Pie Face is the cream of family games this Christmas

Though the game itself is simple, the success of Pie Face owes everything to the digital age

It might have escaped your attention, but lurking among the “interactive” toys this Christmas (light sabres, talking Barbies, “live pets” and so on) is a game that consists mainly of pelting people on the nose with a wodge of whipped cream.

But though the game itself is simple, the success of Pie Face owes everything to the digital age. Because while the game has been around since the 1960s, the current demand comes on the back of a TV advert that makes use of a video posted to YouTube earlier this year. Back then, Pie Face cost less than £15, was owned by Rocket Games and was not going to trouble any “must-have” toy lists. When the video went viral, Hasbro noticed, bought the game and the rights to the video and the rest is (marketing) history (one Amazon retailer is currently selling Pie Face for £60).

But what does the grandfather, seen laughing in the advert as his grandson gets pelted, make of the game’s seasonal success? As business started to pick up, Martin O’Brien, 51, was happy to tell anyone that: “The morning after we posted the video, we had already had millions of views. I still have a laugh when I see it. One guy even asked if he could record my laugh as his ringtone.”

This column called O’Brien – who owns a barber shop in Wishaw, Scotland, for comment. “I can’t talk, I’m working,” he said abruptly. Might I call you later? “Please don’t.” Could it be that the man whose laugh has made millions for others, has suddenly seen the serious side to viral-video stardom?

Estate of grace

It is the end of an era for The Wintershall Nativity. The “epic retelling of the oldest and most treasured story of all time” (rehearsal pictured above middle) has been running in the grounds of the Wintershall Estate in Surrey for 25 years and is the brainchild of the estate’s owner, Peter Hutley. As the play has got bigger (up to 6,000 people will attend today’s performance), Hutley, who is now 89, has decided that this is the right time to hand over the production reins to his daughter, Charlotte de Klee. “Of course, I’ve had to consider what will happen when I’m gone,” he says. “And though it was tempting to interfere with this year’s production at times, I never gave in to that temptation. In fact, I feel joyful that there is somebody to feel as I do about the importance of preserving the Bible’s stories in an age where they seem to be fading from people’s lives.”

And does he see no contradiction in being a wealthy property developer who is also an evangelical Christian? “Not at all,” he says. “I was in business and it just so happened that there was profit in it. But it was never the main objective. And, anyway,” he laughs, “my fortune has been heavily depleted by all these plays.”

A choir purpose

Last Friday, users of the Handy app might have been surprised to find – among the many cleaners and DIY experts – the opportunity to book a home carol-singing session from the becassocked choir of St Peter’s College, Oxford. “I suppose they came to me because I have Christmas associated with my name after my Radio 4 series A Cause for Carolling,” says the choir’s leader (and the college’s director of music), Jeremy Summerly.

“I’m trying to raise awareness of the importance of domestic singing, so it’s crucial to get inside people’s homes because that’s where I want to put the carol – not on TV or radio, but where they belong.”

The one-off event was to raise funds for the homeless charity Crisis, but Summerly is looking towards the future. “This, for me, is outreach,” he insists. “My research has all been about domestic music-making hundreds of years ago, but with this venture we were able to write the next chapter: domestic carols in the digital age.”

All together now: silent night, no wi-fi ….

Pull the other one

When it comes to the jokes hidden inside Christmas crackers, it has long been believed that there are the good (“What does Santa suffer from if he gets stuck in the chimney? Claustrophobia”), the bad (“How do snowmen get around? On icicles”) and the ugly (“What does Miley Cyrus eat on Christmas? Twerky”). But last week my colleague Rhodri Marsden canvassed his Twitter followers for those cracker jokes that get, somehow, lost in translation.

Among the many suggestions were the following: “How do you turn a lemon on? Tickle its citrus”, “Knock knock. Who’s there? Snow. Snow who? There’s snow business like show business” and “Why do ghosts live in the fridge? Because it’s cool.”

Eh? Sherry shome mishtake. Hic!

No rhyme or reason

Another in a regular series of limericks based on recent events:

You’ll have noticed for sure, but in case …

We have two new star men to embrace,

John Boyega, Tim Peake,

T’was one hell of a week,

For Brits who would venture to space.

Twitter: @simmyrichman