>> Mark Walker AKA Professor Horn: Thank you so much.
Can you hear me OK on this?
OK, good. It's a real pleasure to be here today.
It's-- I've been here doing research at times
at the Houdini Library and I-- it's nothing like it.
So, it's wonderful to be here.
Punch and Judy is somewhat of an esoteric subject matter here
in America and I could talk about it for hours.
And if anybody has their doubts, just ask my poor wife.
OK? Now, a few important things.
Some homework first.
We have a tremendous amount of information to cover
and in order to keep things interesting and moving along,
I need to compress tons of information
into an allotted time slot.
So, if there are any questions, I would just say speak to me
at the very end of the program and I'll be happy
to talk to you about that.
So, exactly what is Punch and Judy?
In its simplest form, Punch is a nonsensical slapstick comedy
puppet show about a misfit family.
Think in terms of the cartoon show the Simpsons,
but in our case, however, it's Marge, Homer, Bart,
and Lisa Simpson meet Tom and Jerry and The Three Stooges.
Much like the move Napoleon Dynamite, the show has no plot,
but somehow it still works.
While the show itself has a very loose structure, no two Punch
and Judy shows are the same.
And much like-- much of the play is left to the imagination
of the showman and that's what makes it both interesting
and fun.
You can still see versions of the puppet show performed
in countries around the world.
I'm kind of new at this-- let's see here-- let me just try this.
There we go.
OK. And here it is, some great examples of that.
What is not shown here is, in Russia,
Punch is known as Petrushka.
In Germany, it's Kasperle.
France, it's Polichinelle.
Italy, it's Pulcinella.
And of course here in the U.S. and England it's known as Punch.
So the $64,000 question is how did one
of the oldest folk dramas begin.
It took several hundred years for the dramatis persona
to emerge and evolve into the puppet show it is today.
There we go.
For this lecture, though, we're going to begin
at about the middle of the 16th century
with a character known as Pulcinella.
He was just one of many comical stock characters appearing
in a repertoire of plays put on by a group of actors known
as the commedia dell'arte.
The theater of skills.
Pulcinella had a large nose, he wore a floppy white costume
with a pointed hat, and although he was witty back then,
he was somewhat of an idiot and a coward.
Over the years, this traveling group
of minstrels toured the surrounding areas presenting
their plays and so popular was the character
that the puppeteers of the day added him to their puppet shows.
And so it was just a matter
of time before they traveled throughout Europe.
And we know that one of these shows was seen
in England on May ninth of 1662.
Was anybody there to see that?
I was just checking.
OK. OK. And the reason we know that is there was a man named--
that's right-- Samuel Pepys.
He was a government minister.
He kept a diary and in his journal he noted
that he had been at an alehouse in Covent Garden
and he was there looking at a painting and as he came
out he noticed this pretty Italian puppet play, Pulcinella.
Now, it wasn't a puppet show per se, but it was a puppet play.
And he was so taken by the performance
that he told his wife and his servants to go see it.
The name of the performer was Pietro Gimonde
and because he was from Bologna, which is in northern Italy,
he was called Signor Bologna.
Makes sense to me.
OK. He was travelling throughout Europe and he happened
to make a stop in England where he stayed for many months.
And everywhere he went, the show was noted
for its chief character, a hooknose clown
with a black half mask and a squeaky voice.
In October of that year,
Signor Bologna gave a royal performance--
command performance-- for King Charles II and the monarch was
so impressed with him that he gave him a gold chain
and a medal as a way of showing his appreciation.
Let me try to get this here.
Boo. There we go.
OK. This is Martin Powell.
This is about 1709 and that's Punch and Mrs. Punch.
Now, I should point out that the puppet shows
at that particular time, they were marionettes.
That's puppets with strings.
Several puppeteers were needed in order to present these shows
on these large makeshift stages.
Each puppet was probably about three feet high.
Other Italian performers heard of Bologna's success
and before long they headed to England where the popularity
of the marionette was rapidly being established.
Now, many of the shows started working large fairs,
such as Bartholomew Fair, Norridge, and all over England.
The shows, however, were a bit tacky.
You had to go into a marquee and stand in the dark.
And there were prostitutes, pickpockets, and all sort
of things going on in the darkness.
During the next 100 years, the people of England grabbled
with the name of this character
and eventually his name was shortened from Pulcinella
to Punchinello and eventually Punch.
Other characters began to emerge.
One of the earliest characters was the devil,
who fought Mr. Punch at the very end of the story.
By the 1700's, Mr. Punch's wife was introduced to the show.
And at that time her name was Joan.
And because it was pronounced through a swazzle--
that's a little device that the performer puts in his mouth
that gives Punch the squeaky voice.
But when he would call her name, he would call Joan,
but he would call her Joanie and people heard that
and thought he was saying Judy,
so eventually that's how it became known as Punch and Judy.
Now, as time passed by, these marionette shows started
to play themselves out.
One of the main reasons was that the overhead costs.
Some of the marionette shows required four
or more entertainers to erect a large puppet theater
and perform the show.
That's a lot of people to feed, especially when you're busking,
which means you're working for tips.
Here we go.
Here we go.
All right.
Yeah. About 1779, Punch evolved into a hand puppet,
which was much more viable than the old marionette shows.
One man could now operate the puppets behind this portable
stage and it's-- although it's not shown here,
but in many instances his partner would stand in front
of the puppet theater, he'd bang a drum and play panpipes
in order to attract a crowd so they could collect money.
It was a very short show.
If you look at this copper engraving,
you'll notice how tall the puppet stage is compared to some
of the other people standing near it.
What you don't see is behind the curtain a performer is holding
the puppets above his head, and that was
so that people could see it from a greater distance.
Now, all the action took place on a small puppet stage
and often times the puppets collided
when they came together.
Since Punch was a hand puppet, he could now pick up a stick
and belabor anyone who stopped him from having his own way.
That meant the law, his wife, the devil.
No doubt one day the wooden baby puppet fell off the stage,
it got a laugh, and other performers
of the day added it to their show.
Punch's costume was originally all white,
but through the years he acquired the red, yellow,
and green motley colors of the Elizabethan jester.
Lots of English puns and sense
of humor began creeping into the show.
Soon it became a very funny puppet play.
Punch would ridicule people in high places,
deflate the pompous, and to some people
of the time, he was on their side.
And in a day when they would hang you for stealing a loaf
of bread, when Mr. Punch was confronted by the hangman,
Jack Ketch, and Punch tricked the hangman
into putting his own noose--
I mean his own head into the noose, audiences thought
that was a wonderful achievement and Punch became a folk hero.
Now, an important point to remember is that up
until this time the shows were never written down.
Once an entertainer learned a show, he learned how
to present it, he passed that knowledge
on to either his son or an apprentice.
And in many respects, that's how
that tradition continues to this day.
Matter of fact, that's exactly how I learned the show,
which you'll hear about a little bit later.
The structure of the play, however,
became formally established in 1828
when the first recorded script was captured
in a book called the tragical comedy or comic--
comical tragedy of Punch and Judy.
It was written by a journalist, John Payne Collier,
and the book had wonderful illustrations
by George Cruikshank.
And I actually have some of those that are on display here.
Through text and drawings, the book captured a performance of
yet another Italian showman, Giovanni Piccini.
The book was later reprinted, adapted,
and expanded countless times.
In fact, versions of that book are still reprinted to this day.
Now, a few interesting things
about the performer and the author.
OK. That's one of the Cruikshank drawings.
Piccini was one of the best known Punchmen of the period.
For nearly 50 years he had been amusing lords, dukes,
princesses, squires, and vagabonds throughout England.
And it was said that everyone knew him
and they would stop and watch his show.
As for John Payne Collier,
some of his works were labeled forgeries and toward the end
of his life he more or less admitted that everything
about his life had been a lie.
And there's no doubt that parts
of the Piccini script were embellished.
It was a very verbose script and could never be said
with Mr. Punch speaking all those words through a swazzle.
However, whatever the arguments are about Collier's honesty,
it is still felt that that publication is what the French
call [foreign word], a turning point,
because it provided a foundation
for everything else that followed.
All right.
Here is a typical Punch and Judy show from Piccini's time.
This is Punch or Mayday, 1829, and this painting belongs
to the Tate Gallery in London.
Several interesting things happened
between the mid to-- mid to late 1800's.
The railways came about
and eventually they started making excursions
to the seaside.
With a greater number of people now able to travel to the beach,
masses of people started traveling there and soon Punch
and Judy followed them, along with a printologist [phonetic],
oyster vendors, quack doctors, and donkey rides.
So, while you were taking-- so while you were taking a paddle
in the ocean, you could now watch a live Punch
and Judy show.
In the very early days,
Punch and Judy shows were originally attended--
intended for adult audiences because they were the ones
that were paying to watch the show.
Things started to change though during the Victorian times.
The Victorians began to invite Punch and Judy men
into their parlors to entertain middle class drawing rooms
and at children's parties.
This is circa 1850.
Because of this, the street showmen started to clean
up their act, so to speak, and so Punch and Judy's image began
to soften and slowly evolve into acceptable family entertainment.
During these Victorian times,
puppet characters were still being added and deleted.
About 1860, the crocodile, one of the more exciting characters
in the show, first appeared and he's been
in the show ever since.
I thought you'd like this.
This is a great one.
You'll notice there's a dog sitting up on the playboard.
And a dog is--
he was occasionally seen in some performances.
In today's show, it's usually he's just a puppet,
but back then he did appear in some shows
and usually it was a small terrier and it was--
belonged to the showman, it was his pet, and he would travel
with him from town to town.
The dog was always called Toby and he wore a colorful ruff
around its neck and sat on the playboard during the sequences.
Mr. Punch would get the dog to stand up on its two hind legs
and at times the dog would get into a fight with Punch
and bite his noose-- I mean bite his nose.
It is interesting, a couple-- before, when I was coming in,
somebody was talking to me about the dog-- and this is true--
that some of the dogs would actually smoke a pipe
or a cigarette.
And-- anyway.
But today you rarely see a live dog,
although you will see a dog puppet in shows.
Now, there's a reason why I included this.
This is what's known as a saucy seaside British postcard.
I needed to get your attention
so that you would remember three important things
about Punch and Judy.
And here they are.
Joey the clown, a slapstick, and audience participation.
These three elements came about through a unique form
of British entertainment called pantomimes
or pantos [phonetic] for short.
Pantomimes are unique to England
and they have nothing to do with mimes.
They are outlandish musicals based
on well-known children's stories, such as Peter Pan,
Jack and the Beanstalk, Sleeping Beauty, et cetera.
This type of entertainment has been taking place in England
for several hundred years
and always take place around Christmastime.
There was a famous English actor comedian known
as Joseph Grimaldi.
He played the part of a clown and he was so popular
in these pantomimes that Punch
and Judy men added him into their shows.
In fact, clowns today are still known as Joeys and that's
in honor of Joseph Grimaldi.
Grimaldi and other characters in the pantomime used
to hit each other with a wooden slapstick, which is two pieces
of wood that when they hit together they make a slapping
noise without causing any real pain.
In fact, this is where the word slapstick comedy comes from.
So, Punch and Judy performers added slapstick comedy--
I mean the slapstick to their shows.
And finally, the most important part take
from British pantomimes is the audience participation.
If you were in England today attending a--
or around Christmastime-- attending a British pantomime
and a character said oh, no, I didn't,
the entire audience would automatically respond
and say oh, yes, you did.
Yeah. Well, thank you, somebody has been there.
It's just a theatrical tradition that's been handed
down from generation to generation.
When the bad guy comes out, everybody just boos.
I mean it's-- it's a sight to see, it really is.
Over in England, Punch and Judy is probably more popular now
than it's ever been.
It's estimated that there are about 300 Punch
and Judy performers in England.
I would say here in America we're lucky
if we have about 50, you know.
Now, I've jumped around a bit and there's a--
but I've given you a general overview of Punch and Judy
in England, so now I'd like to talk a little bit about America.
We know that Punch was here, at least by 1742.
A Philadelphia newspaper advertisement announced the
performance of Punch and Joan.
See, didn't evolve yet.
Since the notice said the figures were two feet high,
I think it's safe to say that they were marionettes.
Not that long ago, I discovered a 1902 book called Maryland
as a Palatinate and it notes that there was a Punch
and Judy show in Annapolis,
Maryland before the American Revolutionary War.
Per his own accounting records,
George Washington purchased a ticket to a Punch and Judy show.
It wasn't long before these Punch
and Judy shows began popping up like mushrooms
after a good rainstorm.
Right after John Payne Collier's book was released in England
in 1828, unauthorized editions began-- were sold here.
Let's see, what do we got here.
OK. Now, if you have an interest in Punch and Judy in America,
I highly recommend this book.
It's written by Ryan Howard.
It's Punch and Judy in 19th Century America.
Mr. Howard is a professor emeritus of art history
at Moreland State University.
Years back, I was in the early stages of writing a book
about the history of Punch and Judy in America
when Mr. Howard contact me and I told him
that I was writing a book on the same subject.
Since he already had a 15-year head start,
I thought it was a good idea to just work
with him on the project.
I think my wife was happy about that too.
But, truth be told, Mr. Howard had already completed a
tremendous amount of work and research on Punch
and Judy in the United States.
At one time there-- and this is true--
all this is true [laughs].
Why would it not be true?
I have a bad habit of saying that.
This is true.
I don't know why I do that.
At one time there were hundreds-- and I mean hundreds--
of Punch and Judy shows barnstorming across America.
Some performers emigrated from England
and other European countries.
Most Punch and Judy performers were not full-time entertainers.
Many were part-time magicians, ventriloquists,
and they learned how to perform Punch and Judy
from other Punch and Judy performers.
And I'm sure some operators did what they had to do
in order to make a living.
Because of the diverse American population at the time,
many of the early Punch shows included racial
and ethnic characters, dialect, and humor.
So, where did all these shows take place in America?
They were everywhere.
They were performed at parks, fairs, theaters,
and some venues that no longer exist.
As an example, in the late 1800's, some Punch
and Judy shows were seen in concert saloons,
which were low-class drinking establishments
that provided cheap entertainment
and female companionship to attract customers.
There were also variety theaters.
The majority of Punch and Judy show performers, however,
found employment at circus side shows, dime museums,
and the Chautauqua circuit.
Oh, get that here.
OK. Ha, ha, ha.
Here we go.
This is probably one of the most famous Punch and Judy performers
to work circus side shows and it was none other
than the legendary Harry Houdini.
Of course, he was very young at the time and this is when he was
with the Welsh Brothers Circus circus-- circa 1895.
It was said that Houdini carved his own Punch and Judy puppets.
Now-- but sometime during the 1970's, I guess it was
about 1975, I had a phone call and someone was talking
to me about these puppets.
They either had them, they knew where they were,
or they were selling them,
but I wasn't performing Punch and Judy back then.
And I wish I could remember more,
but I don't know how much you can remember from phone calls,
you know, 40, 50 years ago.
Dime museums were popular institutions
in the U.S. by the late 1800's.
They were designed as centers for entertainment
and moral education for the working class.
P. T. Barnum opened a dime museum in New York back in 1842.
Eventually, some of the museums featured Punch
and Judy shows along with other types of variety entertainment.
The picture here is Gus White.
He's from Orange County, New York.
And while he performed at many county fairs, he also performed
for years at museums, some of which were dime museums.
He was on a circuit and traveled to Boston, Cleveland,
Coney Island, and many other places.
I mentioned before that most Punch
and Judy performers also did other things to make a living.
Gus White was an exceptional artist
and made a decent living as a sign painter.
You should also note that he was also an expert wood carver
and he made all his own puppets.
Just look at some of the expressions
on the faces of those puppets.
At one time he had 32 characters that he could inject
into his show at any given time.
Since he was an amazing artist,
one of his features was having Punch come up on stage
with a notepad and a crayon and he would sketch out an image
of the president or someone from the audience.
About 23 of his puppets survived and they were auctioned off
in 1992, a New York comic collector bought them
for $45,000.
OK. Then came Chautauqua.
This was a big adult education movement from the late 1800's
to the mid-late 1920's.
Chautauqua assemblies brought in all types of speakers, teachers,
musicians, and entertainers.
Their main purpose was to bring entertainment, education,
and culture into communities across America.
This is a picture of Professor Will Smith.
He was originally from England and he came from a long line
of Punch and Judy performers.
In 1921, he was performing at a Chautauqua event
in Talbot County, Maryland.
I'll admit he looks a bit scary dressed as Mr. Punch.
You know? This next performer came later,
but there's a reason why I'm highlighting him.
His name is George Prentice--
his real name was Michael Zilka [assumed spelling]
and he is considered a legend in the annals
of Punch and Judy history.
Even until today, the Punch and Judy professors
over in England still talk about him as if he were a god.
He performed in Vaudeville and between 1931
and 1932 he performed 231 Punch and Judy shows on Broadway
and a play called Laugh Parade that starred comedian Ed Wynn.
In 1934, he was invited to entertain the Duke of Windsor
at this royal wedding party.
Can you imagine that?
He stayed in England and performed it for two years.
Some of his performances were
at the prestigious London Palladium.
After appearing in another Broadway show,
he toured Europe for six years.
His list of accomplishments just go on and on.
He entertained the servicemen at USO camps during World War II.
He performed in Vegas, many popular shows of the day.
The man was everywhere.
One of his most prestigious bookings was performing Punch
and Judy at Radio City Music Hall.
That's a 6,200-seat theater.
One reviewer said his puppets were a little hard to see,
but his comedy was universal.
It got laughs practically all the way.
So, you might ask how did I become interested
in Punch and Judy.
And if you don't ask that, I'll ask it.
OK. It actually-- it dates back to-- it's kind of weird,
but it actually goes back to 1897 in Baltimore.
This is a photo here, a 1940 photo, of James Edward Ross.
He was known as Professor Rosella and he first performed
at Pat Harris' dime museum in Baltimore in 1897.
He would later go on to perform his show
at Young's Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City
and for years he was featured-- he was a featured attraction
at a now defunct Baltimore amusement park called Riverview.
One of his greatest testimonials came
from President Theodore Roosevelt
after watching one of his performances.
Per Mrs. Roosevelt,
the president enjoyed Rosella's Punch and Judy show more
than any child in the audience.
So, again, how did I become interested in Punch and Judy?
This is a picture of George Horn when he was a young magician.
He was a ventriloquist.
He met Rosella.
In fact, he was a frequent visitor
to Riverview Amusement Park
where he watched Rosella perform the show.
And George Horn performed the show
in Baltimore for nearly 60 years.
One of his strangest bookings-- George Horn's bookings--
was behind a two-way mirror at a slanky [phonetic] night club
in Baltimore called Club Charles.
The audience never saw George Horn
and he worked there every night for six night-- for six years.
His Punch and Judy puppets would interact with audience members,
play musical instruments,
and again all behind a two-way mirror.
If a regular person came in--
I mean a regular came in with a new lady friend,
one of the puppets would say, hey, Joe,
that's not the same lady you brought in here the other night.
And all the bar flies would laugh, you know.
So, when I was about 10 years old,
I saw George Horn perform Punch and Judy and I never forgot it.
Or his name.
And as a child, I remember calling him up on the phone
and telling him that I was going to visit him--
and I did, 20, 25 years later.
Although I was performing as a magician,
I hired him to entertain at my niece's birthday party
and the children's reaction to that show as amazing.
It was unlike anything I had ever heard before.
He was in his late 80's and since his wife had died,
we just became good friends
and for years I visited him once a month
and would always take him out to dinner.
In a nice way, I told him I'd like to take over the show
if he ever decided that he wanted to retire
and then one day he called me up and told me that.
I studied under him for years and was a pallbearer
at his funeral and he died at the age of 98.
For a while, I actually thought he was going to outlive me.
As of this year, I've been performing a modified version
of the Rosella Horn show under the banner
of Professor Horn for 25 years.
And that's my story.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
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