Apparently, if you don't have a Christmas tree in your home, a cardboard cutout of the nearest celebrity works just great. Particularly if it's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" star Danny DeVito.
And Devito doesn't seem to mind, as comedy writer and Twitter user James Parker (aka @PanoParker) recently discovered!
@PanoParker posted a picture of his holiday decoration on Twitter over the weekend, writing: "We don't have a christmas tree so we use danny devito."
And then DeVito responded, writing, "Love being your Christmas Danny."
For Parker, 27, celebrating the season with DeVito (the cardboard cutout version) has been a running joke for a few years. As he tells TODAY.com via email, he got drunk one night about three years ago, and ordered the cutout on Amazon. He said as much in a tweet from November, which shows Parker and "DeVito" standing next to each other:
"I’m a Danny DeVito fan because he’s one of the few A-listers that isn’t a terrible human being," says Parker. "He doesn’t date teenagers, he doesn’t waste money on a luxury lifestyle, he does plenty charity work and he’s hilarious.... I'm glad I've managed to creep into his (Twitter) feed; truly an honour."
He also says he admires DeVito's devotion to his roles, and that "he doesn't take himself seriously, and that's something you rarely see these days. Is he the best actor of all time? No. Does he care? No."
Actually hearing from DeVito (via Twitter) was also a huge delight; Parker notes that many of the "Philadelphia" cast also "liked" the tweet. He also seems to have unearthed a trend; several users shared photos of their own cutout DeVitos and other celebrities (including the Pope and Ludacris) and how they decorate them for the holidays.
"Hoping we’ve started a little trend here," writes Parker. "A cardboard cutout company reached out to me to inform me they have sold out of Danny DeVitos. This is probably the only way I could become an ‘influencer.'"
Note that while a cutout of DeVito can bring many people holiday joy, last December a woman's post on Reddit went viral when she broke up with her boyfriend because he refused to get rid of a cutout of the actor.
As for Parker, the only downside to this whole viral incident is that while DeVito admired the effort on social media, he didn't end up "following" Parker's Twitter account. One day, though, Parker hopes they will meet in the flesh, not just in cardboard.
"I’ve never met him but I really want to go for pints with him," the London-based Parker writes. "I reckon you should organise a petition to make that happen. Thanks."