|
|
 |
Arj Barker.
 American comedian (and Australian favourite) Arj Barker has a stab at answering something I'd been wondering: how does a comedian retire, and is it the job or the lifestyle that's harder to leave behind? "I don't know exactly how other people live, but I guess it [comedy] is a little different. A lot of comedians end up doing some TV, some acting, some writing or go into radio. These are slightly more - theoretically - stable jobs. They're definitely more 9 to 5, so you never know what could happen. I've dabbled in acting and writing - I like writing - but right now I'm happy being a comedian."
And being a comedian is what saw him appear on 'The Late Show' with Dave Letterman. "It was exciting, and a tiny bit surreal. At that time it was the mother of all shows to be on, and I couldn't believe that I was actually standing there."
I thought it would be all too easy to play up to Dave himself, rather than the audience, but this isn't so. "No, [I was] definitely playing to the audience. Didn't even, like... I was just 'do well, do well, do well, don't fuck up'... and I remember I could hear Paul [Schaeffer] kind of chuckling behind me, because he has a very distinctive laugh, and that was kind of a trip 'cos in my head I was thinking 'that's Paul laughing'."
Barker used a harmonica on his Late Show spot, but has bigger and better musical ambitions in sight. "I can play the harmonica a little bit. I tend to play the guitar more than the harmonica. I'd like to do a heavy metal musical, but that's still a little ways from fruition," he reveals. "Cos I love heavy metal, and I have a Gibson SG Standard at home, and I'm trying to learn how to play it. That's real, like Black Sabbath, sort of, Angus... that's the guitar those guys play."
On his current tour, Barker is recording his Canberra show for a DVD release. Why Canberra? "Well, that's exactly why. Because it creates a media sensation, you know... why Canberra? And if they're curious they're gonna buy it. I'm not gonna tell you - that's the surprise. Why Canberra? Is it because pornography's decriminalised there? Maybe..."
It turns out he's never actually been to Canberra.
"No. I just heard a little bit about it. I don't really know why we're doing it there, but I'm sure we'll have a sweet audience, I have a lot of faith in the audience there. At least I know they've never heard my jokes before, so that's good," he deadpans.
There's also a simple solution to the worst case scenario of the show not being one of Barker's better ones. "If I didn't like it I wouldn't release it. I'd consider refilming it I s'pose. I'd just take it as a temporary defeat and move on to another activity." The DVD should be out early next year. "It'd be nice to have it out by Christmas, but I don't really know. I've never made a DVD before so I don't really know how long it takes. I have a couple of comedy DVDs that I'm supposed to watch, it's like homework to find out what goes into a DVD. And to tell you the truth I haven't opened them up yet, cos I just can't be fuckin' bothered, you know? I'd kinda like to learn by doing, you know what I mean? Also, my philosophy about comedy is that I don't watch too much comedy; I don't really study other comedians either," he confesses. "I watch a little bit and there's some comedians I enjoy, but I'm not a huge, avid watcher of comedy because I think I'll be a little fresher if I'm not too influenced by what other people are doing, and hopefully that way my ideas will be more organic."
I try to be the same with my record reviews. "Yeah," agrees Barker. "It skews your thinking of what a record review should be. Fuck it."
Wade Howland
 | Arj Barker performs at The Gov on Sat 22 and Sun 23 Oct - see the Prize Frenzy. |
|
|
The latest issue
available now!
|
