There are no gear changes in the performance and nothing to surprise.
I would suggest that much of your criticism comes from the fact that you are not the intended audience. The May Fayre is a peculiarity in having so many shows all showing one after the other. This is not the ideal way to watch Punch, particularly for a jaded adult.
It is quite true that a great deal of Punch show action is ritualistic, and by its nature ritual becomes a habit and the origins become obscure. But I think the ritual moves still have their value and are very much like the steps in a dance - the value is mostly in the rhythm and the order they impose.
I see a routine going through the motions, hitting the marks etc "tap the stick three times here, tap tap tap, and three times over there, tap, tap, tap" but no spark of performance
That's how you see it, while to me such ritualistic action is at the heart of Punch & Judy, something that would be anathema in any other puppet show. I imagine it as a style that has been developed over the centuries by street performers repeatedly performing the same scenas over and over, day after day, so that even the slapstick becomes disciplined.
To me its a bit like the clergyman droning away, reading the familiar archaic language of the King John bible. That is comforting. What I hate is when one of them tries to inject meaning by applying histrionics.
I also think of those tap tap tap, clap clap clap Punch sequences as sort of musical flourishes to break up the more verbal exchanges. - where you can have as much gear changing as you want.
Of course, it goes without saying that some do it all better than others. That is just the way of things. But the children don't seem to mind.