Having spent more time in our country than his own, Australia’s funniest adopted Californian has come to understand our culture perhaps even better than we do ourselves. He bloody well better, mate! This funny bugger has appeared all over Aussie TV, including the original Hey Hey It’s Saturday (yep, he’s been coming here for a while).
Since then, regular appearances on such shows as Thank God You’re Here, The Glasshouse, Good News Week, Rove Live, The Project, Spicks and Specks, The Great Debate, and roughly a dozen memorable spots on The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala have all helped him become a household name on our shores.
Prior to setting foot in Australia, Arj was already an established stand-up act in the USA, having performed on most of the major late night talk shows including those hosted by David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brian, Jimmy Kimmel and Bill Maher. In addition, he taped three specials for Comedy Central. He’s also co-creator of ‘The Marijuana-Logues’ which ran off-broadway in New York City for over a year and was a ‘big hit’ according to some super cool dudes.
Though he refers to stand-up comedy as his ‘bread and butter’, Arj is a talented actor as well. In this arena, he is probably best known for his portrayal of the loveable larrikin, ‘Dave’ on HBO’s hit series The Flight of the Conchords. More recently, he appeared as the ‘Werewolf Captain’ on another popular series, What We Do In The Shadows and currently Arj is starring as Brendan Brandon, a failed crypto trader turned macadamia farmer, in the (soon to be) hit comedy film, The Nut Farm.
Arj continues to tour his live shows relentlessly, being a popular act at the most celebrated comedy festivals from Edinburgh to Montreal. While awards don’t mean that much, just in case you’re curious, he has won some, including Best Newcomer in Edinburgh and more recently an ARIA for best Australian comedy release (his Organic comedy special in 2019). He also scooped up the People’s Choice Award at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, where his shows are consistently among the most well-attended.
2024 shaped up to be a big year for young Arj, as he launched his hilarious new live stand-up show, The Mind Field, in venues across the country, and also appeared in his first lead role in a feature film. The Nut Farm released in cinemas across Australia and New Zealand on 14 March last year.
Arj brings his new comedy show The Mind Field to Townsville at the North Australian Festival of Arts on 26 and 27 September 2025.
To book tickets, visit: Arj Barker – The Mind Field | North Australian Festival of Arts