Pieing

Pieing or a pie attack is the act of throwing a pie at a person. In pieing, the goal is usually to humiliate the victim while avoiding actual injury. For this reason the pie is traditionally of the cream variety without a top crust, and is rarely if ever a hot pie. In Britain, a pie in the context of throwing is traditionally referred to as a custard pie. An aluminium pie pan or paper plate filled with whipped cream or more typically, shaving cream can substitute for a real pie.

Brought to a widespread audience as the "pie-in-face" gag in silent film comedies, pieing may sometimes be intended as a harmless practical joke. However, it can also be used as a means of political protest directed against an authority figure, politician, industrialist, or celebrity,^[1] and perpetrators may regard the act as a form of ridicule.

Non-consensual pieing is a punishable offence in criminal law. Non-consensual pieing may also be actionable as a civil wrong (tort) giving the victim of the pieing the right to recover damages in a lawsuit.

Pieing and pie fights are a staple of slapstick comedy, and consensual pie "tosses" are also common charity fundraising events, especially in schools.