantomimes either. I think it was probably the audience of shouting kids which put me off as much as anything. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/13 "2010-10-22T10:22:45Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > My father was a Punch & Judy puppeteer in Kansas City, Missouri. Thanks for sharing, gaffa. Especially about the non-swazzled Punch voice. Many purists would say it’s not Punch at all without the swazzle. Note to others: if you had to read the Wikipedia entry, there’s no need to answer. Same as if you had to read Wiki to answer “What are your thoughts on the sitcom _All in the Family_?” ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/14 "2010-10-22T11:43:50Z")
British. Seen them. Yawn. Anachronistic. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/15 "2010-10-22T12:05:10Z")
I think of them as a peculiarly British (or at least, European) phenomenon. I’ve never seen one (and don’t have any particular desire to), and whenever I’ve encountered mention of them, it’s been in British contexts, making me suspect that they’re something that most Brits are familiar with but few Americans are. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/16 "2010-10-22T12:50:01Z")
I saw one a few years ago, taken from an original script. Punch seems like a very postmodern hero. I’m in the US. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/17 "2010-10-22T13:08:59Z")
I think they are darling and have enjoyed the few I’ve seen. But I like any sort of puppeteering. I’m in the US. ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/18 "2010-10-22T13:16:41Z")
American here. I only know of them through a baseball cliche: A Punch and Judy hitter is a weak singles hitter. Until this thread, I never really knew what that reference was, and I still don’t really understand it. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/19 "2010-10-22T13:17:34Z")
They tie in with my other anachronistic interests. (Tonight I have a rehearsal for a Mummers Play, despite my firm contention that rehearsing is contrary to the spirit of Mumming. But since none of us have been seeing Mummers Plays every year since we were wee bairns I suppose a series of rehearsals are needed to get the characters and lines approximately in place.) I haven’t seen one in a while since they are not performed very often in the US (I suppose). ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964/20 "2010-10-22T13:20:07Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I went and read the Wikipedia article, and I didn’t find anything about Punch’s voice. Why would one use a reed to perform it? I mean, my guess would be it somehow raises the pitch or something, and that would be very interesting. https://www.youtube.com/embed/tGQQRxpuoKI?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque [Earlier thread on Punch & Judy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=431362) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-thoughts-on-punch-and-judy-shows/557964.md?page=2)