Punch and Judy are traditional puppet performers. Once common, Punch and Judy shows are now relegated to sea-side resorts and the occasional village fair.

Punch is a hunchback with an enormous, hooked nose. He always appears in a gaudy striped costume with a pointed hat. He always carries a club or a stick, with which he bludgeons Judy, his wife.

The story, which has only altered in minor details and embellishments for hundreds of years, is extremely violent. Where the performance has not been outlawed, it is now considered the domain of children.

The traditional cast of characters are:
• Punch, the hunchback
• Judy (originally Joan), his wife
• Baby
• Policeman
• Darkie, usually a servant
• Crocodile/Devil
• Clown
• Toby, a dog (sometimes a live animal)
• Jack Ketch, the hangman
• Ghost

There are frequently other non-traditional characters.

The plot is always a variant of: Punch kills the Baby; Punch kills Judy; Punch kills the Policeman, the Hangman, and basically everyone else. Punch is always harried into situations from which he is able to escape by violence and murder and murderous puns. Like Pantomime, the show relies heavily on audience participation.

The origins of Punch and Judy are obscure; but can probably be traced to ancient India and/or ancient Greece. It has certainly been performed in England in, more or less, it's present form since the seventeenth century.

It's lasting appeal seems to lie in the suggestion that complex problems can be solved by simple means (i.e. Punch's club).