Can a mother attend a comedy show with her baby? The issue is causing heated debate, following a notable incident in Australia. Comedian Arj Barker ruled that there was too much noise coming from the audience and so Trish Faranda and her rowdy daughter had to leave immediately. Oh irony: the woman later tried to prove herself right in an interview, but just then Clara started crying on her lap. In doing so, she unintentionally only gave more ammunition to her critics.
Faranda says he feels humiliated by what happened on Saturday evening. She attended the international comedy festival in Melbourne with her seven-month-old daughter, but after fifteen minutes things went wrong: Clara started babbling and making disturbing noises.
“No other choice”
Barker then interrupted his performance and showed the duo the door in a funny but firm manner. A dozen other attendees also resigned in solidarity with the woman.
“That was not an easy decision, but I had no other choice: I wanted to save my show and give the audience what they were entitled to,” the American comedian said.
“Very intimidating”
Faranda responded last night in the Australian current affairs program ‘A Current Affair’. “Yes, Clara was giggling and babbling a bit. But when I started breastfeeding, she calmed down again. Barker himself was joking about the situation and that was okay. But then he suddenly said: ‘I speak fluent baby talk, she says she wants to go outside’. I had no idea if he really meant that or not. He came across as very intimidating from that stage.”
During the interview, Clara suddenly started crying on her mother’s lap. “To be clear, it wasn’t that bad during Barker’s show,” Faranda said. “The sound she made could be compared to someone coughing in the audience. I didn’t feel like we were disturbing anyone. Otherwise we would have left ourselves. I had specially booked seats on the side so I could leave easily.”
“I have nothing against babies”
But Barker felt differently. “Both myself and that woman found ourselves in a position that we were not comfortable with. By the way, I want to emphasize that I have nothing against babies. Some also blamed me for reacting so strongly because she was breastfeeding. That’s not right, from my position I couldn’t even see that. I was just concerned about the disturbing noise.”
Barker also gently points out that young people under the age of fifteen are not welcome at his show. Something that Faranda had missed, she says.
“Actually, the fault lies with the organizers,” said the comedian. He concludes with a quip. “I would like to smoke the peace pipe with that woman and discuss the film rights with her. Fifty-fifty, what do you think? And that beautiful baby can come to my show for free, but only in 2039.”
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss anything from the stars.
Yes, I want free unlimited access
