Stefan Bradley
IT was an almost-full house of Arj Barker fans, or soon-to-be-fans, at the John Leslie Theatre in Sale on Friday night (February 10). The American comedian, who has a prominent following in Australia, went through some of his best material from the past three decades – with a few current jokes for good measure – in his show The Best of Arj Barker: Power Hour.
With 2023 finally being the year that shows could go on with no risk of cancellation or Covid restrictions, the energy in the room was electric, and Barker fed on it. Alternating between speaking into the microphone and yelling a little away from it, he delivered punchline after punchline with impeccable timing. Arj Barker loves to observe, and loves wordplay.
He knows we hate roads, and he knows we’re a bit more patient on the road in Sale, but he also made a fair point that there are roadworks everywhere. Saying that we’d be the greatest town or city when the roads are finished got a big laugh, but it makes us think: do we really have it that bad here?
He points out that Australians are always impressed when an American like him says “Mel-burn” correctly, which shows how much he appreciates our great state of “Vic-to-ree-a”. He hasn’t quite grasped “Gipps-LAAND” yet, but he’ll get there eventually.
A greatest hits album is always a good purchase, but so is a ticket for Arj Barker’s best jokes. He stuck around afterwards to sign DVDs and humorous stickers he used at the performance.
