22nd September 2006
Enjoyed my writing day today. I scrapped the 'mixed media' poem for the time being and began writing as punch. I imagined Punch was talking to his lawyer after a day when all the events one sees in a P & J show had happened to him. I got a voice going which I was pleased with.
24th September 2006
Got to see a real life P & J show at Northicote Farm, Wolverhampton. It was a 'harvest festival day' and Wendy (she's the mother of my partner's kids - that sounds a bit P & J in itself) tipped me off that there was going to be a show.
I got there and there was this very spritely elderly woman, a stripy fit-up and no audience. She went off to drum up trade with one arm up a toy monkey's bottom. The woman had an outfit on that was rather like the one Judy wears (Hey, if it works, don't knock it and it sort of did). Ten minutes late with an audience of about fifteen, ranging from two years to about one hundred and two, the show kicked off.
It started with the P & J lady making a ladder out of newspaper (it was better than it sounds, trust me!), then the Scaramouche character appears. This character is traditional and has a long extending neck that is not imediately apparent; he got some laughs with it too. Punch appeared scaring infants. Judy and the baby followed. There was a police officer, a ghost, Joey the clown, some sausages and I do remember a crocodile which lay flat on the playboard for a while looking a bit lifeless, well she has only got two hands. The story also involved the appearance of a spider (which I've not come across in any of the reading I've done).
All the character's voices were the same (male or female) except the voice of punch which was the traditional swazzle voice. It didn't matter that all the character's voices were the same because they only ever spoke to punch so there was never any problem identifying who was talking. The swapping of voices was handled really deftly; that must take a lot of practice. I would love to tray out a swazzle but I would be scared of swallowing it! That type of thing happens to me!
The audience reaction was a treat - I watched faces. Kids were bemused, enthralled, amused and adults seemed to be just as held by the entertainment. Strangely, the older kids of about ten and eleven seemed to be the most taken with it.
BUT. And it's a big but; there was no violence. No slapping! I was disappointed and there was no hangman or devil! The best bits removed!
It was great to see it though. I'd like to see some more shows and compare them to this one.
Enjoyed my writing day today. I scrapped the 'mixed media' poem for the time being and began writing as punch. I imagined Punch was talking to his lawyer after a day when all the events one sees in a P & J show had happened to him. I got a voice going which I was pleased with.
24th September 2006
Got to see a real life P & J show at Northicote Farm, Wolverhampton. It was a 'harvest festival day' and Wendy (she's the mother of my partner's kids - that sounds a bit P & J in itself) tipped me off that there was going to be a show.
I got there and there was this very spritely elderly woman, a stripy fit-up and no audience. She went off to drum up trade with one arm up a toy monkey's bottom. The woman had an outfit on that was rather like the one Judy wears (Hey, if it works, don't knock it and it sort of did). Ten minutes late with an audience of about fifteen, ranging from two years to about one hundred and two, the show kicked off.
It started with the P & J lady making a ladder out of newspaper (it was better than it sounds, trust me!), then the Scaramouche character appears. This character is traditional and has a long extending neck that is not imediately apparent; he got some laughs with it too. Punch appeared scaring infants. Judy and the baby followed. There was a police officer, a ghost, Joey the clown, some sausages and I do remember a crocodile which lay flat on the playboard for a while looking a bit lifeless, well she has only got two hands. The story also involved the appearance of a spider (which I've not come across in any of the reading I've done).
All the character's voices were the same (male or female) except the voice of punch which was the traditional swazzle voice. It didn't matter that all the character's voices were the same because they only ever spoke to punch so there was never any problem identifying who was talking. The swapping of voices was handled really deftly; that must take a lot of practice. I would love to tray out a swazzle but I would be scared of swallowing it! That type of thing happens to me!
The audience reaction was a treat - I watched faces. Kids were bemused, enthralled, amused and adults seemed to be just as held by the entertainment. Strangely, the older kids of about ten and eleven seemed to be the most taken with it.
BUT. And it's a big but; there was no violence. No slapping! I was disappointed and there was no hangman or devil! The best bits removed!
It was great to see it though. I'd like to see some more shows and compare them to this one.
posted by emma p at 5:48 AM
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