Puppet shows! Our specialty is tailoring our shows to the interests and inclinations of our audiences. Although puppet shows are believed by many to be children’s fodder, we always aim to produce a show that appeals to all ages—even adults-only audiences if that is what is called for.
This is not mere children’s fare. Our speciality is Traditional English Punch and Judy, but we do other kinds of shows as well, such as fairy tales and legends. We can make the shows edgier for adult audiences, too, or we can keep them very kid-friendly. We pride ourselves on delivering to our clients the kind of show they want. Our motto is “Just ask.”
We’re glad you asked that. Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet performance which dates back to at least the mid 17th century. It involves a somewhat wayward hero, Punch, and his interactions with his wife, teaching his baby to walk, run-ins with the law, narrow escapes, supernatural beings, and nonstop laughs.
It doesn’t have to be. The traditional Punch and Judy show in times past often did involve a lot of slapstick humor on the order of Tom & Jerry–always silly, never serious. However, in keeping with modern sensibilities, our shows rely more on absurd and comic situations for humor than slapstick. Our performance philosophy is simple: Keep it funny.
In our show, Judy tends to be the most authoritative and sensible character, sorting out all the problems caused by Mr. Punch’s utter ineptitude. She is clever and enormously patient, as any wife of Punch would have to be. In the end their marriage always proves to be a happy one.
Indeed we do. Our favorite subjects are mythology and fairy tales.
It varies. A 20 or 25-minute show is typical, but we have no difficulty expanding it or condensing it, depending on the wishes of our clients.
When performing at public events, such as open air markets or festivals, we often perform two or three shows spaced out across the day.
One, two, or three.
The traditional Punch and Judy Show is designed to have but a single puppet operator, who is often accompanied by an additional person called the “Bottler.” His or her job is to help set up, provide sound effects, interact with the crowd, (and, in the case of street performance, pass the hat at the end of the show). At private events, our bottler would be there just for entertainment’s sake or to encourage children to offer the puppets advice. Sometimes we even have two bottlers. Whether it’s just one of us, two of us, or three of us, the prices are still the same.
We always perform in what we regard as appropriate puppeteer attire, though for holiday events we may dress accordingly.
Definitely. For schools, we charge an especially low rate. We are able to give a presentation on the history of English puppetry (with visual aids) to any age range, including adults.
Certainly. I (Kitos) am a teacher by profession and offer a mini-lecture on the history of the English Punch-and-Judy Show. It’s fascinating stuff, really, once you start learning about it.
Not at all. We’re quite happy to keep things nice and farcical. Inevitably, though, people will go away having learned a little bit about this great English tradition.
Yes, indeed! We believe in giving back to the community whenever we can. That goes for public libraries as well. We consider it good public relations
Yes we do. If you’re sponsoring a corporate event and you want to include something people will remember, this is it. The levity of a puppet show, often serves as an excellent ice breaker. We are always happy to work with clients to incorporate particular themes or references into the show.
Just space. We are entirely self-sufficient and bring our own PA equipment (if required), our own electricity, and our own lighting for nighttime events.
No, not at all. We gave this up as a get-rich-quick scheme a long time ago. Send us a message describing the type of event you want us for, and we’ll give you a quote. Although this is mostly a labor of love for us, it’s not entirely a labor of love, so we do have to charge for commercial venues. Prices depend on the type of show, the venue, and the number of shows desired. At public festivals, you see, we sometimes repeat our show up to three times throughout the day as new crowds come along. Often we can charge lower rates if circumstances permit us to set up a hat for tips (at the discretion of our clients).
Professor Kitos, our primary and sometimes sole operator, is a retired school teacher (Latin, Greek, and History). This is the sort of thing Latin teachers end u Professor Feist is by a day a chemical engineer. Professor Rauncie is a retired Associate Dean of the Rochester Institute of Technology. As for how we got into puppetry in the first place—well, we’re not sure. It just kind of happened.
We are happy to provide references and more detailed information about who we are upon demand.
Oh, we should have said. Punch and Judy puppeteers are traditionally referred to as “Professors.” We do like the term “Professor,” but only because of its comic pretension.
