It's not really doable with the simpleminded curry() used here.
Perhaps I'm missing something, but what if you did this: 
my %handler = (
   "bold_italic" =  curry(\&wrap_with_html,"b><i"),
);

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thor

Feel the white light, the light within
Be your own disciple, fan the sparks of will
With all of us waiting, your kingdom will come

In reply to Re^3: Specializing Functions with Currying by thor
in thread Specializing Functions with Currying by FoxtrotUniform

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