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Jack Karlson, the man behind the iconic “succulent Chinese meal” meme after a video of his 1991 arrest went viral, has died at the age of 82
Whether Karlson is his real name is still unknown, but it is the serial prison escapee and petty criminal’s most popular alias.
Karlson’s family confirmed his death, saying in a statement that he died in hospital on Wednesday surrounded by loved ones, due to prostate cancer.
“He walked a full and colourful path and despite the troubles thrown at him, he lived by his motto – to keep on laughing,” they said in a statement.
His niece Kim Edwards said that Karlson spent the last three weeks in hospital, trying several times to escape and “asked us many time to sneak in his pipe”.
“As a final send off, we gave uncle a last taste of red wine through his drip just before it was removed,” she said.
A clip of his dramatic October 1991 arrest from the China Sea Restaurant in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley went viral almost two decades later in 2009.
In the video he could be seen shouting: “What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?” at a number of police officers.
Karlson was accused of using a stolen credit card, but has always maintained that it was a case of mistaken identity.
The arrest and Karlson’s impassioned speech was witnessed by several members of the press, who were waiting outside the restaurant.
“I’m under what? Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest!” Karlson goes on to say theatrically when told he was being arrested, and then tries to direct the onlookers’ attention to a police officer by shouting, “See that chap over…. get your hand off my penis! This is the bloke who got me on the penis, people.”
“And you sir, are you waiting to receive my limp penis?” he asked a police officer waiting for him in the police car – another iconic line that went on to inspire memes as well as several remixes, featuring Batman and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Karlson spoke about the arrest in an interview in May 2021, explaining what was behind the “democracy manifest” line.
“We’re supposed to be living in a democracy, and here they are dragging me out of a restaurant, halfway through a succulent Chinese meal. Well I thought, ‘Gentleman, this is democracy manifest,’” he told 7News.
“I thought, ‘well here’s an opportunity to prove my innocence. Because they’ve dragged me out, thinking I was some sort of international gangster, when I knew that I wasn’t,” on seeing the cameras and press waiting outside.
“So here’s a chance, for the camera, for the people of Australia, to let democracy manifest itself gloriously, and that’s why I carried on like that. Of course, I had been somewhat influenced by the juice of the great grape.”
A documentary on Karlson, titled The Man who Ate a Succulent Chinese Meal, is currently in production. It is being directed by Heath Davis and is set for an early 2025 release.
Davis has said he believes Karlson’s name was really Cecil George Edwards, and that he has managed to find stories about how Karlson managed to escape prison; his methods include picking the lock that had him cuffed to a sleeping police officer, jumping off a moving train, and swimming away from a prison island and being rescued by someone out fishing.
He told ABC news that the escape he was “pretty proud of” was when he impersonated a detective and walked out of his court cell before trial.
Karlson, who was a part-time actor, spent a childhood in and out of institutions, homes, and prisons.
“A regular person who experienced his life would have passed away years ago,” Davis said, reported The Guardian.
“But Jack just had this zest for life that made you go: this guy is made of mercury…he might just live forever”.
A biography on Karlson’s life titled Carnage: A Succulent Chinese Meal, Mr. Rent-a-Kill and the Australian Manson Murders and written by true crime author Mark Dapin was published in 2023.
Karlson has said he had no idea how famous he was on the Internet until someone came to him, saying they wanted to sell bottles of wine with his face.
“It took me many years for someone to show me it was up there on the internet. Until someone approached me and said can we put it up, and sell bottles of wine with your face,” he said.
“The wine incidentally is called Get Your Hands Off My Pinot Noir. And I said ‘Go ahead, as long as I get a cut out of it.’”
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