Poll suggests overwhelming support for comedian in ‘baby gate’ drama

Arj Barker’s decision to boot out a mother and child at his gig has stirred media debate – but it appears public sentiment is not as divided.

US comedian Arj Barker’s decision to boot a mother and baby out of his Melbourne gig on the weekend created national debate about etiquette both on and off the stage.

But it appears public sentiment is largely united, after a poll suggested overwhelming support for Barker’s call.

Barker and Trish Faranda, the woman at the centre of the controversy, spoke for the first time since Saturday’s show as they took to the radio waves on Tuesday morning.

It ended in amicable circumstances with Barker joking on one program how they could look forward to selling the film rights to their story.

Arj Barker has backed his decision.

Trish Faranda shared her side of the story.

This week news.com.au has been gauging readers thoughts on the saga via a poll, which attracted more than 15,000 votes.

Of those, 96 per cent of respondents agreed a comedy show is no place for a baby.

Just four per cent, or about 530 voters, said babies should be welcomed at theatres.

On Tuesday, the comic explained his decision during the incident he labelled “BabyGate” was motivated by concern for the audience experience after Ms Faranda’s seven-month-old daughter began making noise early into the 15-plus gig at the Athenaeum Theatre.

The experienced performer denied the request had anything to do with reports Ms Faranda was breastfeeding the child at the time, saying he could only see the outline of a woman holding a baby in the dark room.

Barker said he had been concerned about the audience experience. Picture: Jim Lee Photo

He told 2DAY FM’s Hughesy, Ed & Erin he feared “my jokes (would) get robbed of their tension and get much less response because of disruption” within the 700-person crowd.

“I didn’t feel good about it, but I thought: ‘Ya gotta go’,” he said.

On the same program Ms Faranda apologised for the disruption but told Barker she wished he had “been a bit nicer about it”, and flagging how other audience members yelled “abuse” as she left.

“It was extremely disappointing how you handled it. You offered me a refund of $25, but I’d rather you’d let me leave with my dignity,” she said.

Barker explained that the jeering from audience members was “a very hectic couple of minutes for me too” as he believed they were heckling him, not her.

He and host Erin Molan also had an awkward exchange as the interview wrapped up, with the comedian apologising after Molan accused him of being “rude”.

Audience members have shared their views on Saturday’s drama after Ms Faranda’s relative first posted about the incident online yesterday.

David, who was at the show, told 3AW Breakfast the baby was not being disruptive.

“The baby was just being a baby, it wasn’t doing anything above and beyond,” he said.

“He stopped the show and said: ‘Can you take this baby outside?’

“The crowd wasn’t sure whether he was serious – but he was dead serious. It was unbelievably awkward.”

Chris, who was seated a few rows back from Ms Faranda, told news.com.au the incident was “awkward” but didn’t believe Barker had acted inappropriately.

“He wasn’t aggressive. He was doing his best in a pretty hard spot,” he said.

Chris said the child made a few noises that were “clearly disruptive” to the flow of the performance.

“It’s audible enough for everyone in the theatre to hear it.”

Barker’s show Mind Field is running until April 21 as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Originally published as Poll suggests overwhelming support for comedian in ‘baby gate’ drama