Punch Lines, Punching Bags, and Mr. Punch

The red-capped, hook-nosed, serial killer Mr. Punch, a descendent of the Italian Pulcinella of the commedia dell’arte, belongs to the tradition of “bad” clowns—those tricksters who have populated the myths and folktales of cultures the world over for millennia. This article compares Punch’s disturbing antics to those of Pinter’s clowns who populate his short, political plays, One for the Road, The New World Order, Mountain Language and his lately discovered sketch The Pres and an Officer. Although much has been written about Pinter’s “comedy of menace,” this article offers a new perspective, exploring the comic contrivances that are endemic to both a Punch and Judy Show and Pinter’s depiction of state-sanctioned brutality, and how Pinter exploits the comic to underscore his political message.