Aaron Barschak

Aaron Barschak (born 1966) styles himself as a "comedy terrorist" and fringe UK politician. In 2003, he attracted media attention by surreptitiously joining Prince William's 21st birthday party.

Background

Aaron Barschak was born in 1966 and comes from a Jewish family. His father, Fred Barschak, fled Vienna in 1938, the rest of his father's family died during the Nazi Holocaust. Aaron grew up in Hampstead in North London and attended City of London School.

The Windsor Castle gatecrash

He came to public attention on June 21, 2003, when he gate-crashed 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. After flashing his merkin at the crowds outside, he scaled the walls of the castle and entered William's party. He was arrested after storming the stage where William was giving a speech. He was not prosecuted. [BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3065695.stm Windsor intruder escapes action] 14 July 2003] [Steven Morris [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,998175,00.html Windsor party intruder escapes charges] "The Guardian" 15 July 2003] [The Crown Prosecution Service [http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/pressreleases/archive/2003/122_03.html CPS statement - Aaron Barschak] 14 July 2003] [BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3011304.stm 'My son is Windsor intruder'] 22 June 2003]

The intrusion triggered a police investigation into the security breach. [Frank Armstrong [http://www.met.police.uk/reports/Armstrong_Report.pdf Investigation into the Breach of Security at Windsor Castle during the 21st Birthday Party for HRH Prince William on Saturday 21st June 2003] ]

Edinburgh Festival appearances

Barschak has also appeared for a three-week run at the Underbelly venue at the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe with a show, "Osama Likes It Hot", co-written with Brendhan Lovegrove, [Jon Ronson [http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,1004963,00.html And for your encore, Mr Bin Laden?] "The Guardian" 26 July 2003] to a generally poor critical reception. In the early days of the run, it was apparent that Aaron was woefully unprepared for the show and the critics were unsurprisingly harsh. The show received stronger reviews later in the run. [CLAIRE SMITH [http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=906&id=905632003 Encore for Barschak in act that's so bad it's good] "The Scotsman" 18 August 2003] Roger Cox [http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=906&id=987272004 Comedy terrorist hits the big screen] ] The poor critical reception did not prevent early high sales due to his fame from the Windsor Castle incident.

Failed by-election campaign

In the United Kingdom By-elections gain major national media coverage. They fall in between elections and can be seen as a straw poll of public opinion. Barschak stood in the Brent East by-election of 2003 coming 14th of the 16 candidates and gaining 37 votes.

Television documentary

A 2004 documentary film, "Rebel Without Applause", made by his sister Tamara, charts his life during the previous three years.

Other notable stunts

Barschak is also famous for throwing a bucket of red paint over Young British Artist Jake Chapman, apparently in protest (albeit in a suitably parodic form) over the latter's vandalism (along with his brother, Dinos Chapman) of a series of original printings of Goya's . Barschak was jailed for a month. [BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/3227541.stm 'Comedy terrorist' guilty of paint attack] 30 October 2003] [BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/3233212.stm Paint attack comedian jailed] 24 November, 2003]

In 2005, he was arrested and bailed following an incident in Wapping. [BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4426939.stm Barschak bailed over 'bomb hoax'] 9 April 2005]

Current career

His brief comedy career has not been a success and he appears to have returned to obscurity, reflected by his occasional appearances on the James Whale Show on TalkSport radio, although he has recently performed at the launch party for The Event - a high profile series of artist run activities in permanent and temporary spaces throughout central Birmingham.Or|date=August 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.greenchartreuse.com/aaron_www/index.html Aaron Barschak] (official site)
* [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/faceless/terror/index.html Comedy Terrorist] (tribute site)
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3016464.stm Home Secretary expresses regret at Barshak stunt] BBC News, Tuesday, 24 June, 2003. Contains a pop-up map of Barschak's security breach.
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3150355.stm Barschak's Windsor Castle stunt minute by minute] BBC News, Thursday, 14 August, 2003
* [http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=906 Aaron Barschak - 'comedy terrorist'] (page 1 of 3 pages of links to Aaron Barschak articles in "The Scotsman")
* [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,984652,00.html Who dares wins]
* [http://wsradio.com/wsradio-player.cfm/type/windows/show/Art-Rocks!/segment/4635.html Radio interview]