Earlier today comedian Jonnie Marbles, a beefy-looking guy in a plaid shirt, somehow got into the Parliamentary hearing room where Rupert and James Murdoch were giving testimony, and walked up to the Murdoch table and pushed a foam pie into Rupert’s face. (Or onto his head.) The crowd in the small room went “Oh!…oh!” The cameras didn’t have quite the right angle.

Sky News identified Marbles as the assailant. Marbles tweeted shortly before the incident: “It is a far better thing that I do now than I have ever done before #splat.”

I was frankly starting to doze off at James Murdoch’s exacting testimony and shrewd parliamentary sidestepping. The foam-pie attack woke me up.

Wendi Murdoch, the wife of Murdoch Sr., leapt up and swatted the assailant. James and Rupert seemed to quickly recover and shrug the incident off for the most part, and looked all the better for that. Rupert concluded his testimony with his jacket off. Bottom line: foam-pie attack = plus for the bad guys.

Vanity Fair‘s James Wolcott: “So in one brilliant move, this guy has made Murdoch senior look vulnerable and sympathetic and Wendi heroic. Well done, fool.”

Wendi Murdoch slappping Jonnie Marbles.

The Parliament security guys are going to catch hell. Marbles looked like an obvious outsider with his bulky frame, sparse and unkempt hair and K-Mart-level plaid shirt. If I were intending to hit Murdoch with a pie, I would have certainly combed my hair and worn a nice suit.

Marbles’ ex-girlfriend has tweeted about the incident.

Wikipedia has a list of famous people who’ve been hit with pies.