Pantomime and Puppets

“Humour isn’t a separate ingredient that you put into the cooking or leave out of it. It has more to do with who you are, and how you see things.”

Playfulness and wit run through Quentin Blake’s illustrations. For him, humour happens best “almost by not thinking about it.” Some of the humour in Quentin’s books is like pantomime theatre. Pantomime actors use irony and physical comedy to tell a story.

Traditional Punch and Judy puppet shows have inspired Quentin’s work. He reimagined the jester-like trickster Mr. Punch many times in his designs for Punch magazine. The show’s classic crocodile hand puppet with long “clacking jaws” shaped the lead character in Quentin’s first book with author Roald Dahl.