From: BiersBlackwood-AT-aol.com Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 23:15:28 EST To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Punch and Judy ban on Bin Laden ** Nancy, That news article was from last summer and certainly made its way around the Web. The Punchman in question was actually Brent de Witt from Sarasota, Florida, who trained for a while with Percy Press, Jr. I've seen Brent's show (in Florida) with Saddam and Al Gore as puppets in the cast, and last May I saw a P&J show in London with Tony Blair. There's also a rumor that the well-received special show Glyn Edwards and Martin Bridle worked on, in which Osama bin Laden features towards the end, may be revived again soon. It's never been clear who actually complained, if anyone really did, about Brent's show, nor why they complained. However, certain characters and elements in the Punch & Judy show have controversial from time to time, depending on local tastes. Frank Burns of North Carolina lamented to me that he has known parents to pull their children away from his performances once he puts the Devil puppet up, because the very appearance of the Devil obviously means that the entire show is Satanic and that Frank is indoctrinating children into the cult of Lucifer from the ninth level of his little puppet booth. Some Punchmen defended Brent last summer; some condemned him for possibly making life harder for Punch puppeteers all around. One line-- mine at the time, I think-- was somewhere in the middle: that there was nothing wrong with Brent having used the puppets to begin with, but that it was probably better to have simply put them away after he was asked to without talking to the newspapers about it. Now, that may not seem very brave, but it was considered practical, as the more people think there is some controversy with the Punch & Judy show, the less likely that it will be hired for events. It's the controversy that gets remembered, usually, rather than the facts. This might even seem to be borne out by the original article, which didn't explain who might have made the complaint, or how many complaints might have been received... and didn't even get the performer's name right! And this reminds me I have to get Paul Zaloom's NY Karagoz information up on the Punch & Judy calendar, now that I've gotten the notice from Great Small Works! Sean K. http://www.puppets.inuk.com/americas/usroundup.htm In a message dated 3/19/06 10:51:21 PM, NANCYSTAUB-AT-aol.com writes: > ** Punch and Judy ban on Bin Laden ** > A seaside Punch and Judy man is banned from using Saddam Hussein and Osama > Bin Laden puppets. > < http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/4134090.stm > > _______________________________________________ > _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org Admin interface: http://lists.driftline.org/listinfo.cgi/puptcrit-driftline.org Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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