Punch

Punch, or the London Charivari was a (now defunct) British magazine focusing on political satire, running from 1841 to 2002. Part of the same tradition as Gillray, Spitting Image and Private Eye—in fact the creators of Private Eye admired Punch in their youth, and created their own magazine because they believed that Punch had lost its way and become too tame in tone.

The magazine takes its name from Mr Punch of Punch and Judy, who was supposedly the editor. Other members of his family occasionally showed up, such as Judy covering articles to do with more feminine subjects.

Throughout its run Punch was noted for its irreverent approach to politicians and celebrities (both at home and abroad) and its cartoonists, who produced a number of images which have become part of the cultural fabric of the nation. One such cartoon is "Dropping the Pilot", showing Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany dismissing Bismarck, while at the other end of the seriousness spectrum is a cartoon making the first "Daleks can't climb stairs" joke recorded.

Fond of The Parody, Parody Names, and National Stereotypes. Some issues from before the 90-year copyright cutoff date are archived on Project Gutenberg.


 * Butt Monkey: The writers had several favourite targets, such as Colonel Sibthorp in the 1840s and Winston Churchill in the 1920s—in both those cases for being colourful, outspoken ultra right wing politicians.
 * Either or Title: Stems from the fact that it was acknowledgedly inspired by the French Le Charivari.
 * Elmer Fudd Syndrome: The 1840s issues were fond of mocking Sir Peter Laurie, the then Lord Mayor of London, who apparently pronounced V as W.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: Hidden in the decorative border on the cover is the figure of Mr Punch on a donkey, holding his Biggus Dickus and grinning—this was reused by Private Eye as their editorial header as a homage.
 * Know-Nothing Know-It-All: The "Well-Informed Men" from the 1890s-1910s issues.
 * Malaproper: A common gag, usually taking the form of a supposedly overheard quote from an old woman, sometimes the actual Mrs Malaprop herself.
 * National Stereotypes: The French, the Germans and the Americans were the chief targets. In a turnabout, it was also fond of mocking how British tourists dressed and acted when abroad.
 * Nations as People: Helped popularise some of the classic national personifications, as well as using one-offs of their own.
 * Only in Florida: The early issues, from the 1840s, seem to use Kentucky as an earlier 'Florida'--almost every bizarre story from the United States involves Kentucky or Kentuckians.
 * Parody Names: For instance, Sir Robert Peel was dubbed "Sir Rhubarb Pill" and Lord Randolph Churchill (Winston Churchill's dad) was called "Grandolph" for his egotism.
 * The Parody: To take one example, issues from The Gay Nineties have a Sherlock Holmes parody called "Picklock Holes", which pre-empts most of the jokes used in later parodies, with a lot of Bat Deduction.
 * Patriotic Fervour: Mainly during World War I.
 * Political Cartoon: Produced some of the most iconic ever made.
 * Spin-Off: Punchinello (named for Mr Punch's son).
 * Trans-Atlantic Equivalent: The USA had Puck magazine, which ran from 1871 to 1918. Punch was itself inspired by the French magazine Le Charivari (hence the Either or Title). Le Charivari, however, was soon forced to abandon its political satire after it was banned by the French government, reinventing itself as a lifestyle piece.