Slapstick Issue 3

ISSUE 3

December 19

The Herbert Way Terry talks about his life with Punch

© Austin Phillips, 2019 www.phillipspuppets.com

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6 The Herbert Way

14 Hancock Remastered

18 Many Thanks, Sincerely

20 In Memoriam, John Alexander

16 Boring Ol’ Punch & Judy

22 Back to the Beach

To submit contributions for the next issue or to contact the editor email slapstickjournal@gmail.com Many thanks to the Punch and Judy Club for their support. punchandjudyclub.com

Copyright 2019, all rights reserved. Reproduction in part or whole is forbidden without express permission of the publishers.

All expressions and opinions demonstrated within the publication, are those of the Editors and contributors.

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Professor Carcass relaxing on the pebbles at Brighton. Š David Wilde Archives

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Welcome Back!

This month Slapstick is one year, and three issues old, and we are thrilled that it has been welcomed so warmly and widely by the puppetry community. It has been great meeting up with readers in Covent Garden and at Blackpool. Our last edition had over 1000 unique views online, and the limited number of printed editions sent as gifts are becoming collectors’ items.

Our third issue celebrates the work of Terry Herbert. Terry is an incredibly experienced and highly respected comic entertainer, of both children and adults. He is a Gold Star Member of the Inner Magic Circle, has performed at the invitation of Prince Rainier and the Royal Family of Monaco and is recipient of the prestigious Maskelyne and Carlton Awards.

It has been a pleasure spending time with Terry and exploring his archive whilst putting this edition together.

This journal relies on its contributors, so our thanks to Terry, David, Austin, Geoff and Paul for giving of their time so generously. We always welcome your correspondence, and articles. Do please drop us a line with your thoughts or feedback.

We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year and hope you enjoy reading this edition of Slapstick.

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Terry Herbert talks about his life with Punch 6

Mr Punch has been very good to me over the years, he kept me busy during the summers, he’s taken me to all kinds of venues, even the Houses of Parliament, and I’ve always loved performing with him.

I suppose you could blame my father. He bought me a cardboard set of cut out figures because I was fascinated by Punch and Judy. We used to go to Broadstairs on holiday and I met Ronnie Townsend, Smokey the Clown. He was a wonderful man, I would sit and watch him every day.

I can remember doing a very short simple show with the cardboard set at my primary school for an assembly. It was probably pretty rubbish, but I was enjoying myself. Then my cousin gave me a shadow puppet theatre, a screen with a huge light at the back. You operated the little cut out figures from behind, but it wasn’t as fun as Punch.

When I was 11 we lived in West Norwood, South London and one day I heard there was going to be a Punch and Judy show on Streatham Common, which wasn’t too far away, so I went along to see it. It started about 10 o’clock, and I watched the show three times. He packed up by 1 o’clock but I got playing with some other kids. I didn’t realise where the time was going. There was a cafe up at the top of the hill and I was getting a bit hungry, not realising it was about 5 o’clock. How was I to know my father and mother were worried sick and called the police? I was queuing up to get a sandwich and the police turn up with my father and couple of neighbours who’d all been out looking for me. I wasn’t terribly popular that evening, and it was all Punch and Judy’s fault!

My father met Wal, quite by chance, and told him how keen I was on entertainment. Then I became the proud owner of Punch and his entourage, and I worked the show for the next 60 years. That’s not a bad investment.

opportunities today, sadly.

Whilst I was still at school I was working every weekend doing shows. I was never paid much in those days, but it certainly supplemented my pocket money if you like.

My first fee was half a crown, 12.5p I was a student member of the Lon- in today’s money. I was 16 when I don Society of Magicians, along with started doing Punch and Judy propJohn Styles, and one week we were erly and perhaps a little older with treated to a lecture and perform- the birthday party shows. One of ance by Percy Press Snr. What a the first big children’s shows I did performer. It was him who taught was West Norwood bus garage for me to swazzle, and having started their Christmas party. out with swazzles from Hamleys, how to get them made properly in A couple of years after starting up silver, which I did using an old hunt- with Punch I got a job as an office er pocket watch. Percy taught me to boy for the Motion Picture Assoput a thread on each end and loop ciation of America in their office it over your ears, so you can throw on New Burlington Street. I was it back without having to worry 16, and sent on errands delivering about swallowing the swazzle and messages across Soho, so I did what then later, just a thread hanging out any other teenage boy would do of your mouth. This built up my and used my trips out as an opporconfidence, as the further back it tunity to visit magic shops! Hamwas the better the sound and the leys was opposite my office, and I dialogue. Of course, after a while I spent most of my lunch hours there got rid of the thread, but it was ex- learning from Vic Fabian. There was cellent advice for a young perform- a young magician demming tricks at er. Styles always said, “Well you’re the counter, Howard Peters, just a not a proper professor until you’ve year younger than me. He was to swallowed it three times.” But I’ve become my closest friend in magic, never swallowed mine, thank God. until we sadly lost him in 1999.

I’d been doing magic shows ever since I was 14. I started for money, frankly, as well as the pleasure.

In those days concert parties were very popular, where a group of you, perhaps a comedian, a girl singer, an accordion player and a speciality act, which was be me, would travel around local venues. I joined a group called Wonders Never Cease. We’d go to nursing homes, social clubs, hospitals, all manner of charity events and community centres, it was a great experience. Ken I was lucky to receive a magnificent Dodd started the same way. It was a set of figures by the great Wal Kent wonderful way find time in front of a couple of years later as teenager. an audience, there aren’t the same

Soho was, and still is, the core of London’s film industry, but it was also home to the likes of Harry Stanley’s Unique Magic Studio, Oscar Oswald, Dick Chavel and Ali Bongo, Davenports and Ken Brooke. I became very good friends with Ken, he was my mentor really, especially regarding performing for adults. Harry Stanley had brought him to London, after Ken’s success with the Veroni House of Magic in Leeds, but they fell out and in 1966, with the backing of his friend Frank Farrow, he opened Ken Brooke’s Magic Place on Wardour Street, which was only a short walk from my office.

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adult cabaret, an act that has taken sausages with a burnt note, and addme all over the world, and I’m very ing some more business with a male proud of it. volunteer, and it became my ‘act as known’.

The sausages came into the adult act in 1965, prior to that my cabaret I was the first British comedy magiwas still centred around the Ring in cian invited to perform on The Paul Nest of Boxes, but with the Chinese Daniels Magic Show, Paul was cagey Sticks and the Nudist Deck. I had about inviting performers too close a memory Grote who I performed to his own style onto the show, and alongside at the Conway Hall when received criticism in some circles for I was a student member of the LSM. it, but in 1988 he relented, and I was He was a very clever performer who booked for a twelve-minute prime later emigrated to Australia and is time slot, complete with sausages. now only really known as the inventor of the Chaotic Candle, where As part of the act I eventually lothe candle tips and sets fire to the cate the chosen sausage, offering it note. However, I remembered him back to the gentleman assistant with on stage that night handing a pack of “Is that your sausage?” as it slowly sausages to a lady volunteer and ask- droops, accompanied by a knowing her to shuffle them. Well this was ing look from me. I knew this always I’ve always thought sausages are the 1940s and we were still on ra- played well but was concerned about an inherently funny idea, especially tioning, so they were condoms filled it going out as family entertainment when seen out of context. They’re in with sawdust, which is even funnier, at 7.30pm on a Saturday night. my Punch show, of course, but also but to the audience they were saumy children’s magic and notably my sages. I thought of combining the

Photo - Terry Herbert

Ken was known for his adult, stand up effects, but one day I went in and he said, “Hello, son. I’ve got just the thing for you. You listen to this, son. You’ll like this.” He put an audio cassette tape on and all I heard was 10 minutes of children laughing.

I thought, I don’t know what it is, but I’ve got to have it. It turned out to be the Balloon Fish. It was created and invented by Bob Austin, who again was known as a close-up performer, but he also did children’s shows. He came up with the Balloon Fish, and it was his performance that Ken had on tape. I used the trick for years, especially with younger ones. It’s now in the hands of another Punch performer, David Wilde, along with a magnificent sausage gun.

Terry and Horace the Rabbit.

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“...It was on the tip of my tongue, “Only if you wear your birthday suit.”

I checked with John Fisher, the producer, and he said in his glorious tones, “Oh yes, Terry, it’s very funny.” I did do it, and it got a big, big laugh, and no complaints after though it took Paul a while to book any more British comics.

The act may only be 30 minutes, but it is 60 years in the making. Performing twice nightly in summer season, in every possible cabaret venue, hotel and theatre honed it. These opportunities don’t really exist now, so it would be difficult to create something that slick and polished, even I have to be very careful with how though it was always designed to I play the act, I’m careful never to seem fresh, natural and unrehearsed. overdo it. It is a cheeky performance, obviously, but there’s so much more A few performances really stand out fun to be had with a clever look or over the years, Punch and Judy in a facial expression rather than rely- nudist camp for one, there were a ing on verbal smut. You can sell the few things standing out that day. As whole thing visually, letting the joke I was packing the show away, a very form in the audience’s minds. I re- attractive yummy mummy came up member performing at a cabaret and to me, not a stitch on and said, “Exthe compère, who knew my act well, cuse me.” As if she hadn’t already asked me if I was going to include got my attention. “Do you do birththe sausages, given the audience day parties?” It was on the tip of we had in. I look confused until he my tongue, “Only if you wear your added “Well in the front row there birthday suit.” is a Mother Superior, two nuns and a priest.” It was too late to change Another memorable occasion was the act, I just got on with it and they performing Punch on ice. In 1965 I was laughed louder than anybody else. appointed assistant manager at Silver All of the humour and the charm is Blades Ice Rink at Streatham for Mecca from how you do it, how you handle and for Christmas I suggested to my the volunteer, always being kind to boss that we could have a Punch and them, even if you are burning their Judy show on the ice. It was a real sucmoney. Many of the jokes and gags cess. The kids were all skating round come on the offbeat, strengthening and I’m doing Punch and Judy on ice. I them greatly. I wanted to do the de- must be the only Punch and Judy man stroyed watch, after being inspired who ever did punch on ice, though I

by Karrell Fox, but just putting the couldn’t skate in my life. Mecca were watch in a bag and bashing it with great to work for, and I arranged all a hammer on purpose seemed too their entertainment at Streatham, obvious. Instead I borrow a watch, booking top bands such as The New wrap it up in a handkerchief, ask “Is it Faces and The Kinks. I even roped my still going?” then I hit it on the table. It’s old friend Howard Peters in to help. the offbeat that gets the laugh. Inno- Mecca were very keen on publicity cently asking to borrow a watch, just stunts, and in a meeting one day I sugafter burning £20 always gets a great gested a challenge escape from a block reaction, especially coming after a not so of ice, which they loved. Howard and sincere apology, “Oh, sorry about that. I had always been taught that when a Can I borrow your watch?”. job comes in you should say yes, and

then worry about the logistics afterwards, which is exactly what we did.

We constructed a huge ice cube out of foot thick slabs of ice, four sides, a top and bottom, with Howard inside and an iron band around the whole thing, secured with padlocks.

Escaping wasn’t a problem, but the practicalities of the ice were. Ice rinks aren’t actually all that cold, especially when there’s a big crowd in to watch, and the ice started to melt. There was a real danger the whole structure would collapse, and that weight would do a lot of damage. Photographers were clicking away, and we got national publicity, but time was ticking away. I hurried proceedings along and was very glad when Howard emerged from the tent over the ice unscathed.

Prior to working for Mecca, I had spent nine years at Butlins starting as a red coat and working my way up to entertainments manager. I started at the hotels at Cliftonville, Margate in 1956 as a red coat children’s entertainer for the season. That winter I worked as a magic demonstrator at Ellisdons in Holborn, but I went back to Margate for the 1957 season. The next summer took me to the Ocean Hotel at Saltdean, and Butlins kept me on for the winter, which was perfect. The hotels were open all year round so I had summer, winter, summer, winter.

In fact, the only actual camp I did in a summer was Pwllheli, North Wales, where I was resident compere, taking over from Jimmy Tarbuck. He’d upset the management and they got rid of of him and drafted me in to save the day for the 1962 season. We had a great time,

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Photo - Terry Herbert

Photo - Terry Herbert

A very young Terry with his Wal Kent figures.

Terry with Supreme’s Teddy Bears Picnic.

our rock and roll group at the bar were Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, with a pre-Beatles Ringo Starr on drums.

within two weeks he rang me up and told me Meccano were looking for a rep for South London, which is how I started in the toy trade.

I married my dear wife Averil, who was also working for the company, in 1965, but we had to move back to South London as both my parents died within months of each other, and my sister was living alone. The next 18 months were taken up with re-establishing myself as an entertainer in my own right within London, and with Mecca.

I was a rep on the road for Meccano for three years, after which I was headhunted by Mattel. They were a big American company famous for Barbie and Hot Wheels, and they’d just brought a British doll company called Rosebud, so needed sales reps with local knowledge. I was flattered. It was as different as chalk and cheese going from an old fashioned English toy company to a real go ahead American company, and I stayed with them for seven years.

Going around the toy shops store rooms I saw plenty of old stock sat gathering dust, and it chimed with me. I remembered Ron Bishop’s book Laughter All The Way, which Goodliffe published in the late 60s.

There was a chapter about incorporating toys into magical routines, and

A colleague of mine, Brian Matthews, who was an ex-red coat walked in to the rink one day looking very prosperous. He told me had moved away from entertainment and had a job selling nursery goods, which came with a rather nice salary and a company car on top. On the off chance I told him to keep an eye out for something similar for me, and

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these were the same late 1950s, early 1960s mechanical toys that I was finding hidden away as old forgotten stock. I started collecting them and including them in my shows. I didn’t realise then that the collection would go on to feature in museums, and even take me onto television, as well as entertaining a lot of children.

Ideas included incorporating a drinking Daddy Bear, along with a Mummy Bear feeding Baby Bear, into the end of my Goldilocks routine, building on the prop supplied by Supreme Magic. I also used Edwin Hooper’s Circus Big Top, based on the Arabian Tent Illusion, to produce a mechanical menagerie for Thames Television’s Five Magic Minutes in 1981. Ron was a lovely guy, and a terrific entertainer, often overlooked now. I’m glad some other performers have given one or two of my toys new homes now, sharing them with new audiences.

“I believe what made me a good entertainer of children was the lack of help available. ...I became an entertainer based on my own ideals and values” Over the past few years children’s entertainers seem to have become much more prominent in the magic community. In the UK we have the excellent Trix in the Stix convention, there is Kidology, there are busy Facebook groups, and the Magic Circle have just launched their first Children’s Entertainer competition, and I am honoured to have the prize named after me. It seemed that everything went quiet after the sad demise of the Supreme Magic Company, but now it is flourishing. However, this can be a double-edged sword.

I believe what made me a good entertainer of children was the lack of help available. There were no YouTube videos to steal ideas from, no professionally produced DVDs, the only book at that time was ‘Open Sesame’. And you daren’t do some of the stuff that’s in that today.

I wasn’t influenced by any other kid’s entertainer, so I became an entertainer based on my own ideals and values, what made me laugh and what made my own children laugh.

The very nature of the business is that most of the shows are in private homes and halls, so you didn’t have the opportunity to see one another work. I had to invent my own ideas and routines, even with standard props.

preme Days. I was always popular, usually selling out of stock on my stall. It was suggested we make an instructional video for the company.

I was flattered, and presented one of my normal birthday party shows, along with explanations of the routines and the thinking behind them.

The response was phenomenal and ‘Children’s Magic The Herbert Way’ became a bestseller.

One of the simplest items on there is the Silver Sceptre, a trick that a lot of performers associate with me, though of course it is George Blake’s invention. George also performed Punch and Judy and perfected the lazy tongs booth construction. The trick was originally sold by Oscar Oswald, although there have been some terrible cheap versions over the years. A soft cloth bag is key, rather than a stiff plastic one. I had kids’ entertainers tell me, “I’ve had a Silver Sceptre for years and never used it until I saw your video.” Then they realised how much business you can get out of such a simple trick. I can remember doing it at a children’s party where the birthday child had been given a rising wand in a magic set for his birthday. He was sitting in front row holding it, and to all extent and purposes it is the same trick as the Silver Sceptre. But he was crying with laughter. I am acting against this prop, I need to sell the idea to the audience that it has a life of its own, and I do that through my reactions, my facial expressions and through the surprise and frustration in my voice. Again, it’s not what you do, it’s the way you do it. It comes with experience.

I used to get a lot of stuff from Supreme, but I would only read the instructions briefly to I got the working of it and then develop my own routine. Think of my own stories to tell, bits of business to include, both verbal and physical. Ian Adair saw me work and invited me to demonstrate magic for the company at their Su- Seemingly anyone can make a video

or DVD now, but mine was the first to go out, and inspired a lot of entertainers. Whilst I did not make a lot of money from the sales from Supreme, or even from the L&L reprint on DVD which was put out at David Kaye’s request, off the back of it I was invited to lecture all over the world, and have made friends in Australia, America and all over Europe.

One of my most popular items in my lectures was Tel’s Bell, which has been very popular with Punch performers too, often performed as part of a preshow warm up outside the booth. The prop was a collaboration between myself and a mechanical engineer, John Elbrow, that arose from a chance meeting.

I first knew the magician Stanley Watson from my days of socialising at Hamleys in my lunchbreaks.

He and his wife Diane had an act themed around royalty, with a zombie ball as floating orb, lit bulbs from mouth which went into a crown, it was very clever, and I knew he had great ideas. We first worked together at a concert party at the Bohemia Theatre in Broadstairs, and became good friends. He did some guest spots for me at Butlins, Margate, and in conversation after one show he came up with a great suggestion for my act. He introduced me to a prop that we now know as the Golden Fun Shears, a set of scissors that a volunteer can’t open or close, and eventually fall apart. I couldn’t see the strength in it, but when I tried them in the act they were wonderful. I originally used them with a rope trick, but they then became a core part of my destroyed handkerchief routine.

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“I have been very lucky to make some great friends through Punch and Judy, and I am always happy to watch an excellent show, even now. My favourite Punch and Judy show was Bryan Clarke’s.”

They are very cleverly made props, but over time the mechanism wore and needed repair. I visited a local engineering firm, but whilst they couldn’t help me they knew a man who could, John Elbrow. He was a retired machinist, who did all manner of repairs for antique dealers from a workshop at the bottom of his garden. I visited him to show him the scissors, which he said he could mend for me, and whilst there I noticed a small antique hand bell on a shelf in his workshop, a repair for another customer. The bell and the scissors merged in my mind, and I thought how funny it would be if I could ring the bell, but a child couldn’t. I mentioned the idea to John, but with no idea of how it would work. Whilst he had no knowledge of magic he said would find a solution.

A few weeks later he showed me a beautiful brass bell that only those in the know could ring, and that could be immediately handed to volunteers for inspection. It was perfect, and it was an immediate hit in my shows. I could see the potential for it in the magic world, so we set about making more. They were all handmade and were very time consuming. I found a supplier for the springs and imported the bowl of the bells from India. The handles, mechanism and clappers were machined and assembled by John. They were made in batches of ten, and whilst a few dealers stocked them I mainly sold them on my lecture tours. A few years later I came back from some shows in South Africa to a parcel from a friend, a Tel’s Bell that needed a minor repair. I took it round to John the next day only to be told that he had passed away whilst I was out of

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the country. That seemed to be the end of the story.

at Lowestoft. Bryan had also been influenced by Percy Press Snr, and though our paths hadn’t crossed at Guy Bavli, who I’d met whilst work- the time, had been a student meming in Israel, rang me asking for some ber of the LSM. of the bells for his new magic dealership, Pro Magic. I explained that John The first mass gathering of Punch had passed away, and that there performers was the Bankside Punch would be no more. Guy explored and Judy Festival, a fund-raising event several options and eventually found for Sam Wannamaker’s Globe Theaa small company in India that could tre in 1974 I was performing alongreproduce John’s masterpiece, and side my good friend Jay Marshall from after showing me samples at the FISM America, John and Max Alexander, convention in The Hague we made Bob Wade, Len Ware, and my hero, an arrangement for him to bring the Percy. We were asked to perform a product back on the market. They piece to publicise the event, so set were very good, and have become a up five Punch booths in a television collector’s item, which have recently news studio. We had a five-minute sold for five times the price we were slot, and each performed a oneselling them for originally. It is a great, minute scene from the show, telling versatile prop, which unlike so many, the story across the five booths. plays well with both adults and children. I’m very proud.

I was performing my cabaret at Charlton Athletic Club one NovemI have been very lucky to make ber evening, and came back to my some great friends through Punch van to discover a broken window and Judy, and I am always happy to and everything gone, my Wharfdale watch an excellent show, even now. PA system, the booth, my beautiful My favourite Punch and Judy show Bob Wade puppets, the complete was Bryan Clarke’s. A few years number one children’s show, even ago, I was doing a summer season my publicity material. I was devason the east coast, going backwards tated. and forwards up Norfolk and Great Yarmouth way. At Caister Holiday We found the booth around the Camp Bryan was doing the children’s corner the next morning, they had shows and I was doing the cabaret dumped it believing it to be firein the evening. I didn’t know Bryan wood, but the rest was gone and at that time, but I had arrived early never saw light again. I called the poand could hear the reaction he was lice but failed to see the funny side getting from the dressing room. I just when the jovial copper said “Oh, so had to find out who was performing you’re a magician. Have you made and what they were doing. I popped it all disappear then?” I was furious, in to see his show, and it was an ab- any other time that would have been solute riot. We became good friends, very funny, but the tools of my trade and I visited him and his wife Dor- were gone, and I didn’t know what I othy many times that season both at was going to do. their home, and at their beach pitch

Included in my magic case was my rabbit puppet, Horace. That year I had new publicity material printed featuring the puppet, and had a run of Christmas shows booked, in which Horace was heavily featured.

Not only was he expensive, but he was an American rabbit, coming from Show-Biz in New York. There was no way I was going to get a new one in time. Now I’ve always been a great believer in fate. There are certain moments in my life that I’m sure fate has played a turn, and this was one. A couple of days later I was telling the story of my break in to Terry Seabrooke, who had just come back from lecturing in America. I couldn’t believe my luck when he told me, that he had been given an identical rabbit ventriloquial puppet as a present during his time there. Terry wasn’t a ventriloquist and was wondering what he was going to do with his unlikely gift. Horace Mk II and I had many happy years together.

Photo - Terry Herbert

Photo - Terry Herbert

An early publicity shot.

Terry and Jay Marshall.

Some years earlier I had much admired Bob Wade’s puppets on his stall at the May Fayre and ordered a complete set of characters. They were magnificent, with very friendly faces, and were much easier to manipulate than my Wal Kent set.

Sadly, these weren’t so easy to replace. I bought a new set carved by Teddy Corden, they were bright and colourful, but perhaps not quite as magical as Bob’s.

and Judy anymore I’m glad my puppets and booth have gone to a good home with David Wilde, and Avril and I enjoy watching David work in Kent each summer. I still love entertaining, and am kept busy with talks to a huge range of societies about the history of magic, as well as my shows for adults and children. I have so many magical memories and hope to create many more.

Terry Herbert, with James Arnott One of the sad things about get- - October 2019 ting old is that you start to lose your friends. So many close friends from magic and Punch have gone, and the world has lost some great entertainers as a result. Brian Eames comes to mind. He was a wonderful entertainer, children loved him, and Avril and I have many fond memories of our times with Brian down at Peacehaven in his ever so pink home.

Whilst I’m not performing Punch

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14 Photo - David Wilde Archive

“Being brought up in a seaside town you’ll find these underground entertainers who are absolutely honest” There is one film I have watched more than any other, one that I have loved ever since I was a child. A film that makes me both laugh and cry, even though its star considered it a professional failure. It is even a film that inspired my grandfather to search across the globe for a magical set of puppets.

To find myself watching it again this summer, but to in a totally new light, was a real joy. The release by STUDIOCANAL of Tony Hancock’s 1962 film The Punch and Judy Man has to be one of the highlights of this year, with a magnificent clarity never seen before in previous offerings of the film. Not only has much new detail been revealed in the film that was not even present in recent cinema showings at the British Film Institute, but we are also treated to the inclusion of the deleted scenes.

the previous VHS and DVD releases.

The film was to be the first of a four-film deal with ABC and was inspired by Hancock’s own seaside childhood in Bournemouth. “Being brought up in a seaside town you’ll find these underground entertainers who are absolutely honest” Tony Hancock, Films and Filming, August 1962.

Pinner comes up against the petty bureaucracy and snobbery of his adopted town, Piltdown, something I am sure many Punchmen can relate to!

Sadly this was the only film made as part of the agreement with ABC, and apart from guest appearances in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines and The Wrong Box, Hancock was to make no further cinematic appearances. Alcoholism blighted his later years, totally affecting his We see the film’s unlikely hero, Wally Pinner, played by performances and in June 1968 he took his own life after a Tony Hancock, getting up from the breakfast table, going series of failed shows in Australia. “Things just seemed to go off through the streets of Piltdown to his lock-up shed, and too wrong too many times” Tony Hancock 1968. inside we have his partner Edward, played by Hugh Lloyd, repairing the crocodile puppet, sticking its teeth back in. My The Punch and Judy Man remains a real favourite of mine, grandfather tracked the puppet from the film to the Isle of showing Hancock’s great, and often overlooked, skill at creWhite. On closer inspection we were surprised to discover ating pathos on film, tempered with some joyous comic it was not a Wal Kent puppet, as we first imagined, but an set-pieces, such as his visit to The Igloo for an unfathomably excellent copy of the Kent figure owned by Joe Hastings large ice-cream sundae, which he devours with all the glee the film’s puppeteer, that was specially made by the film’s of a child. Whilst this may not have been the laugh a minute props department with removable individual teeth. comedy he set out to make, he and director Jeremy Summers produced a classic of British cinema, that captures the Wally and Edward make their way towards the beach faded glamour of the British seaside on decline in the 1960s, where they pass the Piltdown Civic Centre, where the and the many-faceted characters that inhabit it. rather pompous mayor, Ronald Fraser, is getting out of his Now who’s for a Piltdown Glory?

Rolls Royce, and Pinner elegantly sticks two fingers up at him in the process of taking his hat in faux deference. This David Wilde - November 2019 was left in for a Channel 4 broadcast of the film some years ago, but has not been present in previous home releases, The remastered ‘The Punch and Judy Man’ is now available to no doubt due to its U classification. buy on DVD and Blu-ray DVD from Network DVD I had never seen the film’s theatrical trailer, which is included as a bonus feature, and to my surprise you hear the original swazzling by Joe Hastings, rather than the redubbed footage in the film, which features Percy Press Snr, who took over after Hastings’ untimely death during filming.

It seems that every Punch enthusiast I have spoken to who has purchased this release is over the moon with the quality and the clarity that this masterpiece can now be viewed in.

Some have even spotted the continuity error of the booth already set up in the background of shot as Wally and Edward walk to the beach to erect it, which was not visible in

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Punch appears, Judy is called for and she fetches the baby.

Following the baby’s demise, they squabble and a policeman is summoned to quell the disturbance. His efforts amount to little. Several protagonists follow. Some sausages are ‘fed’ to a crocodile. The lead character is frightened into submission and repentance, and the show concludes.

Merely purchasing the dolls, booth and attempting to squeak (with or without the Swazzle) does not a Punch and Judy man make.

Pete Maggs, a long-standing performer from a long-line of performers, has gone on record; “some Punchmen have normal jobs but they’re still not normal people”, my Back in 1987 Terry Lee advertised a show thusly: ‘Not bor- family nodded in their agreement. The skill set that deing Punch & Judy’ he did this in response to hearing children fines an entertainer is unlike any other and merely buying say, once they’d spotted his out-of-doors theatre, “Oh No, into tradition will not provide the spark of absurdity that it’s not boring ol’ Punch & Judy.” His advertisement caused is so often required in order to react humorously to any quite a stir. The Punch community took it as a slur on the audience feedback and in the fashion Punch deserves. entire profession. Terry was a quick to refute the charge that he’d brought the English tradition into disrepute, ex- Mind you, sometimes this can work against you – throw plaining that what he wished to make clear was that he was anything out, into the crowd – and you should expect “offering original contemporary material, rather than some- the audience to throw things back! thing churned out by a hundred odd traditionalists, utterly predictable in form and content”.

The community explains the show away as being, in part, a satirical performance of the improvised method, reThe inherent problem with presenting the show as outlined, flecting and developing upon its Italian Pulcinella lineage. is that every would-be professor can attempt it. Its simplicity The lineage which stems from the Italian farce plays of traps the unwary into thinking that because they are wag- the Commedia dell’arte. But is it? Shows are trotted out gling the dolls at the right time and in the right fashion, that using the same ol’ staging, story and gags. Punch men are what they are presenting isn’t ‘boring ol’ Punch and Judy’. conservative beasts but, in many cases, so conservative that once a show is built, it remains unchanged during The joy of seeing the candy-stripped booth at their fair- the length of the Professor’s career. Where’s the improv ground or party will often ally any fears that they may have in that? had in booking the most economically advantageous show available. The problem, from the perspective of those per- In Pierre Lousis Duchartre’s book: ‘The Italian Comedy’ formers who put their heart and soul into their offerings, is there is a summary of what it is to be adept at improvisathat for a modicum of an investment and a trip to the In- tion: “Anyone can learn a part and recite it on stage, but ternet, anyone can attempt to put Punch through his paces. something else is required for the Italian comedy. For a good Italian actor is a man of infinite resources and reUnlike waiting for the No.46 bus, which invariably comes sourcefulness, a man who plays more from imagination along in a convoy, it is an unfortunate fact that seldom are than from memory; he matches his words and actions so two punch shows hired to perform at the same event. The perfectly with those of his colleague on the stage that he opportunity to compare performances means the public enters instantly into whatever acting and movements are are denied the opportunity to determine whether they are required of him in such a manner as to give the impresmerely watching a pale imitation or the real deal. But it takes sion that all that they do has been prearranged” a special sort of person to achieve a certain level of entertainment. Someone who has the quick wittedness to react The danger of reproducing the show without imbuing ‘live’ to the unscripted intervention from an engrossed child it with the performer’s own ideas and interpretations, who may bring to proceedings to a halt with their interven- is that it will be ‘boring ol’ Punch and Judy’ and ‘boring’ tion, and/or an ability to turn to any seemingly disinterested is a one-way cul-de-sac, one that can never be called parent into an active participant. ‘entertainment’ and should not be advertised as ‘Punch And Judy’.

The ‘Prof’ must possess a ready wit – always looking for the humour in the situation. A constant searching for an Paul Jackson - October 2019 opportunity to turn a joke or a pun, even in the direst of situations. Being a Professor means that ‘he’ must be prepared to try something new, even if it’s risky, in order to move things on, to avoid any hint of ‘being boring’.

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Photo - Paul Jackson

Photo - Cameron Mackintosh

I was thrilled to hear that Cameron Macintosh and Disney’s production of Mary Poppins was returning to the West End and intrigued to see the changes made to the production since I last saw it in 2004.

Previously Punch had made a small appearance, during a song called Temper, Temper in which Jane and Michael Banks’ toys came to life. An actor playing Punch became a judge the toys put the children on trial for losing their tempers and mistreating Jane’s favourite toy, Valentine.

ward Theatre, Soho, for the winter. Whilst Jane’s favourite toy is a rag doll called Valentine, Michael’s is Mr Punch. He carries a Punch doll with him throughout Act 1, and there is a second painted onto Crowley’s illustration-like set for the nursery, clearly based on a Punch by Fred Tickner from the V&A Museum’s collection. During Playing the Game a life size Valentine emerges from Jane’s dolls house to remind the children to be kinder to their toys, but it is Punch who is the star of the scene. A proscenium filling Punch head appears over the top of the nursery, lifting the whole room into the air and dropping it back down, much to the children’s horror.

This enormous Punch puppet is far more interesting than the weaker version of the character played by actors with prosthetic make ups in previous productions. It is very impressive, but certainly one of the darker scenes in the show, perhaps making it too frightening for the very young.

It is said that good musicals are written, but great musicals are rewritten, and this show is no exception. The show was partially redesigned for its Broadway opening in 2006, exchanging some of Bob Crowley’s grayscale sets and costumes for technicolour counterparts. The show was redesigned for a second time to make it easier to tour, notably the Banks’ house becoming smaller and less mechanically complex.

Mary Poppins plays at the Prince Edward Theatre, London, till 7th June 2020.

Temper, Temper was to go too, and was replaced with a new song, Playing the Game. It is this version of the show, James Arnott - November 2019 directed by Richard Eyre, that has lodged at the Prince Ed-

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Photo - Geoff Felix Archive

“I want no funeral, and if you have one, I’ll haunt you!” So said John Alexander who died on 28th September 2019.

Punch and Judy, Music Hall, Theatre, Magic Lanterns, Printing, Airships and Romance were the mainstays of his life.

It was in the late 1930s that John decided that he wanted to be a Punch and Judy Man. He had been inspired by shows given in Clacton by Claude North. North himself had started in 1900 following on from his father. John’s own show was based on North’s and to a lesser extent Will Hill who was doing shows in London as part of the ‘Holidays at Home’ programme. In exchange for John carrying the show, Hull taught John the mechanics of Punch. By the end of the war he had the show up and running.

His first theatre was bought at an exhibition of The British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild for £10-00-00 and he decorated it with a proscenium bearing the legend “Honi Soit qui Garde ses Pense” (shame on him who doesn’t pay).

He decided to busk in Hampstead because there were donkeys, a fair and regular entertainment on the heath. It was there that he med the redoubtable Joe Beeby, another Punch man who wanted to preserve the tradition of working al fresco. Joe worked at the Whitestone Pond with John near the donkeys. He established a pitch near the Cutty Sark in Greenwich and they both played at the Royal Avenue, Chelsea.

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Photo - Geoff Felix Archive

John said that his most memorable performances were on 42nd Street in New York in 1974. His finest shows were given in the Plaza in Florence in 1979. Punch came from Italy and the shows drew enormous crowds.

John’s performance had a wry style of delivery based on the traditional story. In the early years the puppets were made by Fred Tickner, and latterly

by Bryan Clarke.

He married Joyce in 1949 and had three children: Max, Jimmy and Clare.

John had strong political opinions and those opinions underpinned his attitude to society. For a while John worked with his wife in the Education Corp as a sergeant tackling adult literacy. He disliked elites and was very irritated with those who acted selfishly against the common good. John was a founder member of the Punch and Judy Fellowship which started in 1981, and of which he was Chairman.

John Alexander and Joe Beeby.

Photo - Geoff Felix Archive

He was for a while a doorman at the Metropolitan Music Hall in Edgeware Road near Paddington. He wrote about this in his 2002 book ‘Tearing Tickets Twice Nightly’. He also chaired the Music Hall at the Unity Theatre “because he was the only one that had a gavel” and was a friend of John Foreman, the Broadsheet King.

John printed a number of books on Punch from a basement in Hackney under the name Arcady Press. These were ‘Rum Punch’, ‘Sidney de Hempsey’s Practical Punch and Judy’, and ‘The Frame File’ which was later reprinted and expanded. He also printed a number of magic books and novelty giveaways.

John’s first marriage didn’t survive. He married Julie Avery in 2002 having moved to Southend in 1999. He had several seasons on the beach in Broadstairs and even encouraged Julie to do the show herself as Max had also done before.

Declining health and several heart attacks meant that John had to stop performing and rely on Julie much more. Speaking of his relationships he said, “Love is all that matters”.

Among his effects he had a letter from Arnold Wesker the playwright, summing up his thoughts on John’s show after seeing a performance in the 1960s.

In it he said: I must say I feel very foolish just being quoted as having said: “I really enjoyed the show”. Doesn’t that sound a little feeble to you?

Can’t we cheat and add the following: “Good God! (Surprised tone). I really enjoyed that! /Arnold Wesker overheard talking to his three children.)”

Praise indeed.

John Alexander born 6th March 1928 died 28th September 2019.

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22 Photo - Joanne Bailey

“The music started. The bell was rung. A hive of activity started to descend on the area.”

As a child my first experience of Punch and Judy was on the beaches of Great Yarmouth watching Guy Richardson, and Lowestoft watching Professor Jingles. Living in a seaside resort my summer holidays were a magical time with plenty of entertainment for me to enjoy.

Spending my summers watching the show, with the sand between toes, took me to another world of sandcastles and ice creams. Thinking back, I remember the fascination with the booth.

Was there a staircase in there for the puppets to walk up and down? Did Mr Punch really have a bed that I couldn’t see? Silly to think that now but as a child each performer had created a little world for his characters which the audience truly believe in. I remember feeling short changed if there is was no painted scenery and just a black backdrop and I still do, it’s all helps create that pretend little world that’s totally real to children.

I was fascinated and almost obsessed by Punch as a child, and still am today. I started off by performing shows for the other children on my street with a small cut-out puppet theatre balanced on top of the garden wall, hiding behind just as I had seen the professionals disappear inside their booths.

Being a Punch and Judy performer is the best thing in the world, but there was still one location I wanted to perform the show, back at the place I first saw it, the beach.

The beach show as we know it came to popularity in Victorian times at the height of the seaside holiday. Every seaside resort would have their own Punch and Judy performer. Up until the 1980s Punch and Judy was still a common sight at the seaside. Once more affordable package holidays took hold fewer people spent their time at the coast.

One of my favourite films as a child, and even now, is ‘The Punch and Judy Man’ starring Tony Hancock. It still has a magical quality, a snapshot of simpler times. We watch Hancock’s character travelling to the beach, setting up his booth and meeting lots of colourful characters along the way. This idyllic way of life was something I’ve always wanted to emulate, and I thought maybe this summer could be the right time.

I asked friends, and seasoned beach performers, Bryan Clarke, Mike Wallis and Joe Burns for advice from their experience. The next step was which beach?

I decided on Gorleston-on-Sea, part of the borough of Great Yarmouth. The beach sits on the east coast within a bay and has beautiful, stone

free, sand. Originally an Edwardian seaside destination it still boasts a pond for model yachts, a theatre, gardens, a row of seaside shops and most recently a very popular splash area for children. All these amenities are very close to the beach and are perfect for visiting families. It has been described by filmmakers Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis as a “hidden gem” whilst filming ‘Yesterday’ there. Unlike larger beaches, such as Yarmouth, everybody would be condensed into a smaller area, making it much easier to gather an audience for the show.

Another draw to Gorleston were the Punch Men of the past that had performed there. Professor Roselia of Bungay, Suffolk, would travel 18 miles to Gorleston on horse and cart carrying his precious load. Once there he would have lodgings at nearby Great Yarmouth to save him travelling home. Roselia would travel between the two towns performing at both the Britannia Pier, Yarmouth and at the beach at Gorleston. Another stalwart of Punch and Judy, Bryan Clarke, would first pitch his booth at Gorleston in the early 70s before moving to Lowestoft beach.

The last performer at Gorleston was Frank Welsh, up until the late 1980s.

But maybe there was a reason there hadn’t been a beach show since? I always knew that it wouldn’t pay the mortgage, but this wasn’t about that, it was about doing something I was passionate for. Sometimes love for a project is more important than its financial reward, although I was hoping the audiences would be paying if they enjoyed the show After several attempts to contact the local authority I finally managed to speak to the very person who could help, through the power of social media. The local council were very supportive throughout the process and continued their support with advertising on the local tourism social media platforms throughout the summer season.

It had been over 30 years since Punch’s voice had been heard on the sands at Gorleston and my quest to bring it back was gathering momentum. Due to private bookings for the summer holidays I couldn’t be down on the beach as much as I had originally planned, so I pencilled in 12 days over the six-week school holidays and prayed for sun.

It was time to advertise the shows. Social media, whatever you may think of it, is a very powerful tool. It’s mostly free and reaches a wide range of people. I found this was the best way to advertise the beach show. The response, when I announced I was bringing Punch and Judy back to

the beach, was tremendous and very positive. It was great to hear memories of happy childhoods at the beach and families where looking forward to sharing it with a new generation.

After months of preparation a licence was issued, and my first show at the beach loomed.

After arriving around 9am I parked my car next to the entrance to the beach, unloaded and set up the equipment. Just me, a booth, case full of puppets and a speaker. At that time of day, the beach would always be quiet, most families didn’t begin to arrive until later. This gave me enough time to set up, to gather my thoughts and soak up the morning sun.

Well the time finally came. The music started.

The bell was rung. A hive of activity started to descend on the area. Unlike most beach shows I like to come out of the booth after some business with the monkey and the long neck puppets. This gives me a chance to warm up the audience, which can be done with some magic or a game. It also gave me another opportunity to remind the audience if they haven’t tipped the hat to do so at the end. Two busy shows followed and once home, with the bottle counted, I couldn’t wait to be back on that beach.

Over the next six weeks I managed to get ten days of beach performances. Sadly, we were beaten by the weather for over a week with strong winds and rain (a Punch performer’s worst enemy). Being down on the beach in this small seaside town was almost like living within the film ‘The Punch and Judy Man’ and just like Hancock’s character Wally Pinner it was time for a Piltdown Glory.

I wouldn’t have been able to do bring the show back to the beach without the support of my family who visited many times over the summer.

Having my eldest daughter visit was wonderful, she seemed to know the script better than I did! Other visitors included photographers, artists, friends, and other Punch performers including Bryan Clarke, David Wilde and Christopher Drewitt. No day was ever without someone to chat to.

It had been a successful summer season and I’m excited to return in 2020. It’s going to be a very long winter, roll on July.

Daniel Hanton - December 2019

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Photo - David Wilde Archive

IN MEMORIAM | ROSA PEASLEY When Mr Punch celebrated his 350th birthday Rosa Peasley was invited to Covent Garden to celebrate her own milestone, being the country’s oldest Punch and Judy performer. Photographer, Tom Hunter, who was employed by Puppetlink to take portraits of professors during the celebrations said “Puppetlink asked me to focus on people it thought were important in Punch and Judy history”.

Among them was Rosa. “Rosa is incredible - she’s 84 years old and takes her booth around in a little trolley on the bus by herself. She reminded me of a real Gypsy Rose Lee character. Her husband was a professor, her son is a professor and she’s been doing it all her life. There’s a real showbiz tradition to it.”

Whilst there may be some traditional showbiz exaggeration here, Hunter’s words ring true. Rosa was one of those rare breeds, a female Punch and Judy performer, and one who loved the show.

Rosa met husband Ericko, whilst working at a holiday camp. The magician joked that she was only girl slight enough to fit inside his illusions.

It was perhaps an unlikely match, but the past international circus clown settled down in Wolverhampton with his young wife to start both a family and a family business. Not as a draper, as his family had intended but as a Punch and Judy man and children’s entertainer.

Rosa quickly picked up the show, letting them take twice the number of bookings during busy periods, and eventually their son Derek joined in the new family tradition. Together they entertained at parties and events across the Midlands, and even worked on Skegness beach during the summer season.

Ericko passed away in 1993, aged 80, leaving Rosa to run the show, just as Derek continues today.

Rosa passed away in the early hours of Tuesday 16th October 2019, aged 87, having made a final appearance with Mr Punch at The Cadbury Club, Birmingham just ten days earlier.

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‘Punch and Judy is an ancient drama spanning the centuries. It has survived, in part, due to the wit and skill of its showmen.Geoff Felix has worked in puppetry and Punch and Judy for thirty-four years. Here he shares his knowledge so that you may learn its mysteries and perform the show.Anyone seeking to take up this unusual and demanding Art will find this book invaluable.’

For a copy email Geoff. at geoffreyfelix@hotmail.com priced at £20, you won’t be disappointed!

ISSUE 3