THE ‘original anarchist’ celebrated his birthday in style with sausages, crocodiles, plenty of slapstick and his long-suffering missus Judy.

Mr Punch best known to families the world over as the cheeky rogue at the seaside turned 350 at the weekend and he celebrated with The Big Grin festival.

Weymouth’s Professor Mark Poulton organised the event and brought together Punch and Judy professors from around the UK to entertain the delighted crowds on Weymouth Beach.

He said: “I wanted a celebration of Mr Punch’s birthday.

“I thought it would be a good idea to get some quality show folk, who are also very good friends, to come down and put on a once in a lifetime show.”

Performances came thick and fast, as did the gags, slapstick and babies being thrown downstairs, as professors Geoff Felixstowe, Reg Payne, Joe Burns, Brian Davey and Martin Bridle took to the stage with their acts.

There were shouts, giggles and laughter aplenty from the crowd as Mr Punch encountered clowns, ghosts, the devil and fought off giant crocodiles with a stick to reclaim his beloved sausages.

On Sunday he signed birthday cards surrounded by 350 sausages and people were able to make their own puppets.

Author Judith Stinton was there with her autobiography of Frank Edmonds who was the Punch and Judy man on Weymouth beach for 50 years, and Martin Reeve Phd, whose speciality is Punch and Judy.

Mr Reeve said that the artwork had a long and proud history and that many shows feature puppets of political figures, as Mr Punch was always known for poking fun at authority.

He said that figures including David Cameron and Prince Charles had all been made into puppets.

He said: “Hitler was done during the war.”

Prof Poulton said that Mr Punch had always been able to say the things other people couldn’t. He said: “People say he was the first anarchist.

“It’s always appealed to me.”

He added: “Mr Punch has always poked fun at authority figures and people that have tried to dictate things.”

Prof Poulton knew from a young age what he wanted to do for a living and at 15 years old he did his first Punch and Judy season and turned professional at 17 in 1989.

He said that Weymouth wouldn’t see anything like it again. He added: “It’s once in a lifetime.”

Support from the public for the event had been fantastic Prof Poulton said, adding that the weekend had been fun.

Mr Punch originated in Italy and when he arrived in London in 1662 writer Samuel Pepys saw the show in Covent Garden and wrote about it in his diary.

Mr Punch was originally called ‘Punchinello’ and was a cheeky, squeaky character – he was called Punch for short.

He was soon joined by Judy and they moved to the seaside where he became a hit with holidaymakers.

Prof Poulton said that a good show must have a number of things, he said: “He must have a swazzle, that’s his sleekly voice slapstick, a professor, a crocodile, Judy and sausages.

“There should be seven sausages to symbolise the seven ages of man.”

The weekend ended with a special audience with Mr Punch at Weymouth Pavilion .