Arj Barker

Arjan Singh Āulakh born August 12 1974 known by the stage name Arj Barker is an American comedian and actor from San Anselmo California He has toured in North America Australia New Zealand and Europe He was born to an engineer father and artist mother His father is of Indian Punjabi Sikh descent and his mother is of European descent Barker started his career in comedy after graduating from high school in 1989 His first gigs were at a café called Caffe Nuvo in downtown San Anselmo where he hosted standup night every Sunday throughout the early 1990s Barker appeared on Premium Blend in 1997 followed by appearances on the shows Late Night with Conan OBrien and The Glass House He twice hosted Comedy Central Presents first on September 20 2000 and again on March 31 2006 Barker was featured in Comedy Centrals animated series Shorties Watchin Shorties He appeared on the Australian show Thank God Youre Here on October 18 2006 September 19 2007 and June 17 2009 Barker cowrote and performed in The MarijuanaLogues an OffBroadway show in New York City with Doug Benson and Tony Camin The title of the show was a parody of The Vagina Monologues NBC gave Barker the lead role for sitcom Nearly Nirvana originally scheduled for 2004 However Barker was replaced in the lead role by the shows creator Ajay Sahgal and the show never aired Barker appeared in the HBO sitcom Flight of the Conchords playing Dave Barker has been successful in Australia for a number of years since first appearing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2000 and presently resides there At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019 he won Best Comedy Release for Organic During the 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Barker attracted widespread media attention in Australia for while on stage in front of a live audience demanding a mother breastfeeding her 7monthold baby to leave and have her ticket refunded Barker claimed the baby was interrupting his train of thought