Although they seem as British as fish and chips, Punch and Judy shows are thought to hark back to Italy's commedia dell'arte, a type of improvised comedy based on stock characters. Punch himself is based on the Neapolitan character of Pulcinella, a vindictive figure with a long, beaky nose. 
Punch's first recorded appearance on British shores was May 9 1662, when Samuel Pepys recorded seeing “an Italian puppet play...the best that ever I saw" in Covent Garden.
This weekend, Punch and Judy 'professors' from all over the world will be gathering at Covent Garden – now home, of course, to the Punch and Judy pub – for "the Big Grin", a celebration of Punch and Judy's anniversary.
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