John Ciampa

Who is John Ciampa?

John Ciampa John was an Italian-American acrobatic stuntman and entertainer known by the stage names of the Human Fly, the Flying Phantom and the Brooklyn Tarzan.

As a child, Ciampa had been fascinated by the acrobatic agility of film stars such as Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and by the character of Tarzan of the Apes as portrayed by Elmo Lincoln and later Johnny Weismuller. Inspired by his screen heroes, Ciampa began to climb trees and buildings in his Brooklyn neighborhood at a young age, persisting with the activity into his teenage years and early adulthood. This activity was the beginning of what was to be Original Parkour before it was named in the 1980's in France as the art of Parkour was named and rebirth into what is now called Modern Day Parkour.