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23-6-2003 Scotsman How did this man manage to bypass security as Royals partied at Windsor? By Gethin Chamberlain IN HIS pink backless dress, black beard, sunglasses and turban, Aaron Barschak should have cut an unlikely figure as a guest at Prince William's 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle on Saturday night. But when those arriving for the African-themed fancy dress party included one guest dressed as a top-hatted witch doctor, another as a banana and one clad head to foot in a furry lion suit, topped with a gold crown, he appears to have hardly raised an eyebrow. Indeed, it was not until he barged his way on to the stage and grabbed the microphone as the young prince - reportedly wearing only a loincloth - was thanking his father and grandmother for organising the party that anyone realised something was amiss. Such an appalling breach of security, with so many senior members of the Royal Family present under one roof, will have sent shudders down the spines of those whose task it is to protect them. It alarmed David Blunkett so much he ordered an immediate inquiry into the lapse. Shouting that he was Osama bin Laden and clutching a book about the al-Qaeda leader, Barschak's appearance was certainly enough to strike fear into the security staff, who quickly grabbed him and bundled him out in handcuffs. Barschak, however, was not there to espouse a political cause or to harm the assembled guests. What he was hoping to get was publicity for the comedy show he intends to bring to the Fringe in Edinburgh this summer. And to that end, he succeeded with a vengeance. This will be the first appearance at the Fringe for the 36-year-old comedian and would-be actor, who bills himself as a "comedy terrorist", but his publicity stunt already ranks as the most successful ever staged. Brought up in London, Barschak attended the City of London school, where, according to his father, Fred Barschak, he received a good education which he concluded with a fistful of O and A-levels. University, however, did not appeal. "He always wanted to be an actor," his father, a former convener of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, told The Scotsman. "He went to the City of London School, had a good education, he buggered off to South America in the Eighties for four years, he was importing records and this and that, and then he presented himself to the Neighbourhood School of the Theatre, New York's equivalent of our RADA. "He had always wanted to be an actor and scriptwriter, but I said to him: 'You don't make your money doing that'." The drama school had turned out such names as Robert Redford, Paul Newman and Robert Duvall, he said, but it had also turned out 2,000 total nonentities: "I said to him to try not to be in the 2,000 if you can." Two years later, he was back in Britain, trying to make it as a stand-up comedian. "There is talent there," said his father. "He decided the one thing he wanted to engage in was comedy, so he became a stand-up comic and has been earning his living with three shows a week, all over the country. He has appeared around Britain and once performed at a bar mitzvah at Claridges." His son, he said, also had a talent for mimicry and remembering lines. "He is a wonderful mimic. He does a great Ali G and Gregory Peck, which came in handy recently. He created the comedy terrorist character. He also speaks three languages; French, Spanish and English." Along the way, Aaron Barschak has made something of a habit of hijacking other people's events. At Spike Milligan's memorial service, he jumped up from the third row, ripped off his clothes to reveal the Osama outfit, and then leaped on to the stage to sing "Al-Qaeda is a girl's best friend". During Ken Livingstone's appearance at a Stop the War demonstration, Barschak grabbed the microphone from his hand and insisted the march was against congestion charging. At the London Comedy Festival this month, he barged on to the stage, dressed in his usual outfit and with a plastic hook as one hand, and confronted Graham Norton, saying he was from the comedy police. According to his father, he has a "genius for self-publicity", so Saturday's events should have come as no surprise. "This is the first time he will have been to the Festival, and this is what has produced it all," he said. "When he knew he was going to go to Edinburgh, he invented a character called the Comedy Terrorist about six months ago, the friendly Osama bin Laden. He had this idea that terrorists hijack planes, but comedy terrorists hijack shows." And he was adamant that, despite the security scare, his son meant no harm to the Royal Family: "Having a good laugh is almost his religion. He has a fairly developed sense of comedy. They know perfectly well there was no political agenda. "He is an admirer of the monarchy, not a hater. He is helping them with their inquiries about how he got in, that's what concerns them. I think they are releasing him on police bail without charge once he's told them how he did it. That is what they are concerned about." On Saturday afternoon, Barschak had been seen outside Windsor Castle dressed in a pink dress, turban, sunglasses and false beard as guests arrived for Prince William's much- publicised party, shouting to anyone who would listen: "Happy birthday. Out of Africa, I'm out of this world." While publicising his Fringe show, he lifted up the front of his dress to reveal another false beard and declared: "The real hair to the throne." He was led gently away from the crowd by a uniformed policeman and wandered off back towards Windsor town centre away from the castle - only to return later.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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