Aaron Alexander Barschak (born 1966 in Southwark, London) is an English self-styled "comedy terrorist" and fringe UK politician. In 2003, he attracted media attention by gatecrashing Prince William's 21st birthday party.
Background
editAaron Barschak was born in 1966 and grew up in Hampstead in North London attending City of London School where he learnt French and Spanish.l[1][2] After leaving school, Barschak travelled to Bolivia working at importing Western pop records and later moved to New York to study acting.[2]
The Windsor Castle gatecrash
editBarschak came to public attention on 21 June 2003 when he gatecrashed Prince William's 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle whilst wearing a pink dress, a false beard and a turban in a fashion similar to Osama bin Laden. He scaled the walls of the castle and entered William's party. He was arrested shortly after storming reaching the stage where William was giving a speech. Barschak was not prosecuted.[3][4][5][6] The intrusion triggered a police investigation into the security breach.[7]
Edinburgh Festival appearances
editBarschak appeared for a three-week run at the Underbelly venue at the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe with a show entitled Osama Likes It Hot co-written with Brendhan Lovegrove,[8][9]
Election campaigns
editBarschak stood as candidate at the Brent East by-election of 2003 gaining 37 votes. He stood again in Witney in the 2010 General Election, against the leader of the Conservative Party with 53 votes.
Other notable stunts
editIn 2003 Barschak was found guilty of causing criminal damage and imprisoned for one month after he threw a bucket of red paint over the artist Jake Chapman apparently in protest (albeit in a suitably parodic form) over the latter's vandalism of a series of original prints of Goya's The Disasters of War.[10][11]
In 2005, he was arrested and bailed following an incident in Wapping.[12]
Poetry
editSince the early 2000's, Barschak has faded into relative obscurity. However, he can be found performing on the London poetry circuit, and in 2023 was commended in the Poetry Kit International Poetry Competition.[13]
References
edit- ^ The Times | UK News, World News and Opinion[dead link]
- ^ a b "Aaron Barschak: 'Comedy terrorist'". BBC News (BBC). 24 June 2003. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
- ^ "Windsor intruder escapes action". BBC News. 14 July 2003.
- ^ Morris, Steven (15 July 2003). "Windsor party intruder escapes charges". The Guardian.
- ^ "CPS statement – Aaron Barschak". The Crown Prosecution Service. 14 July 2003. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
- ^ "'My son is Windsor intruder'". BBC News. 22 June 2003.
- ^ "Investigation into the Breach of Security at Windsor Castle ... on 21 June 2003" (PDF). City of London Police. 14 August 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2007.
- ^ Jon Ronson And for your encore, Mr Bin Laden? The Guardian 26 July 2003
- ^ Smith, Claire (18 August 2003). "Encore for Barschak in act that's so bad it's good". The Scotsman.
- ^ BBC 'Comedy terrorist' guilty of paint attack 30 October 2003
- ^ BBC Paint attack comedian jailed 24 November 2003
- ^ BBC Barschak bailed over 'bomb hoax' 9 April 2005
- ^ "PK Poetry Competition". The Poetry Kit.