Punch, with his wife Judy and dog Toby, the chief characters in a popular comic puppet-show, of Italian origin, the name being a contraction of Pulcinello, for Pulcinello, the droll clown in Neapolitan comedy. The word is a diminutive from pulcino, 'a young chicken.' The identification with Pontius Pilate, as well as of Judy with the betrayer Judas, is entirely without foundation. Many believe the modern Punch to have originated in a survival of the Maccus, the fool or clown of the ancient Atellanæ (q.v.), just as the Italian Arlecchino and Brighetta are of their other Oscan characters. But the line of descent is certainly obscure enough, and it is at least not improbable that some trace of the old Ludi Oscii, transmitted through the Vice of the mystery plays, may lurk in the modern drama of the hook-nosed lunchback Punch and his unfortunate wife Judy. The full-grown modern drama, which can scarcely be looked on as a school of the domestic virtues, is ascribed to an Italian comedian, Silvio Fiorillo, about 1600. The exhibition soon found its way into other countries, and was very popular in England during the 17th century. Its popularity seems to have reached its height in the time of Queen Anne, and Addison has given in the Spectator a regular criticism of one of the performances. In 1812 Ouseley saw at Tabriz in Persia a Gypsy puppet-show very like our Punch and Judy. See also MARIONETTES.
The performance of Punch, as generally represented, requires the assistance of only two persons—one to carry the theatre and work the figures, the other to bear the box of puppets, blow the trumpet, and sometimes keep up the dialogue with the hero of the piece. The movements of the puppets are managed simply by putting the hands under the dress, making the second finger and thumb serve for the arms, while the forefinger works the head.