Springing from Commedia dell'arte, Vaudeville, Music halls and the New York Burlesque scene, comedic duos of white male comedians and violent spouses have taken the stage and screen by storm as early as the 1600’s. In this essay, I will discuss (in chronological order) the comedy duos of Punch and Judy, Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello. Then I will look at their comedic stylings and the ways in which they overlap and differ. Lastly, I’ll be discussing where I think some of these duos went “wrong” and which I most prefer.

Perhaps the longest running comedy duo on earth is none other than Punch and Judy. Their immortality as puppets poses a serious advantage over the other duos who sought longevity in this cruel world. Coming out of the Italian Commedia Dell’arte tradition, Punch the puppet showed up as a bachelor on scene in the 1600’s. But when Italians fled to Britain due to war in the 1660’s, he started showing up in English theatres. The shows were outrageous and slapstick to the max, with no shortage of violence, tasteless jokes, cheating and lying. The public was delighted. Punch came known to walk around with a stick (the slap stick) that he would use to beat his new wife, Judy, who entered the picture in the 1700’s - but don’t worry, Judy subverted gender norms by beating him back.

Laurel and Hardy on the other hand have a much more endearing presence than the abusive spouses. Starting a few centuries later in 1927, the skinny Brit and stout Southerner became a comedic duo during the silent film era, thanks to being paired up by Hollywood producer Hal Roach. They quickly became silent film stars and rode that wave right into the next era of filmmaking. Unlike some of their colleagues, Laurel and Hardy’s act translated marvellously into the new talkie medium. Their voices matched their characters, even if they did water down their natural British and Southern accents. Laurel and Hardy were a team until the very end, playing together on screen and on stages from 1927 - 1954.

Last but not least, Abbott and Costello met in New York’s burlesque circuit, becoming a team in 1936. They have been credited as being one of the few teams to have preserved the traditions of American vaudeville and burlesque on film (it is unclear if Lou and Bud did strip tease…). Once they found their chemistry, they became film stars and when those numbers dipped, they moved to television and radio. By the mid 1950’s however, they started burning out and eventually split up, with Lou passing away not long after. They played together from 1936-1957.

One could say that all of these comedic duos bickered, but none like Punch and Judy. Punch and Judy, the most different of the three, endures perhaps for the slap stick, but likely more so because of the audience interaction. Unlike the other two duos, Punch and Judy employ slapstick as intentional violence and punishment, not accidental foolery or naivety ending in slapstick payoff. There are times when Hardy will intentionally “punish” Laurel, but he does not do so with pleasure (as Punch does with just about any poor soul he meets).

Laurel and Hardy have an intimacy on screen, where much of their communication is in what is unsaid. They draw the viewer in, as if you were joining your best friends to hang out. This is in stark contrast to the motor-mouthed Costello and Abbott. Who’s dynamic is that of friends, or perhaps an older brother/younger brother, with Abbott the straight man telling Costello what to do and getting frustrated when he messes up.

Coming from the silent era, Laurel and Hardy used their words sparingly. In the sense, they were able to communicate and express what they needed to physically. Which is really not the case for Abbott and Costello, who’s legendary reputation is often attributed to their speedy verbiage. With Laurel and Hardy, physicality is the meal while the words are sprinkled on as sparingly as salt. That’s not to say that Abbott and Costello don’t use physicality to their advantage. For example, when Abbott and Costello invite people over for a birthday party and slapstick chaos ensues, or the more subtle physical comedy performed by Lou when he thinks he’s eating Kittens for dinner.

Compared to Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy were not the most “masculine” of men, with innocent dispositions and cherubic-like features and mannerisms. Laurel has a Chaplin vibe to him, which is not surprising when you learn that he came to America as an understudy for Chaplin (and when the tour ended he went on to impersonate him in a troupe). Laurel plays a childlike, naive, simpleton known for his whimpering cries. While Hardy is stout, with a cherubicly plump face. Known to twiddle his tie and look directly into the camera (not unlike The Office), Hardy is more of the “leader”. His taking charge often ends up making a mess of things, all of which is carried out in the most slapstick of fashions, of course.

Laurel and Hardy’s formula boils down to them being two equally endearing yet physically opposite friends, who love one another and get into lots of trouble despite their good intentions. Though they don’t intend violence on the other, Laurel has done such things such as kicking the behind of a woman with a stroller, like in the Music Box. Perhaps she had it coming, she was laughing at their Music Box misfortunes - how dare she!

Who am I to judge these iconic duos? I don’t know, but here I go! Punch and Judy, while impressive in their longevity, seem to celebrate an orgy of domestic violence, child abuse, animal brutality. It’s ironic finding out that beating up police is so deeply entrenched in the culture of the colonizer. I know I am not alone in my misgivings over the sordid puppet duo, there have been countless calls to ban the puppets, though very few took hold.

Moving on to Abbott and Costello, it seems like their most popular routines are ones in which they go back and forth in disagreement over numbers or names. While the timing of their delivery is nothing short of genius, this author cannot help but find them slightly obnoxious after watching Laurel and Hardy elicit laughter with no words at all. This however, was before I had watched their more subtle routines, like eating cats for dinner. I have nothing ill to say of Laurel and Hardy, they are sweet angels. In fact, Hardy was known as “Babe” to his friends. A babe he was.

In conclusion, Punch and Judy are so enduring probably because their format is so easily performed and digestible. The simplicity and adaptability of the characters and their actions, albeit violently slapstick, are transcendent through time and can be performed by puppeteers in perpetuity. There is something alluring about a tradition steeped in time, over 350 years for that matter. It’s no surprise that my favour leans towards Laurel and Hardy, with Laurel’s innocent dead-pan and Hardy’s endearing disposition. On top of that, I wonder if they may be the first domino in the line that set the “look to the camera” in motion, resulting in modern day shows like The Office. As a parting bit of touching information… Laurel (the brains of the duo and longest living member) continued to write jokes and sketches for he and Hardy after Hardy had passed away, he didn’t know what else to do :( That’s love.