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 | Arj Barker Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, Sat 22 Oct With local boy Lehmo as his opening act, Arj Barker could have walked on stage, slaughtered some new-born puppies and still been the funniest act of the night. Fortunately he stuck to comedy. Barker is a man who knows his audience and for the first of his two shows, had them from the very start. Dressed in jeans and Led Zeppelin T-shirt, he's comfortable on stage and doesn't waste any time with comedic small talk. He quickly establishes himself as an outsider with a handle on our culture by talking about the US hurricane season and people telling him he 'brought the weather with him' as it rained the day he arrived in the country. That led to an inspired rant claiming all humans should band together to defeat the real enemy: Mother Earth, who is obviously attempting to wipe us out. Barker uses his outsider status to its full potential; discussing a trip to South Africa where he hears a radio update announcing the rand had dropped in value by 30%, as an ad for a clearance sale, offering '30% off everything!'. He also petted a cheetah while he was there, but would never brag about it. The Gov proves an ideal venue for Barker, big enough to feel like an event, but small enough for real intimacy. The laughter never really stopped, and he threw in some knowing pop culture references such as the cockiness of Google with its suggestion 'Did you mean...', and at one point talking about having the bends, but preferring 'OK Computer'. Arj Barker has a strong comedic streak - and his use of language is very clever: casual yet eloquent, he peppers it with Valley Girl-isms like 'totally' throughout, but never sounds any less intelligent for it. He keeps his show interesting, relevant and most importantly, funny. Let's hope others were taking notes.  | |
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