Kate Garraway - I just want to thank Kate. July 2018 you interviewed a Punch and Judy Professor on Good Morning Britain and it was from a comment made during that interview that my book Joan-Put on a happy face was born! THANK YOU KATE GARRAWAY! https://amazon.co.uk/dp/B08HTM1M2Q
It was 28th July 2018 and I was watching a TV interview on Good Morning Britain that had one of my entertainers, Professor Brian Llewellyn, being interviewed about his puppet show Punch & Judy. One of the guests, Tricia Goddard, was making an issue about the domestic violence aspect of the show asking if the Professor had considered changing the storyline to accommodate present-day attitudes and doing a Punch and Judy show without the violence.
The whole essence of Punch and Judy is that he is a horrible person who flaunts authority and hurts the people around him.
His wife, the puppet called Judy, tells the audience that Mr. Punch’s behaviour is NOT acceptable and he is reported to, and arrested by, the policeman.
The moral of the storyline is that if you’re naughty you get punished. It’s a lesson meant to teach children morality through play and laughter the violence depicted in the show has a purpose.
The presenters had their own agenda... racism and domestic violence were the themes to their questioning and in the end, Brian had just about had enough stating:
'I don’t know what all the fuss is about. It's slapstick comedy. They're only blocks of wood after all!'
Only blocks of wood?!
ONLY BLOCKS OF WOOD?!!
Judy would turn in her grave if she had a grave - and I got to wondering... What if she WAS a real person? How would she feel about being told that her puppets, her creations, were ‘only blocks of wood’? I couldn’t get the idea out of my mind. I began waking up feeling angry that her shows were being banned in Teesside England. I wanted to write to the press who had released the story that schools, authorities, and domestic violence units were banning Punch and Judy. It started with a three-page rant to the press about the injustice of stopping professional entertainers from earning a living to how censorship of plays was abolished in the UK many years ago and supported by our own Queen Elizabeth II herself!
Regarding the issue of portraying or promulgating domestic violence to the public I wanted to scream at them... it’s about awareness and what to do if you become aware of such naughtiness – you SPEAK OUT! And here they were trying to silence Judy when all she was trying to do was teach people to take responsibility and not be silent about such happenings! Ooo the anger was as if I was speaking out for Judy haha! Was she real? Was I channelling someone who is real?? Crazy I know, but her story drove me to write.
