RICHARD COOMBS STAFFORDSHIRE
Hello, my name is Richard Coombs and I grew up in a Seaside Town barely 200 yards from a Punch and Judy show - so I guess there was no hope for me! I saw "Uncle" Collin Bennet perform his show hundreds of times and was totally hooked ! Mr Punch is the reason I am still a Full Time Puppeteer.
My Film and Television career now spans over 30 years and I am lucky enough to work with all sorts of Puppets and Animatronics : Projects have been as diverse as the satirical show 'Spitting Image' and BBC 3s adult puppet show 'Mongrels' to things like 'You and Me' , 'The Sooty Show' and 'Mr. Blooms Nursery' for the very young.
Along the way I have performed two very 'yellow' creatures - the 'Honeymonster' and 'Flat Eric' . Also a stint of live television presenting for ITV in the guise of 'Scally the Dog' and 'Gilbert the Alien' . I've been odd things like a Salty Sea Dog , a Vogon Comander , a talking Sheep-Pig , a Dodo sidekick and Grumbling Cauldron to the Witch 'Grotbags' - life is never dull when you are a puppeteer.
I enjoyed a long association with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop when they were based in the UK. On Film : Neverending Story 3, Labyrinth, Little Shop of Horrors, The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, Babe 2, and the recent Harry Hill Movie. But most of all I absolutely love my career with our little wooden headed National Puppet. Nothing delivers the instant excitement and fun I feel when performing my Punch and Judy Show. It is so rewarding getting adults and children to laugh together .
A Punch Show is one of the very few live theatrical experiences that all generations can truly share and enjoy together. Mr Punches History is long - over 350 years in the UK now. Those of us that take to performing his show are the current "Custodians" in an unbroken thread of ever evolving 'Folk Art' reaching back at least to 1662 .
I am based in Staffordshire, but can travel nationwide, and have taken the show abroad too. With the cheek of Mr Punch himself , I will blow my own trumpet to say that my show has beautifully carved and dressed puppets a bright, clean and inviting looking theatre, and that you will be in for a wonderful romp of a show that is colourful, funny, fast and genuinely crowd-pleasing.
For more information on my Punch and Judy Show, and also my Film and TV work, please check out my website at richardcoombs.co.uk
Punch and Judy -when performed well- is a welcome attraction at any event. It is no wonder that in 2012 Mr Punch celebrated 350 years of performing in the UK. His merry knockabout show has appeal that deserves to have lasted so long; it is one of the few entertainments that is truly cross-generational in its ability to make folk laugh, be excited and joyful together.
I am proud to be a Punch performer and proud to be a founding member of 'The Punch and Judy CLUB' It is an honour to stand alongside a group of performers who share a belief in pursuing high performance standards and 'Quality' in our chosen art-form : and also to count them as friends.
