Re:TheAshLad - Sandbooks

ased almost. entirely on the Punchtradition. The show has taken a fair
amount of stick in. the past forbeing violent or not politically correct
and being flippant. aboutdomestic violence. Charles Dickens is among
those who have nailed thisas. ridiculous.Who Are Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy are arguably the most. famoustraditional puppets in the
Western World with a colorful history. morethan years old. Mr. Punch
with his hook nose hunched back. andgarish costume is a cultural icon
in England. His unabashed jokingand. rowdy mischievous behavior
have provoked paroxyms of laughterfrom. audiences throughout time.
An impressive body of art is graced byPunch's. outrageous
countenance.PUNCH Are you a doctorHANGMAN Yes are you.
alrightPUNCH No I'm dead.HANGMAN You can't be dead.PUNCH
I'm dead dead. dead.HANGMAN How long have you been dead Mr.
PunchPUNCH About weeks.punch.
judypuppetpuppetsCodman'sTobyRhosonSeapunchpunchjudyjudyMr..
Punchpunchinellopolichinellepuppetry puppet heroswoodenheadsthat's
the. way to do itwhat a pitysomerville colwyn bayrhoson seacomical.
tragedytragical comedymr punch's operapulcinellaharlequinadehunch.
backhumpbig nose professorspunchmanprofessorsslapstickswazzle.
swazzleomiswazzlehomipunchcallitinerantmarionettes.
seasideentertainmenton the beachbeachperformerson the sands.
carnivalsThe Punch and Judy College ofProfessorsThe Punch and Judy.
Fellowshipswazzleswatchelold red noseHoban quotes him as saying
Punch is. so old he can't die.In its classical glorious sense immortality
is the. quality of whatpasses beyond death the quality of the
supraliving.. In itscontemporary version it is the quality of the surviving
that is. ofwhat is already dead and by that token becomes immortal.It's
a fine show. sir. he replied. jolly fine show. Then with aguffaw he
added And a. damned bad moral.Many of the Trickster's traits Radin
writes were. perpetuated inthe figure of the mediaeval jester and have
survived right up to. thepresent day in the PunchandJudy plays and in
the clown (xxiii).Who is. Punch anyway Where does he come from
And how could soimpossible and. ridiculous a character have survived
the changes andturmoil of the passing. centuries The plain fact is that
nobody knows.Certainly the figure of Punch as. we know him today has
a direct linkwith the commedia dell'arte of the. seventeenth century but
thecharacter is far far older. The original. significance of Punch's
faceand figure his enormous nose and hump are. meaningless to
anaudience of modern times when perhaps it is not. customary
toassociate large noses and sexual potency or find hunchbacks.
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