Entertainer takes swing at ‘PC culture’ as Punch & Judy gets boot for domestic violence
A veteran children’s entertainer has hit out at the “PC brigade” after his ‘Punch and Judy’ shows were axed. A school and local council are understood to have booted the puppet show amid concerns it glorifies domestic violence.
Brian Lllewellyn, from Darlington in the UK, has been in the game for 42 years. Also known by his stage name as Mr Punch, the seasoned performer has blamed “snowflakes” for a cancellation.
Lllewellyn, 64, says a school in Middlesbrough cancelled a booking of his show after he declined to adhere to their request that Punch would not hit Judy during the performance. The entertainer claimed in a Facebook post that staff at the school also requested that he provide a police officer character, instead of a policeman.
He told the Northern Echo that another school had requested that he drop the ‘Minstrel’ character from his act.
“People think that the Minstrel character is depicting a white person dressed as a black person but he’s not, he was a character called Sambo who was a slave but now that’s changed with the times and he became a singer,” Lllewellyn said.
“It’s getting out of hand, ‘Punch and Judy’ is a traditional show and Punch bashes everyone, not just his wife and the baby. I’m very angry, I think children are losing out when people are getting frightened of what to do or say, it’s a sad state of affairs."
Lllewellyn was also forced to axe the ‘Punch and Judy’ puppet show from his act to take part in Redcar’s Armed Forces Day celebrations in North Yorkshire on June 30 as the local council raised concerns about the depiction of domestic violence in the show.
Redcar Councillor Carl Quartermain said: "The decision was taken by the Planning Group for Armed Forces Day, which is made up of different organizations, that on this particular occasion, the content of a ‘Punch and Judy’ show would be inappropriate.” Lllewellyn’s business was still booked on the day for its face-painting and balloon-making entertainment.
Subscribe to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media won’t tell you.
