Comedy In Preview

While shaking up a wheatgrass juice, comedian Arj Barker tells us after the last three months of touring, he’s now trying to get his health back.

“I don’t care if people know how hard the road is, the road beats you up. You’re in the car wobbling around all day, in a different bed each night, there’s no regularity of food. I know I have a much easier life than many people in this world, but the road takes its toll,” Arj says.

The road takes him a long way from his home in California so he tends to make the most of what luxuries he can while on tour. “I’m essentially sacrificing having a personal life spending so much time out on the road. I’m missing my friend’s birthday parties, my nephew’s baseball games and maybe a normal relationship for myself, so I’m thinking at least I’ll eat the best goddamn meal I can.”

When first asked what keeps bringing Arj back to Australia so frequently, he springs on the chance for a laugh. “I keep forgetting shit. In ’98, I left my favourite hoodie here, so I had to tour for a few months until I found it in Canberra. Then I got home and I was ‘oh, are you kidding me? Where the fuck is my iPhone charger?’ and those are expensive so I had to come back.”

But the truth is Arj actually has a bigger fan base here than anywhere else in the world. “I do have a career in the states, but I’m just balancing out. This is definitely a second home for me so it’s natural I’d spend a lot of time here.”

Before even coming to Australia, Arj’s first stage performances abroad were in London back in the ‘90s, which was a bit of an eye opener for him. “It forced me to write a new opener which acknowledged their hesitancy towards my nationality. It was really that first minute that was so important. Now when I go there, I don’t bother with it, I have a lot more confidence and I’m not going to apologise for being American which is essentially what I did in the early days.”

There’s definitely no need to apologise as Arj is well known now throughout Europe as well as Australia and the US. “In fact we’re trying to cut a deal right now to show my DVDs in Europe and Eastern Scandinavia on television, and these are DVDs I recorded in Sydney so we’ll see how that goes.”

Arj prefers to keep his humour fairly universal with material that works wherever you go. “The only thing I’ve ever really modified is my references, so I’m not going to make a joke about Darling Harbour when I’m in San Francisco. I have jokes that only work in Amsterdam so you guys will probably never hear them out here.”

Travelling around and making so many TV appearances, Arj often gets recognized by fans and welcomes people wanting to say hi and get a picture. “The only thing is sometimes I’m so feral - I just rolled out of bed and went to the airport and if anything I’m a little embarrassed to have photographic evidence of what a scrounge I am.”

With 2011 coming to a close, he has big plans to branch out into new things as he takes a break from touring. “I’m gonna learn to DJ and get a few gigs around the place cause I got a taste of that earlier this year at a Triple J party. They asked me to be a guest DJ, I said ‘this is the best deal ever - it’s fun, people are dancing and they’re happy.”

On top of wanting to get into another TV show along the lines of ‘Flight Of The Concords’, he plans to do some acting, learn piano, hang glide, and do some serious video gaming. “It sounds kind of cliché but I’m one of those people that’s like ‘you only have one life’ so you may as well try all the stuff you found interesting and fun.”

For the most part Arj is looking forward to being able to slow down and spend some time at home in the states to see what the new year brings. “With the implications of 2012 and a Presidential election, it’ll be an interesting year whatever happens. It’s going to be such a circus I don’t want to miss it; the world is mental right now.”

DON’T MISS ARJ BARKER’S SHOW ‘ELEVEN’ AT QPAC NOVEMBER 30 – DECEMBER 2.