Annmarie Throckmorton, M.A.
- Oct 31, 2023

Giggity, Giggity Ghost

My favorite line from the classics is, "Whose giggity, giggity ghost are you?" It is from a comedic puppet show, the 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte titled Punch And Judy, which is a highly entertaining, raucous comedy replete with violence and innuendo. Punch And Judy was played in small, rough puppet theaters set up in the streets of Italy and then throughout Europe and America for four or five hundred years, until well into the 20th century when suddenly it was no longer fun and games but verboten as politically incorrect.

In shaking fear Mr. Punch addresses the ghost who confronts him, "Whose giggity*, giggity ghost are you?" Mr. Punch is a squawking puppet with a long stick who repeatedly beats his long-suffering, spit-fire wife Judy; and this is when he gets his comeuppance.

Punch And Judy was one of my father's favorite plays. His mother was a playground director of a large recreational facility and Punch And Judy was one of the plays that she would arrange to be performed on the stage of the recreation building that she managed, so it was part of our family culture too.

When I was about four years old I discovered that my father would laugh when I sternly asked him, "Whose giggity, giggity* ghost are you?" I would then coax him to say it too, and his deep, fakely fearful voice was very amusing to my mother and me. But soon my parents decided that was not an appropriate thing to be saying, so we stopped, but it was too late, the fun had already been had. Punch And Judy was an awful, violent play, but the scene of Mr. Punch's scene with the ghost is great fun.

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* Giggity means sexual excitement or anticipation, so clearly this strange play had some issues.

Also from Punch And Judy:

Punch and Judy fought for a pie,

Punch gave Judy a sock in the eye,

Said Punch to Judy, "Do you want any more?"

"Oh no," said Judy "my eye's too sore."

The traditional response to this was raucous laughter, if only for the rhyme, meter, and general naughtiness.

Whose Giggity, Giggity Ghost Are You?