A couple of panto myths have cropped up in recent years, so we thought we’d take a look at them.
Myth 1.
Pantomimes are scraping custard pie fights because they can’t get insurance due to the activity’s dangerous nature.
The reality
There are no health and safety reasons to stop a good old-fashioned custard pie fight, and it’s hard to imagine what possible risks would render such harmless fun uninsurable. For a start, people are usually willing recipients of the pie in the face and are almost always members of the cast.
However, if your group involves the audience, only pick on friends and family members of the cast who have agreed to it beforehand.
We believe we should give a big ‘boo’ to any over-the-top risk aversion of the traditional custard pie fight.
Myth 2.
‘You can’t throw out sweets at pantos.’
People blamed health and safety rules when a panto stopped throwing out sweets for the audience. In fact, they were worried about the cost of compensation if anyone got hurt by a flying sweet.
The reality
Realistically, if a panto throws out sweets, the chances of someone being seriously hurt are incredibly low. Especially when they are usually gently tossed out underhand or overhand and not flung straight out with strength. Also, most sweets used these days are bags of soft jelly sweets or small bars of chocolate and not hard-boiled sweets. It’s certainly not something that the HSE [Health and Safety Executive] are worried about.
We believe that this is a case of ‘oh yes you can’!