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TonyB2009 Inner circle 5006 Posts |
Jim, what you are doing is a puppet show rather than a Punch and Judy show by the sound of things. It sounds wonderful. I once toyed with that idea myself, but abandoned it because I couldn't do the voices. For a modern audience it may be more entertaining that Punch, but I'm delighted that there are some British traditionalists out there to keep a slice of history alive. My great great grand uncle was one of the biggest stars of the Victorian music hall era, so I have a certain nostalgia for the entertainments of that era.
Check out Tony's new thriller Dead or Alive http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alive-Varrick-Bo......n+carson
http://www.PartyMagic.ie |
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Jolly Roger V.I.P. Sedona, Arizona 1667 Posts |
RIP Tony James. You are missed by so many. JR
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dorian_faust Loyal user Los Angeles, California 278 Posts |
Not sure if he still does it these days as he is so busy with other stuff, but a good friend of mine was once hired to do a Punch & Judy show for a birthday party for one of Robin William's kids.
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Mark Levenson New user New York 24 Posts |
Hi, all. I'm new to the Café and just saw this thread. The original question was about using magic in the show. I often work in magic into the show, usually Punch and Joey doing a trick together. It's like doing magic with oven mitts on, so only props that can be worked through the puppets are viable. Vanishing milk in newspaper, for example, with Joey pouring the milk into the cone that Punch holds, and Punch getting increasingly anxious as Joey forgets the magic word to make it disappear. As the milk is about to splash over Punch, Joey remembers the word (with the kids' help) and Punch throws the cone into the audience. Not brain surgery, but a fun bit for the show. Color-changing silk (single, not the double) and die box are others I've used. The trick, so to speak, is to do stuff that looks like real magic, rather than something that's manipulated from under the playboard.
Also re: magicians who did Punch -- has anyone mentioned Houdini, who did Punch when he and Bess worked in a circus? |
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jakeg Inner circle 1741 Posts |
Great to see this re-opened.
I started doing the show in the 60's or 70's, never, to this day, met a P&J worker except when I was about 9 or 10 years old at the circus side show. When personal computer s became popular, I searched for people to hook up width, but only found 2 workers outside of Europe. One in Baltimore, and generals ne on the west coast. A few years ago I got a bug up my butt to redo my sow. I didn't write any magic into it. I, added more audience participation, made it more p.c., and had hopes of bringing it to Central Park, or one of the boardwalks here in New Jersey. Unfortunately, I got hit with some health issues, and it never came to fruition. Just remembering the crowds I used to get when I played the Midwest shopping malls, I'm convinced that 'if you build it, they will come.' It's a wide open market on this side of the Atlantic. I have 2 sets and a portable booth. My grandson wants one set, and even though he will never show them, I'm gong them to him. If, I can bring myself to do it, I'm going to sell the other set which is still brand new. It's crazy how I built an attachment to them and how reluctant I am to see them go, but I'm in my 80s now and I guess it's time. I |
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Mark Levenson New user New York 24 Posts |
Jake, hi. I've fantasized about taking Punch to Central Park; what a perfect place for it! I say "fantasize" because my efforts these days are more on the magic side and in finishing a novel (writing, not reading, or I wouldn't mention it ).
There are quite a few Punch performers in the US but with puppets and magic far more separate arts than they used to be, they're not as well known across the fraternities as they used to be. To take an example the other way, Jay Marshall was revered as a puppeteer in puppetry circles by people who had little or no knowledge of him as a magician. But US Punch professors exist, although the ones I know must make it just one of many shows in their repertoire to earn a living. Fred Greenspan makes a specialty of Punch in non-traditional stories (harking back to the days of Commedia characters as stock figures in multiple plays). Preston Foerder does a hilarious show called "Punch reads the Newspaper" which consists solely of Punch doing exactly that, finding a story about some villain or fool of the moment, driving (or flying or otherwise transporting) to the villain/fool, asking if he indeed did the villainous/foolish thing, getting an answer in the affirmative, beating the villain/fool to death with his stick, then picking up his newspaper and doing it all again. Simple but devastatingly funny -- and satisfying, as long as your ox isn't the one being gored. Every now and again, the Puppeteers of America has a Punch celebration at its biannual festival and quite a few performers show up. |
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