Arj Barker

“If comedians are the new rock stars, then Arj Barker is stand-up’s Dave Grohl”

The Age

Arj Barker may have come to global attention with his scene-stealing turn as ‘Dave’ in HBO’s worldwide hit Flight of the Conchords however he has long been recognised as one of the most accomplished performers on the international stand-up scene. Arj’s laid-back, slacker persona and offbeat style masks a keen eye for the absurd and a sharp comedy brain that fully understands how to keep the crowd rocking with laughter.

Taking his first steps into the comedy world at nineteen, Arj instantly took to stand up, dropped out of college and only four years later had secured the Perrier best newcomer award at the Edinburgh Festival. From there his career went from strength to strength. A staple of the international comedy festival scene, Arj has performed in dozens of countries, regularly appearing at festivals across Europe, Australia, New Zealand and beyond. In 2010 he supported Flight of the Conchords on their sell-out European tour.

Over the last few years Arj has split his time between the US and Australia where he has built up a large and devoted following. At the 2010 Melbourne Comedy Festival Arj was one of the main attractions, selling out his three and half week run at the 1500 seater Town Hall Theatre.

As well as his terrific live reputation Arj has racked up a number of high profile television appearances over the years, on US shows such as Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and The Tonight Show plus a handful of specials for Comedy Central. On top of all this in 2010 Arj released his second live DVD called LYAO, recorded at the Pantages Theatre in Minnesota, which is available to buy now.

Having appeared in Edinburgh every year from 1997, when he won the Perrier best newcomer prize, to 2000. In the summer of 2010, after ten years away from the Fringe, saw Arj return to Edinburgh with his hotly anticipated solo show, Let Me Do the Talking, which garnered a raft of great reviews and played to sell-out crowds for the whole month. Arj returned to the UK in 2015, playing a series of dates at London’s Soho Theatre of critically-acclaimed show Get In My Head.