Comedian Arj Barker took the stage last weekend Melbourne Comedy Festival in Australia. There was much laughter, applause, but also outrage when he asked a mother holding a seven-month-old baby to leave the room. “Embarrassing,” the mother responded after the incident.
Arj Barker’s comedy show last weekend caused quite a stir. The comedian asked a mother and her seven-month-old daughter to leave the room because, according to him, the baby wouldn’t stop crying. “I’m speaking baby talk, and the baby says ‘take me outside,’” he said in the middle of Barker’s set.
“At that point I did what I thought I had to do to continue to entertain the audience,” Barker told Australian news channel 7NEWS. However, the mother of the alleged noisemaker claims that the baby did not make much noise. “She was just making some typical baby noises, she was whining a little bit. But nothing loud,” she told the local radio station 3AW.
“At that moment I did what I thought I had to do to continue entertaining the audience”
Arj Barker
Comedian, in interview with 7NEWS
The mother, Trish Faranda, wasn’t sure if the comedian meant the comment or not. She finally packed her things and left the room with the baby. Some other spectators followed the two in solidarity. “I started crying. It was very overwhelming to see those people outside,” says Faranda.
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“I have nothing against mothers”
When the comedian commented, she was breastfeeding the baby. The mother calls the incident “embarrassing” because she was in a “vulnerable situation” at the time. Comedian Arj Barker emphasizes that he could not see Faranda breastfeeding the child at the time. “It was purely an audio issue, it had nothing to do with her being a mother. I have nothing against mothers.”
“My daughter was just making some typical baby noises, she was whining a little. But nothing loud”
Trish Faranda
Mother who was thrown out, in interview with 3AW
Remarkably, normally the minimum age for the performance is 15 years. “The show is strictly for ages 15 and over, as clearly stated on the ticket site,” Barker said. “She had a baby with her and the baby disrupted my performance. On behalf of the other 700 people who had paid to see the performance, I politely told her that the baby could not stay.”
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“I think it’s a shame that so many people are angry about this. That was never my intention,” Barker says. The mother also apologizes. “I’m sorry if I ruined people’s evening. But there are certain ways to deal with things, and this just wasn’t the right way,” he said.
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