A role in a cult TV comedy gave him his big break, but Arj Barker prefers to earn his laughs live, writes Pavan Shamdasani<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u00a0Flight of the Conchords\u00a0guy\u201d \u2013 for years, comedian Arj Barker has had to live with that alter-ego. As supporting character Dave, Barker won plaudits and broke through to the comedy mainstream for his role in the cult HBO show. But fame has its drawbacks, and ever since the show ended its two-season run in 2009, he\u2019s been saddled with that somewhat unflattering description.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not a terrible tag, mind you \u2013 thousands of comedians would kill for that shot at the spotlight \u2013 but it hasn\u2019t changed his life just yet. \u201cNothing about being on that show transformed my life or career \u2026 it\u2019s not like I have butlers or anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Case in point: I\u2019m talking to Barker on a crackly international mobile phone call just minutes before he\u2019s about to head on-stage for a gig in Minnesota. While most\u00a0Conchords\u00a0fans might see him as a comedy actor, this is actually Barker\u2019s grind: he\u2019s a Californian-born stand-up comic who loves hitting the road, touring circuits and making audiences laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done a lot more stand-up than acting \u2013 stand-up is more gratifying because you get immediate laughs,\u201d he says. \u201cWith a TV show, there\u2019s a responsibility for the cast and crew to stifle their laughs, so really you don\u2019t know if what you did was good or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barker says he\u2019d like to do more acting, but simply hasn\u2019t had the time. He has just finished touring a large part of the US and Canada, is about to finish off the year with shows in Asia, and has most of Australia lined up for 2013. It\u2019s a tough life, but right now, he\u2019s just trying to find the spontaneous inspiration that comes before facing a large crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs much as I travel, you might think I experience things all the time, but airports and hotels and comedy clubs are so similar that it\u2019s important for me to do different things,\u201d he says. \u201cThe work\u2019s important \u2013 you never write the best jokes when you\u2019re forcing it. It\u2019s important to flex your muscles and if there was a secret that I knew of, I\u2019d do it all the time. The best thing is to experience new things in life and not get caught in a routine.\u201d Later this month, he\u2019ll be experiencing the flip-side to his global standing when he faces local crowds at Hong Kong\u2019s Punchline Comedy Club.<\/p>\n
Our city isn\u2019t exactly known for its strong comedy scene, but our colonial history does give us an edge in terms of humour, and Barker is confident that his show will sit well with at least some members of the public.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been to Hong Kong a bunch of times and the expats out there respond well \u2013 we always get a bunch of Brits and Australians,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s a dry element to my humour \u2013 I say things with a very straight face and I rarely acknowledge that it\u2019s a joke. British humour also leans to that drier side \u2013 it\u2019s part of the whole pub culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
But more than anything, Barker is looking forward to a local story that\u2019s made international headlines of late. \u201cGigi Chao: I lost your number and I\u2019d like to use this interview to cordially invite you down to my show \u2013 you can bring your girlfriend too,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m super open-minded, so if it doesn\u2019t look like I\u2019m going to shift you over and you just want to make out, I\u2019ll just be sitting over here. If I don\u2019t get the HK$500 million, that\u2019s a pretty good second prize.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barker likes to stir things up, tackling everything from God to US politics. For example, he\u2019s arguably most famous among stand-up fans for co-creating the drug-and-feminist parodying off-Broadway show, The Marijuana-Logues.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just do what I think is funny, I go by my intuition. I try not to analyse my sense of humour too much, I\u2019d rather go for feeling,\u201d he says. \u201cAlmost no sitcoms make me laugh, all that laugh-track crap. I\u2019m a pretty tough customer and I\u2019m a terrible audience member. I\u2019d hate to have me in my own show.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it does raise the question: if TV shows and the majority of normal sources of humour don\u2019t make Barker laugh, what exactly does? \u201cReally just hanging out with my friends \u2013 that shared sense of humour,\u201d he says. \u201cAll I need is one good friend in a city; I\u2019ve got a few in major places around the world. And for good reason: if there\u2019s a massive disaster, I don\u2019t want them all in one place. I know what I\u2019m doing, I\u2019m not an idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n
He might be kidding again, but there\u2019s an element of truth to Barker\u2019s laid-back humour: most comedians in his semi-famous silver screen position would probably focus on getting major Hollywood roles, only to potentially risk embarrassment in some third-rate, kid-friendly comedy. But by focusing his efforts on the stand-up circuit, Barker is carving a name for himself as one of the funniest comedians on the global stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m touring and working at becoming a better stand-up than I already am. I\u2019m doing shows and enjoying my blessed existence, because I really love my job.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I also read up on a lot of conspiracy stuff, so either it\u2019ll be the apocalypse or a lot of good times. The extra-terrestrials are out there \u2013 mainstream media has been doing a good job of not letting people know about them, but I\u2019m not falling for that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A role in a cult TV comedy gave him his big break, but Arj Barker prefers to earn his laughs live, writes Pavan Shamdasani \u201cThat\u00a0Flight of the Conchords\u00a0guy\u201d \u2013 for years, comedian Arj Barker has had to live with that alter-ego. As supporting character Dave, Barker won plaudits and broke through to the comedy mainstream […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-profile"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vagal.lakhanitechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vagal.lakhanitechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vagal.lakhanitechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vagal.lakhanitechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vagal.lakhanitechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=707"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vagal.lakhanitechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":710,"href":"https:\/\/vagal.lakhanitechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707\/revisions\/710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vagal.lakhanitechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vagal.lakhanitechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vagal.lakhanitechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vagal.lakhanitechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}