Jack Karlson Dies: Australia’s “Succulent Chinese Meal” Guy Was 82

Jack Karlson, whose iconic arrest video while eating a “succulent Chinese meal” turned him into a meme, has died aged 82.

Karlson was reported by The Guardian to have died surrounded by family yesterday.

“He walked a full and colourful path and, despite the troubles thrown at him, he lived by his motto – to keep on laughing,” his family said in statement.

Karlson became an icon years after the arrest video that came outside a Chinese restaurant in Brisbane.

In the video he bellowed “this is democracy manifest” as he was being arrested by police and pushed into a police car. He then questioned loudly: “What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?,” which immediately gained meme status.

The arrest took place in 1982 but the video only emerged in 2009 after it was uploaded to the internet. Karlson was reported by The Guardian to have been a small time crook and serial prison escaper who had many aliases.

A documentary on his life, The Man Who Ate A Succulent Chinese Meal, in which he revisits the restaurant, is set for release in March 2025. In an interview with The Guardian recently, director Heath Davis described Karlson as “the last Australian larrikin.”