The grand launching of the PJF on Saturday, 10 October 1981 in Covent Garden was really the final stage of the launch. Like the old Cape Canaveral rocket launchings, there were several booster stages needed to get the capsule into orbit. There had been a series of earlier launches leading up to that public event. Should there even be a Punch and Judy Fellowship? Who would form it? Who could join? What reaction might it provoke from existing organisations? What if key performers spoke out against it. The would-be founders had first met to discuss these matters one weekday lunchtime over a few pints in the basement bar of the newly opened Punch and Judy Pub in Covent Garden. It was a gathering of London Profs and comprised (alphabetically): John Alexander, Joe Beeby, Glyn Edwards, Percy Press II and John Styles. Also present was ‘Mac’ (Charles Mc Donald) a puppet maker and enthusiast keeping busy in his retirement. ‘Mac’ was pressed into service as note taker and later became the PJF’s first Hon. Beadle as the post of Hon. Sec was originally called.
The convivial group decided that the time was indeed ripe for creating a dedicated Punch organisation.The idea had been floating around formally since the Bankside Punch and Judy Festival of 1974, and an Association of Punch Workers – with a membership of 159 – had already been run by magician/Punchman Oscar Oswald as part of his Magical Mart dealership. The last member of this had joined in 1965 and it died with Oswald in 1976. Meanwhile Percy Press Snr “the uncrowned king of Punch and Judy” - and conjuror - was the long-term chairman of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild. Thus Profs at the time could feel at home both within the magic societies and within the puppetry world (including the recently established Puppet Centre in Battersea whose publication “Animations” featured Punch and Judy news).
With the death of Percy Press Snr in 1980, his son Percy Jnr (shortly to change his preferred name to Percy Press II) stepped forward to suggest the time was now right to consider forming a Punch and Judy organisation. The initial founding group thus assembled and decided they had enough clout between them to go ahead. Glasses were clinked and that was the first stage of the launch. There followed many phone calls and communications between the founders (which had expanded to include Max Alexander and USA’s Jay Marshall) to agree the wording of a letter to be sent out jointly over their names and signed by Percy.
It announced to the entertainment/puppetry world what was a foot and the Founding Signatories are thus recorded for posterity as Percy Press II, Joe Beeby, John Styles, John and Max Alexander, Glyn Edwards and Jay Marshall. (George Rissen had also been invited by Percy to be a Founder although his name was not on the letter – possibly by oversight or plain confusion.) This was the second stage of the launch and was subsequently marked once more at the Punch and Judy Pub (to coincide with a promotional push of its own).
This time it was held on the sunny balcony terrace where the barman served a speciality Pulcinella cocktail of his own devising (recipe lost) and the founding aim of “minimum of fuss and maximum of camaraderie” was enthusiastically demonstrated.Letters of invitation were also sent out to Profs whose names had been put forward by the founders in order to snowball the growth of the society. Not everyone thought it was a good idea. Some performers felt it was po tentially a group of London performers getting above themselves with ulterior motives. Others questioned the need for yet another society. Some just weren’t “joiners”. Nevertheless, there was sufficient enthusiasm to move towards the final stage of getting it all off the ground. Covent Garden was the obvious place for a public launch but the May Fayre, run by Alternative Arts, was already in existence. When could the Punch and Judy Fellowship hold its own event? The suggestion of an October launch was put forward to mark the end of the season and act as a bookend to the May Fayre – and thus the final piece of the launch.
'30 Years of the PJF' published by The Punch and Judy Fellowship
Founders of The Punch and Judy Fellowship
Left to right: Percy Press II, Max Alexander, Glyn Edwards, Joe Beeby, John Alexander, John Styles.
