Arj Barker is known for his comedy and has kept people laughing in the audience for many years. In a recent act, however, not quite as many people were laughing.
It happened when the comedian kicked a mother and her baby out of one of his shows. She was breast-feeding at the time, and the feedback that was coming his way was not wholly in his favor. In fact, he found himself defending his actions.
It happened during a comedy show at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne on April 20. Trish Faranda, a mother of three, was in the front of the audience with a seven-month-old baby. She was breast-feeding at the time and he felt the baby was disrupting his performance.
When he asked the mother to leave the show, a number of people stood up and left the show with her in solidarity. Once the word of this hit the Internet, people began arguing on both sides of the issue.
The mother spoke out, saying that the baby wasn’t screaming and she lashed out at critics who said that she shouldn’t have taken the young child to the show because it was limited to those who were 15 years of age and older. She said at the most, she gurgled a little bit.
Barker, however, did not back down when it came to his decision to kick her out of the show. He left a statement on Instagram, saying: “On behalf of the other 700 people there who had paid to see the gig, I politely told her the baby couldn’t stay,” he said. “She thought I was kidding which made the exchange a bit awkward.”
He also offered her a refund. He continued:
“It’s unfortunate about any embarrassment it caused her or her family, but again, had the show policy been adhered to, this situation would not have occurred.”
It’s also interesting to note that he did not kick her out of the show because she was breast-feeding. He couldn’t even see into the audience because of the bright lights and it was all due to the audio disruption of the show. He went on to say that he supported public breastfeeding as it is natural.
The facility where the comedy Festival was being held also left a statement, saying:
“Arj is independently produced and at a venue not managed by the festival, however, any interaction between performers and their audiences requires sensitivity and respect.
“In our festival managed venues, babes in arms are generally allowed but we do ask people to sit up the back with their child so they can quickly and easily leave if the baby gets noisy, so as not to disturb the artist and other patrons.”