'It’s behind you', 'Oh no it isn't' and 'Oh yes it is' are classic lines uttered in pantomime shows.
Pantomime is a form of musical comedy designed for family entertainment. It was developed in early eighteenth-century England, though pantomime can be traced back to sixteenth century European theatrical traditions and even Ancient Greek times. In England, Regency tastes for the grotesque and the violent gradually gave way to Victorian tastes for the whimsy and the slapstick.
Panto is very popular in England, especially during the Christmas and New Year season. Panto shows are often a mainstay for actors and actresses to earn a decent income.
Panto is roughly based on a well known fairy tale. Popular fairy tales used for pantomime are Aladdin, Babes in the Wood, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Dick Whittington and His Cat, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Mother Goose, Peter Pan, Puss in Boots, Sinbad, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and The Wizard of Oz.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show, despite not being based on a fairy tale, is very pantomime.
In every panto show, there’s a dashing hero (eg Dick Whittington), an innocent heroine (eg Cinderella), a crone (eg Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’s Wicked Queen) and a sinister villain (eg Jack and the Beanstalk’s giant who says "Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman, Be he alive, or be he dead I'll grind his bones to make my bread" ). Panto is scary, at least for kids!
Panto involves lots of audience participation - much cheering and much jeering when the panto villain appears on stage. As well as shouting 'It's behind you!', shouts of 'Oh yes it is!' and 'Oh no it isn't'! are always exchanged between the panto actors and audience.
Often panto actors play gender-crossing roles. The principal boy, such as Cinderella’s Prince Charming, is invariably played by a young female actor (or rather actress); and the old dame, such as Aladdin’s Widow Twankey, is always played by an older male actor.
Panto also involves lots of slapstick comedy with topical humour, risqué double entendres and mild sexual innuendo, as well as music, dancing and singing. Panto is very much family entertainment - kids love the drama and even the melodrama of the show, while adults love the double entendres and the innuendo that go over the kids' heads. A panto show is a win-win for everybody.
Recently here there are many adult panto shows taking place in theatres during the festive period. No sex please, we're British!
Have you been to a pantomime show?
If so, what panto shows have you seen?
What’s behind you?
I love panto! I‘ve seen Aladdin, Cinderella, Dick Whittington and His Cat, Jack and the Beanstalk, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I haven't got a favourite pantomime show as they're all good in a very camp way.
But if The Rocky Horror Picture Show is counted as pantomime, then that's my favourite panto show by far. Who doesn't like a Frank-N-Furter? If Frank-N-Further is a panto star, then someone needs to write a pantomime for Q-Cumber, a panto superstar in the making!
Behind me is a big bookshelf filled with books. Oh yes it is; oh no it isn't!
PS. Only 25 sleeps to go!
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16 comments
Never been to a pantomime show or I am sorry to say, even been aware of them. Thank you for enlightening me.
It seems panto is a very British thing.
@spunkycumfun So it seems. Sort of like Benny Hill was.
@justskin1 Benny Hill was very panto-like.
No panto here (to the best of my knowledge). Many local dinner theater groups do "melodramas" that sound very similar. A sweet and innocent heroine (to which all the audience member go "AAAHHH" when she enters the scene), a dashing hero ("YEAH" ), an evil schemer ("BOO" ) and his vivacious female companion ("UUUMMMM" ).
That sounds a bit like panto even if not by name.
These Panto show's sound very entertaining and I hadn't heard of them until today. I hope everyone who enjoys them continues to enjoy them.
I hope panto reaches America one day. Panto is great.
That stalk looks very serious in its swirl
Hugs!!
It's a corkscrew stalk, a bit like a pig's penis!
Ponygirl, you sound like you may be thinking about how that swirl would feel and if the swirl is maybe too much. I am sure if so you are not the only woman whose thoughts have wandered in that direction.
Sending you big swirly hugs.
"Pantomima" as it's called in Spain, sounds to me like something from the 19th century when I believe there were traveling companies that brought a show to villages in rural Spain of yesteryear, but I have never seen one in my life, not even an advertisement. However, I think there is still something similar to pantomime in some places in the south, like Cádiz, but during carnival season, not at Christmas.
I'm pleased the pantomime tradition is alive and well in certain parts of Spain.
Would you compare it to Vaudville or contemporary burlesque?
I think a comparison can be made with those two forms of entertainment.
Well I've learned something today... I know the term but never knew there was a whole genre of entertainment! I saw Rocky Horror once but while I thought it was funny, I was not a fan of the drunken audience playing along. I know... that's not very cool of me, but I'm just not an audience participation kind of gal!
Panto is a peculiarly British thing. Panto humour doesn't seem to travel well.
@spunkycumfun I just saw a joke today saying "it's called Panto, because the mime is silent."
@TicklePlease Good one.
@SiteSupport I posted this a few hours ago and the post isn't still approved or even denied. The post doesn't contravene the site's terms of use and isn't even a long post by my standards.
Nearly 50 posts submitted after this one have been approved.
We apologize for the delay, it is live now.
@SiteSupport Thanks.
@OldStandardDudeX Definitely not a good day to post but not a bad day for the 80 bloggers who posted after me and got their posts approved before me!
@OldStandardDudeX My post got a mighty 35 views when I last looked. I may as well post porn with a come-and-fuck-me invitation to get views. Despite a change of ownership and despite a new vision, the site is still heading towards the gutter.
@spunkycumfun And here I was going to tout the sites speed of which my morning erotica had been approved and Live almost instantly the last week,,
@spunkycumfun, @OldStandardDudeX I can relate
@author51 Until recently, approval times have got much quicker over the last few weeks.
@spunkycumfun Yes they have and for that I have been grateful