Bartoni

Born in Blackpool (U.K.), Karl Bartoni’s career really started in 1970 when he embarked on a hazardous career called Escapology. Then at the age of 21, he undertook his first ‘escape stunt’ and nearly came to grief. The stunt was to escape from several restraints including a packing crate which was dumped into Blackpool’s Stanley Park Lake, no easy task for Karl a non-swimmer.

Since that time, whilst appearing at various venues (including on and even overboard the QE 2 ), he has succeeded from escaping from many dangerous situations. He has been buried alive, suspended from burning ropes, escaped from strait-jackets, handcuffs , ropes, chains, coffins and other painful restraints. It has been a perilous lifestyle in which, often in admiration of Houdini, he has repeatedly had undertakers fingering their tapes.

Throughout the 1980's, Karl specialized in presenting outdoor promotional stunts for some entertainment giants as well as Long Life Beer and Canadian Club Whiskey and was acclaimed by two P.R. companies as Europes most publicised escapologist as a result of some of his most notable stunts.

One of these involved Karl making death-defying history by escaping from bonds whilst hanging by his ankles from the top of the Blackpool Tower. A feat of skill and daring which no one previously had been allowed to attempt including Houdini who applied twice for permission.

Karl devised a 'signature' escape which consisted of him having a girl hang from and below him , whilst he attempted to escape from bonds whilst hanging upside down suspended from a crane and burning rope. This was made possible by him designing a special body-harness which could be worn under the clothes. Having the extra weight of a girl pulling on him made any escape difficult and painful which was readily appreciated by an audience. They clearly understood that, should the rope break, her innocent life would end too!

Another of Karl's most dangerous stunts was in 1985 when, in the Hippodrome Circus (Great Yarmouth, England), he was bound in a strait-jacket and laid on the ground inside a cage of five growling male African Lions. A year later, one of these 'tame' lions turned on the trainer and left him seriously injured.

One stunt performance (in 1986) proved to be more hair-raising in more than one way. As part of an official opening, crowds of people saw Karl end up hanging by his ankles from a burning rope 90 feet in the air, trying to free himself from a strait-jacket whilst having a circus artist hang from and below him by her hair! As ever, this stunt, like all his other performances, was menaced by the threat that always lurked in the shadows, that chance that he would kill himself and possibly a helpless girl too!

Perhaps Karl will always be remembered for his wedding. Recollecting that Houdini once stood up in front of the American Congress and declared his love for his wife, Bess, Karl wanted to do something similar for his bride to be, Wendy. So in May 1985, with a vicar, choir and church organ firmly ensconced on the top of the Blackpool Tower, Karl and Wendy were lowered from it's top in a flower bedecked open cage and married standing on a plank in mid-air 450 feet above the heads of a watching crowd of 20,000 people. Wendy wore white with a face to match, for a wedding which captured headlines all over the world.
Taken from Cartmell Public Relations company article.

"I gave up escapology in 1986 because of a heart problem and moved into the realms of Mentalism. In the late 80's I encountered the bizarre magic and effects by Mary Tomich and that set me going on a different presentation track. My life took a whole different direction once I entered the realms of bizarre magic thanks to Mary, the writings of Eugene Burger, the friendship of Charles W.Cameron and Brother Shadow along with B.J.Powers. Dedicated to promoting Bizarre and Storytelling magick and it's performers."

Listed in Bart Whalley's book, Who's Who in Magic.
Created 'Essence Of Antiquity' aroma oil for serious bizarrists in 1993 and released an improved version plus in depth companion book in 1996.
Member of the Immortal's and invested as an original Immortal by C. W. Cameron. In 1999, was invested with the Order of the Grand Vampire by Carl Herron, Bernard Anderson, Mary Tomich and Charles W.Cameron.

During the 2005 Charles W. Cameron Memorial Gathering in Edinburgh, Joe Cabral, the Grand Magus of the ICBM (Inner Circle of Bizarre Magik), invested Karl (and Bernard Anderson) with a 9th. degree membership (the highest level possible) in the ICBM. They were the first to be made members, outside the U.S.A, in this elite and unique 'Circle'.

More details and a photo gallery will be added soon, keep visiting this page.