# Where did the pie int he face gag originate?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pie-int-he-face-gag-originate/211811>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 7, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pie-int-he-face-gag-originate/211811 "2003-11-07T02:06:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![A\_Curious\_Writer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@A\_Curious\_Writer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Curious_Writer)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pie-int-he-face-gag-originate/211811/1 "2003-11-07T02:06:53Z")

</div>

I tried to find out, but while I found references to pies int he face and how funny they are, and implications that it’s from vaudeville or further back, I don’t have a definitive answer.

So, do any of you have possible answers, or sites I missed, regarding who threw/received the first pie int he face/

I even have these images of some Middle Ages court jester pulling the trick, receiving one for laughs.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pie-int-he-face-gag-originate/211811/2 "2003-11-07T02:48:06Z")

</div>

There’s some speculation that sections of _Gilgamesh_ refer to a pie fight, but they have been lost in translation over the centuries. The earliest record I could find was from part two of _Beowulf_, describing the attacks of Grendel:

> [@](#):
>
> Then, the cruelest of all injuries,  
> he moved into the hall–  
> stayed there every night  
> (though God would never allow  
> such an evil thing  
> to actually touch the throne).  
> And from his vantage point  
> near the Great Buffet Table  
> he would fling pies of plum and persimmon  
> into the faces  
> of once-proud Warriors.  
> And they would lament  
> and cry, “Why I oughta…!”  
> until they did raise a finger  
> to taste the pie  
> and exclaim, “Mmmm! Boysenberry!”  
> Much to the chagrin  
> of wise Hygelac.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pie-int-he-face-gag-originate/211811/3 "2003-11-07T07:09:50Z")

</div>

Mack Sennett reinvented the slapstick and other techniques for his comedies. This included pie-throwing; the first pie thrown has been attributed to Mabel Normand.

[http://www.silverlake.org/about\_silverlake/Sennett\_studios.htm](http://www.silverlake.org/about_silverlake/Sennett_studios.htm)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pie-int-he-face-gag-originate/211811/4 "2003-11-07T07:12:34Z")

</div>

The old “really big rock in the face” joke suffered from some drawbacks, since remedied by the substitution of pie, but can be found quite far back in human history.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pie-int-he-face-gag-originate/211811/5 "2003-11-07T07:15:37Z")

</div>

The 1913 movie “A Noise from the Deep” (1913) was filmed on the site and included a scene where Mabel Normand tossed a pie into the face of Fatty Arbuckle. The pie toss later became a standard routine in slap stick movie comedies for years to come.

[http://www.historicechopark.org/id9.html](http://www.historicechopark.org/id9.html)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pie-int-he-face-gag-originate/211811/6 "2003-11-07T07:32:25Z")

</div>

I was bringing home a cake tonight and asked myself this exact question. As Keanu Reeves would say…whoa.