Arj Barker delivered a solid but certainly not ground-breaking performance to a sell-out crowd at the main theatre in Melbourne’s town Hall. The show was bookended by projected video clips that allowed those members of audience a little further away from the stage to get a closer look at the expressive face of the comedian, and this was a refreshing and funny way to start the show. He also closed the show out with a song, although singing was definitely not his strong suit.
Unlike a lot of festival shows that revolve around a story or theme on which to hang the jokes, Barker’s show was straight stand-up, occasionally chatting to the audience and wandering from topic to random topic with little connective tissue. The jokes were consistently amusing, although some felt dated- a segment about the dangers of predictive text messaging felt like a conversation we’ve all had a dozen times by now. The biggest laughs came when Melbourne itself was mentioned, and it’s clear that Arj has a great affection for Australia and her people, and the crowd responded to this enthusiastically.
All-in-all the show felt a bit stock, but still delivered where it most counted – keeping the audience laughing. The show ran long by about ten minutes and no-one seemed to mind or even notice as everyone was having such a good time. But when compared to some of the more thoughtful, creative acts available at the Fest, it did seem to be taking the easy route to laughs- not that there’s anything wrong with that. If all you want from the show is an hour of observational humour, this comes highly recommended. If you find yourself wanting a bit more substance, look elsewhere.
For more info and booking details go to Arj Barker’s Original Style Bits & Pieces