Face Painting | Teamwork Counts!

The Importance of Teamwork

At larger events it will be necessary to have more than one Face Painter for the following reasons:

Face painters hard at work

Hard at work!

  • Face Painting is extremely popular and demand will be high.
  • If there are not enough Face Painters queues will be unacceptably long. A line of twelve people means a wait of up to an hour.
  • Children will be disappointed if they don’t get painted before closing time. Parents may complain!
  • Face Painting is intensive work and the artists need to have breaks for toilet, drinks, food etc
  •  Queue management is easier when a team of Face Painters are working together.

Having a well organised team of experienced Face Painters is better for the organisers, better for the public and better for the Face Painters too.

What makes a good face painting team?

Organisation

There must be a team leader who is responsible for deciding

Concentration during face painting

Concentration

  • where each face painter will set up
  • if there is to be one main queue or several separate queues
  • when breaks are to be taken
  • when the queue will be stopped ( usually well before the event closes )
  • if there is to be a ticketing or numbering system

Speed

Each Face Painter must be able to paint at a certain minimum speed. This is generally accepted to be five minutes for a full face. Having a slow painter  is not fair on the rest of the team or those waiting in line ( as they will have to stand even longer if one of the painters is slow ).

Quality

Katrina applying twirls to a face paint design

Katrina puts twirls on a girls face

Each Face Painter must paint to a high standard. Some parents will insist on their children being painted by a good painter and will avoid one whose work is obviously poor.

Professionalism

Each Face Painter should follow the same strict guidelines in terms of cleanliness, hygiene and health and safety. See related article “Why hire a professional Face Painter

Being Happy

Face Painters are working in close contact with the public. They are talking to children and parents who are on a day out and are enjoying  themselves. Having a happy team is important. A good face painter should be able to smile and chat to customers in a friendly manner.

 Advice for event organisers

How many face painters are required?

Face painters hard at work

Hard at work!

Corporate events

If you are planning a corporate event / company family fun day then find out in advance how many children are attending. Children under three years of age can’t be painted so exclude these from your calculations. Determine how many children  between the ages of three and eleven will be attending. Although not all will want to be painted some teenagers and adults might want to so assume that they will make up the numbers.

You need to know how many children there are and how long the event runs for.

Example 1

The event runs for four hours, there are 100 children between the ages of three and eleven. A  Face painter can do a full face in five minutes or twelve face an hour.

12 full faces x 4 hours = 48 faces per painter for this event.

100 children / 48 = 2 Face Painters are required.

Example 2

The event runs for five hours and there are 400 children attending.

Daniella Wood, Face Painter

Daniella applying a base for face painting on a boy's face

12 faces x 5 hours = 60 faces per painter for this event.

400 children / 60 = 7 Face Painters are required.

NOTE

These examples do not include time for breaks which means that you must either employ another face painter or accept that the number of faces painted will be less.

Public events

It is always very difficult to know how many people will attend a public event. If the intention is to provide FREE face painting then at smaller events it may be ok to just employ one face painter. For all other events it is strongly adviseable to have at least two.

How to reduce the size of the face painting queue!

There are a number of ways to decrease the size of the face painting queue :

  • Ensure that there are lots of other exciting things for the children to do instead.
  • Increase the size of the face painting team ( more face painters )
  • Make a charge. The more you charge the shorter the queue.

A good face painting team means a good event!

Having a well organised team of happy face painters who all paint to a consistently high standard and can work quickly makes a big difference at an event.

If the face painting experience is good, people will notice. It will be appreciated and it will be remembered.

To enquire about booking a face painter or face painting team go to our face painting page.

Two happy girls with their faces painted

Happy Customers!

Related Articles

Find more information, photos and video clips about face painting

To hire a Professional Face Painter go to Face Painter [ Jolly Good Productions ]

For information about Training go to Face Painting Courses [ Jolly Good Productions ]

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Punch and Judy | A Short History

The History of the Punch and Judy Show

The first Punch and Judy Shows

During the seventeenth century marionettes were very popular. Italian showmen came to England to perform their shows which were miniature versions of the full scale operas that were being performed in theatres and were  all the rage in fashionable society. The puppet shows were enjoyed by the lower classes as they were cheap to watch and available to all. The first Punch and Judy Shows were performed in 1662 in Covent Garden, London. Samuel Pepys wrote about them in his famous diary. These early shows were probably quite different to the ones we are familiar with today. There were however some similarities. The casts of the shows consisted of a series of stock characters one of whom was a fool called Punchinello ( later to become known as Punch ). This comic character was well liked and would appear in most plays. He was dressed in all white and was a kind of trickster.

Punch becomes a glove puppet

By the eighteenth century marionettes had gone out of fashion and English showmen were using glove puppets. They retained Punchinello in the cast but changed his name to Punch probaly because it was easier to say. They also abandoned the original white costume if favour of the red tunic of the English Jester. Thus Punch as we know him today was born.

Punch and Judy puppets at a Georgian festival

Punch and Judy glove puppets

Material for the shows performed by the early showmen came from varying sources. Some were taken from well known myths and legends such as  St George and the dragon. Some were based on historical stories going back to Greek and Roman times. Others were based on the works of Shakespeare or Comedia Del Arte. Punch could make an appearance in any of them !

Punch goes to the seaside

By the nineteenth century Punch had become so popular he was  the main character of the show and the the storyline was resembling the kind of format we know today. Punch and Judy could be seen on street corners, village greens and fairs around the country. The showmen would travel from place to place carrying their equipment on a barrow which they would push by hand. They made their living by collecting money from the crowd and usually they had an assistant called a “bottler “ whose job it was to gather an audience and ask for money before, during and after each performance.
The shows were watched mainly by adults and could be quite bawdy and anarchic.

The industrial revolution changed the face of Britain. Factories were built and people flocked to the towns and cities to find work.  The population expanded and England became the power house of the British Empire. With this new found prosperity and the arrival of the steam engine came seaside holidays. Wealthy victorian families and the working classes all wanted to go to the seaside to escape from the dirty, crowded cities in search of fresh air and fun. Of course Mr Punch was waiting to greet them ! The Punch and Judy Showbecame an essential ingredient of any seaside holiday together with donkey rides and ice cream. Every seaside resort would have at least one resident Punch “ professor “ and sometimes several performing shows on the beach throughout the summer season. Wealthy families returning home also started to hire Punch and Judy Shows for children’s parties which would be held in the drawing room of their large houses.

Punch remained at the seaside entertaining generations of children until the advent of cheap package holidays to Spain in the 1970’s took away his livelihood. With drastically falling numbers it was no longer viable to make a living at the seaside.

Punch and Judy today

Today most Punch professors perform at children’s parties working for a fee. Punch can also be seen at Council and Corporate Events, Fetes and Galas. Punch is seen as primarily children’s entertainment but it was not always so. Even in its present form the show is appreciated and enjoyed by adults. Some older people find the show nostalgic and it reminds them of their childhood and seaside holidays.

Keeping the tradition alive

The Punch and Judy Show is a wonderful tradition with a long and interesting history. A good show performed well to an appreciative audience is a delight to behold. Punch is part of English folklore and even today is still fantastic entertainment !

Hire a Punch and Judy Show

For information about hiring a Punch and Judy show for an event or party go to our Punch and Judy page.

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Measuring Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is achieved when you feel good about something you have done. It is an intangible thing which can’t easily measured.

Children watch a Punch and Judy Show

Job satisfaction measured in smiles!

You can’t produce statistics about job satisfaction! I have always believed that being happy at work is incredibly important. I am very lucky because I really do enjoy my job. Working with children is great because they nearly always want to join in and have fun.

I was talking to a lady, just the other day, after performing a Punch and Judy Show and she kept telling me how much the kids enjoyed it. “You should have seen their faces” she told me repeatedly.

For me job satisfaction is dependent on how much the audience enjoy my shows. The more they enjoy it, the happier I am. This photo illustrates the point. I suppose I could try and measure it in smiles per minute?

How do you measure job satisfaction in your line of work?  Make a comment below to let me know.

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Punch Arrested!

Police officers had to take action today when Mr Punch carried on in a fashion likely to provoke hysterical laughter. The long arm of the law finally caught up with him at Carlisle racecourse where he was spotted cavorting and carrying on in an irreverent and noisy manner resulting in outbreaks of  smiles and laughter on members of the audience and passers by too.

Mr Punch was eventually released because the police decided they couldn’t pin anything on him as he has a wooden head.

Asked later why he had broken the law, he said ” I never touched it! ”

 

Mr Punch held by two female police officers.

Mr Punch held by police!

Was he innocent or guilty? Want to meet Mr Punch?  Why not hire a Punch and Judy Show for your next party or family fun day event.

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British Legion Day, Stockton, June 2011

90th Anniversary Celebration

Crowd waiting for Punch and Judy

Crowd waiting for Punch and Judy Show

The British Legion Stockton-Yarm District 90th anniversay celebrations took place in Ropner Park, Hartburn Lane, Stockton on Tees on Sunday 12th June. The event was very well attended by the general public. The Mayor of Stockton was in attendance as were many other councillors and VIP guests. The event was organised by Stockton Council Events Team.

Proud History

The Stockton on Tees Branch was formed in 1921 and was one of the first to take up the mantel of welfare service and have been helping ex-service men and women and their families ever since.

Event Entertainment

There was entertainment throughout the day including military parades, a Drumhead service, live music in the bandstand, historical vehicles, craft activities, falconry display, Punch and Judy British Legion Bikers, inflatables and kiddies rides.

Fortunately the weather was fair until 3pm when the rain came and many people left for home. The event had however been a great success.

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Pirate Cakes In Fabulous Fairy Castle

Pirate and Princess Birthday Cake

Stunning Birthday Party Display

Pirate birthday cakes displayed in pink fairy castle

Pirate and Princess birthday cake.

This  amazing display was created by Angela Turner for Benjamin and Bethany’s 5th birthday party.

The individual chocolate cakes were all carefully decorated and then arranged inside the fairy castle. The five cakes at the front all had sparklers in them and there was even a big number five at the top of the castle which was lit up with flashing lights.

Ben’s very own toy pirate ship stood at the side of the castle.

Everyone who came to the party loved the display and said how fantastic it was. Angela also decorated the party bags, food boxes, bunting and table decorations to match the theme.

What a treat for the children!

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Need ideas for  a birthday cake?  See our gallery below :

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Beamish Museum, Georgian Fair 2011

Life in Georgian England

Georgian fair Punch and Judy

Georgian Punch and Judy Show

The Georgian Fair took place at the Pockerley Waggonway, Beamish, over four days from the 2nd to the 4th June. Thousands of people came every day to enjoy a taste of life in Georgian England. The event was so popular that the gates were opened thirty minutes early because of the amount of people waiting to come into the museum. One family travelled from Bolton in Lancashire on the bus, a journey which took three and a half hours each way.

Authentic displays

The organisers took great care to ensure that everything at the fair was as authentic as possible. There was all the hustle and bustle that you would expect and visitors could see labourers working in the fields, traditional craftsmen at work, trinket sellers and entertainers performing various shows throughout the day.

Event Entertainment

The fair was officially opened at 11am each day by Squire Pockerley who invited everyone to have a good time but added a warning that drunks, thieves, pickpockets and the like would be severely dealt with. Also that no trading was allowed outside of the boundaries of Pockerely. There were live performances by Random Mike the Fire Juggler, Svenson’s “Circus Minimus” Flea Circus, clog dancers, a Northumbrian Piper and Punch and Judy.

Side Shows and Demonstrations

There as something for everyone including Swing Boat rides, Coconut Shy, traditional games and costume try on. There were demonstrations of pole lathing, traditional woodcraft, cleft ash gate making and basket weaving. You could try your hand at making a lavender bag or sample gingerbread if you were feeling a little peckish.

Market Stalls

Fresh produce was for sale at very reasonable prices including bedding plants, perennials and herbs, fresh bread in all shapes, sizes and flavours, corn dollies, Beamish wine and hand made greetings cards.

The Georgian Fair continues to go from strength to strength. I am certainly looking forward to next year and hoping I will be invite to participate with my Punch and Judy show again.

Future Events at Beamish 2011

Power from the Past is from 1st to 4th September.

Beamish Agricultural Show is from 15th to 18th September.

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Thirsk and Sowerby Town Hall

Looking for a hall to hire for a birthday party  in  Thirsk, North Yorkshire. The Town Hall has a lovely function room, very modern, clean and with a nice kitchen too. It’s just the right size for a party of 20 – 30 children. There is also parking at the side of the building. If you need more space there is a huge main hall too, complete with full size stage.

 

The party room at Thirsk Town Hall, North Yorkshire

Thirsk Town Hall has a lovely party room.

 

 

Contact:

The Secretary

Thirsk and Sowerby Town Hall

Westgate

Thirsk

YO7 1QR

Tel 01845 522650

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