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Arj Barker.
 Arj Barker has some advice for anyone who may come across him during the Fringe. "You don't need to be funny. I really want to get this message out there. You just need to relax, take a deep breath, and buy a round of beers," the popular American comedian says. "If someone wants to tell me a joke though, I'm happy to listen, but I'm a fucking shit laugher. Just be pre-warned, there's a good chance I might not laugh at your joke. Doesn't mean it's not a good joke, or that I don't think it's funny, it's just that I'm a shithouse laugher."
Despite being a regular visitor, this will only be Barker's second Fringe.
As someone who's seen his fair share of festivals, he is well-positioned to compare them. "You never forget where you are; they're all different. The similarities are... there's a lot of comedy shows, and a lot of bar activity and there's a lot of hangovers. I don't go crazy every night - I'm exaggerating - but as far as the overall vibe..."
Nor does he make a point of seeing other shows. "Sometimes I go to shows. I should go to more, it's not that I don't want to, but it gets a bit... I don't know where the day goes; I'll just leave it at that! And then it's time to start getting ready for my show, and then when my show's over I'm getting ready to have a cold one, you know what I mean..." he trails off.
Barker was just here in November for two shows at The Gov. That tour also included the recording of his first live DVD, in Canberra of all places. "It was sweet. It was a nice theatre and a really nice crowd. I'm excited about putting that out. We're working on it currently. No official release date yet... but let's just say a month with at least three Saturdays in it." Er, right... yes. "No, it's coming out [in] mid '06. We wanna put out a good product, we don't wanna put out some shit we threw together," he suggests, fairly.
On that last visit Barker would have landed at our old airport and driven past our new airport. "I heard that's gonna be sweet." Well, 'gonna' is the operative word there. "Oh, it's not open yet? So we wanna get that ironed out. I'll be sure to write a new airport joke for my show."
While the airport hadn't opened when we spoke, the new Law Courts - virtually next door to Barker's venue - had. "I'll do a couple of Law Court jokes...plug 'em in, plug 'em in, plug 'em in!"
We've also got some new trams that don't work in our climate. "Oh shit, that ruins one of my older chunks about how old the trams are." He considers it for a moment. "That's the name of my new chunk: 'Gimme the Old Trams Any Day." Adelaide's pretty much a comedy goldmine right now. "I can't wait dude, I got my mining boots on, and my pants - I'm ready to start digging for some nuggets!"
His Fringe show 'Ego No Amigo' has earned rave reviews around the world. "I started doing 'Ego No Amigo' in '04; I brought it to the Melbourne festival. It actually debuted in Sydney before that, and then I was going to put it away. But I realised that this is a show people need, you know... there's a lot of stuff in the world, and there's a lot of negative news and that's why this show is so important... and I could feel the need to bring this show to Adelaide. Cos I know that Adelaide is a city that embraces positivity. I've heard the reputation - you know, a few serial killings, whatever - but Adelaide's a positive city, and that's why 'Ego No Amigo' is perfect for there."
It sounds like it could go on forever. "The show is... well, it's more than a show, it's an event. It's a cool show and I'm very excited to be doing it there."
Wade Howland
 | Arj Barker performs 'Ego No Amigo' at The Arts Theatre from Thurs 23 Feb as part of the Fringe |
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