History Theatre / PunchAndJudy

''Punch and Judy'' is a traditional puppet show, most familiar to British children as a seaside attraction. It is generally played by a single puppetmaster called a "Professor", with two characters on the stage at any one time. These include Mr. Punch, a hunchbacked jester with a squawking voice and a big stick[[note]]for whom the phrase "[[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pleased_as_Punch pleased as Punch]]" is named[[/note]]; his long-suffering wife, Judy; their baby; an unnamed ghost; Joey the clown; the policeman, and a sausage-loving crocodile (sometimes named Snap), and in some performances a hangman and [[{{Satan}} the Devil]].

''Punch and Judy'' is a traditional puppet show, most familiar to British children as a seaside attraction. It is generally played by a single puppetmaster called a "Professor", with two characters on the stage at any one time. These include Mr. Punch, a hunchbacked jester with a squawking voice and a big stick; his long-suffering wife, Judy; their baby; an unnamed ghost; Joey the clown; the policeman, and a sausage-loving crocodile (sometimes named Snap), and in some performances a hangman and [[{{Satan}} the Devil]].

!!''Punch And Judy'' provides examples of:

* MinstrelShows: A widely performed version in the 1850s featured a {{Blackface}} minstrel puppet named "Jim Crow." [[ValuesDissonance Needless to say]], that character vanished without a trace from later performances.

* TheExecutioner: A recurring character is the Hangman ("Jack Ketch") who shows up to execute Mr. Punch for murdering his wife and child. Punch, being Punch, is usually able to fool the Hangman into being HoistByHisOwnPetard.

* AdvertisedExtra: Judy is a titular character, but doesn't have a very large role -- she is traditionally killed off very early in the show.

''Punch and Judy'' is a traditional puppet show, most familiar to British children as a seaside attraction. It is generally played by a single puppetmaster called a "Professor", with two characters on the stage at any one time. These include Mr. Punch, a hunchbacked jester with a squawking voice and a big stick; his long-suffering wife, Judy; their baby; an unnamed ghost; Joey the clown; the policeman, and a sausage-loving crocodile (sometimes named Snap).

* NonIronicClown: Joey the Clown, who is probably the nicest of all the characters. Where Punch is a ComedicSociopath, Joey is more a harmless prankster who is generally portrayed as a friend to the audience. Being one of the few genuinely sympathetic characters, he tends to survive the show; in fact, he's often the last character on stage when it ends, and the one who says goodbye to the audience.

* SoleSurvivor: In some tellings, a crocodile will be the one character Punch fails to kill.

%%* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Punch.
%%* VillainProtagonist: Guess who?

''Punch and Judy'' is a traditional puppet show, most familiar to British children as a seaside attraction. It is generally played by a single puppetmaster called a 'Professor', with two characters on the stage at any one time. These include Mr. Punch, a hunchbacked jester with a squawking voice and a big stick; his long-suffering wife, Judy; their baby; an unnamed ghost; Joey the clown; the policeman, and a sausage-loving crocodile (sometimes named Snap).

* AmusingInjuries: People are often beaten up.

* ComedicSociopath: Mr. Punch

* HandPuppet: All of the characters, except the baby, though originally marionettes.

* ThrowTheDogABone: In some shows Judy will get her hands on Punch's stick and beat him with it. Though this is usually followed by [[YankTheDogsChain Punch snatching it back]] and [[KickTheDog beating her with it]].
** There was a TV short of an act that involved Punch playing dumb to try and get out of helping Judy put away some groceries because he wants something to eat. After Judy has put them all away herself, she finally asks what he wants -- only to be told that he wanted the very things she put away. She then angrily beats him over the head with each (canned) item in question.
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Punch.
* VillainProtagonist: Guess who?

* BlackComedy: So black that many modern versions are often heavily censored compared to more historical stagings.

* BlackComedy: So black that many modern versions are often censored for children.

-->''That's the way to do it!''
--->-- '''Mr. Punch'''

----
!!''Punch And Judy'' is referenced in:
* Famously, Mr Punch gave his name to ''Magazine/{{Punch}}'' magazine, supposedly being its editor.
* ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' has this as one of the most creepy/horrible things the main character does, although he deserved it.
* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', the team of heroes gathered by the Heterodyne Boys included a couple of {{Artificial Human}}s named Punch and Judy.
* In the opening of ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'', Scrooge passes by a Punch and Judy show. One of the lines in his theme is sung by the crocodile puppet before Mr. Punch hits him with his stick.
* A scene from ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' in which Kermit and Miss Piggy watch a Punch and Judy show is featured in ''Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon''. Kermit's defense of the show's violence is immediately followed by two incredibly brutal scenes of violence.
* Punch and Judy are supporting characters in ''The Fourth Bear'', the second book in Creator/JasperFforde's ''Literature/NurseryCrime'' series.
* A reference appears in ''Literature/RiddleyWalker'', where it forms the main cultural legacy (along with the legend of St. Eustace) of our world and plays a huge part in the symbolism of the plot.
* Creator/NeilGaiman's short memoir-graphic novel with Creator/DaveMcKean, ''The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr Punch'', uses motifs from the show throughout, as well as one of the characters being the performer of an actual Punch and Judy show.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** The short story "Theatre of Cruelty" features a Punch-and-Judy show, only [[spoiler: with enslaved gnomes instead of puppets. That's ''not'' the way to do it.]]
** In ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'', [[SweetPollyOliver Polly]] mentions having seen one or two of these in town. They were thrown out because Punch is seen using a stick on his wife that is bigger than the one Nuggan permits men to beat their wives with.
** ''Discworld/WyrdSisters'' has a scene where the playwright Hwel, after being hit by two inspirations simultaneously, attempts to write what is effectively ''Theatre/RichardIII'' as a Punch-and-Judy show.
** ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}'', discussing Granny Weatherwax's hatred of theatre, and resulting fascination with it, says that even the Punch-and-Judy men have stopped coming to Lancre out of terror of her glaring at them from the front row.
* In ''Literature/TheMagiciansOfCaprona'' by Creator/DianaWynneJones, one of the characters is obsessed with Punch and Judy, and at one point the villain transforms the protagonists into puppets and forces them to perform the show.
* ''Literature/TheAnubisGates'' by Creator/TimPowers features a more-than-usually disturbing version, presented by a more-than-usually disturbing puppeteer.
* [[GameOfNerds It's also a baseball slang for a singles hitter.]]
* ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive''
* Ian Hislop unexpectedly did a short impromptu imitation in an episode of ''Series/HaveIGotNewsForYou''.
* Tony Hancock co-wrote and appeared in a film called ''The Punch and Judy Man'' which features a Punch and Judy performer whose troubled relationship with his wife reflects the relationship between Punch and Judy.
* RealLife - if you've ever used the phrase "Pleased as Punch," it refers to Punch's habit of applauding when he has just committed some particularly violent deed.
* ''Series/HiDeHi'' features Mr Partridge, the perpetually drunk, child-hating Punch and Judy man.
* The video game ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'' has a roaming monster named "Punchin' Judy" that fights the party with hand puppets.
* Harrison Birtwistle's opera ''Punch and Judy'' is a very violent take on the dysfunctional family. Benjamin Britten walked out of it during the premiere.
* A Punch and Judy set-up is seen in ''VideoGame/WallaceAndGromitsGrandAdventures: The Last Resort''.
* Music/{{Coldplay}}'s video for "Life In Technicolor II"
* "Yoga" by Music/TheMountainGoats
* In ''Series/JeevesAndWooster'', Bertie's looking to kill some time, and watches a show. Of course, [[TheDitz Bertie]] is engrossed by what, in his opinion, may be the absolute last word in entertainment.
* SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker in ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' has a pair of clownlike brutes named this, which sets up the following joke: "By the way, have you met my associates Judy and ... ''Punch?''" [[HeyYouHaymaker *POW*]]
* ''Film/TheSantaClause'': What's unusual here is that [[PlayingAgainstType they don't beat each other up]]; instead, they just talk to each other and play nice. They are also most likely LivingToys, as they seem to be busy before Scott Calvin enters the room, and react to him [[ComedicUnderwearExposure dropping his pants]].
* Music/TheTigerLillies have an album called ''Punch and Judy''.
* Appears in the novel ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' where the entire book [[spoiler:is just one huge WholePlotReference in disguise and Mister Punch is the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Riot and Rebellion]].
* ''Series/AreYouBeingServed'': There's an episode called "The Punch and Judy Affair" where the store's staff play life-size versions of the characters.
* Music/{{Marillion}} have a song called ''Punch & Judy''.
* In ''[[Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians 102 Dalmatians]]'', Chloe and her dogs meet up with Kevin, his dogs, and Waddlesworth the parrot to see one of these shows. Hilarity and disaster ensues when spotless Oddball sees the dog puppet wearing a spotted sweater and tries to get it, and then eventually getting tied up in a bunch of balloons floating while at it. [[spoiler:After being rescued, the puppeteer gives her the sweater.]]
* Figures prominently in the Creator/MRJames ghost story "A Disappearance and an Appearance", as part of a nightmarish [[DreamingOfThingsToCome foreshadowing dream]].
* In ''The Last Crown'', Mr. Gruel stages a Punch And Judy show at the May Day Faire.
* [[Creator/MarxBrothers Harpo Marx]] manages to get himself ''in'' a Punch and Judy show in ''Film/MonkeyBusiness''.
* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' features a show-within-a-show called "Meet the Fatheads", which is pretty much Punch & Judy with 1990s gross-out humor applied. The husband and wife appear to be made of snot (or maybe just fat?) and spend most of the episodes belaboring each other about said heads with parking meters and having absurd arguments.
* Franchise/TheDCU villains Punch and Jewelee in ''ComicBook/CaptainAtom'' and ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' dress like Punch and Judy.
* Cole Hawlings in ''Literature/TheBoxOfDelights'' owns a Punch & Judy show, though this is something of a cover story.
* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' includes a show called Big Shot with a man and a woman who report on bounty heads for bounty hunters. Their names? Punch and Judy.
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "Snakedance", one scene has a Punch and Judy show with a giant snake (a legendary monster on the planet where the show is being performed) in place of the crocodile.
* The antagonist in ''Film/FunnyMan'' is based on Punch. His first onscreen kill is beating a woman to death with a club.