Punch and Judy

Punch and Judy is a traditional English puppet show centered on the quarrelsome Mr. Punch, his wife Judy, and a cast of comic characters. Its distinctive slapstick derives from Punch’s use of a slapstick and his confrontations with authority.

Glove puppet: A puppet worn on the hand, with fingers controlling its head and arms. Mr. Punch is traditionally a glove puppet operated from inside the booth.
Pulcinella: A comic masked character from Italian commedia dell’arte, known for a hooked nose and quarrelsome behavior. Pulcinella is the Italian character from whom Punch ultimately descends.
Giovanni Piccini: An Italian puppeteer associated with early Punch performances in England during the seventeenth century. He is among the Italian performers linked to Punch’s introduction to English audiences.
Mr. Punch: The hooked-nosed, quarrelsome central character of the Punch and Judy puppet show. His violent comic misadventures drive the traditional performance.
Slapstick comedy: Physical comedy built around exaggerated action, mishaps, and comic violence. Punch and Judy is a distinctive puppet-theatre form of slapstick.
Puppet booth: A small, often portable stage that conceals puppeteers while framing a puppet performance. The booth hides the performers and presents Punch’s world to the audience.
Commedia dell'arte: A form of Italian professional theatre built around masked stock characters and improvised performance. Its comic stock characters and performance traditions helped shape Punch’s ancestry.
George Cruikshank: An English caricaturist and book illustrator whose work included images of Punch and Judy characters. His 1828 illustrations helped establish a widely influential visual version of the show.
Judy (Punch and Judy): Mr. Punch’s wife and a principal character in the traditional puppet show. Her confrontation with Punch begins one of the show’s best-known episodes.
Domestic violence: Abusive or coercive behavior between family members or intimate partners. Punch’s attacks on Judy make the show’s comic framing of spousal violence contentious.

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