Breastfeeding mother forced out of Arj Barker’s Melbourne comedy show

A mother-of-three said she was left “extremely embarrassed” after high-profile comedian Arj Barker “heckled” her out of his Melbourne show when he saw her breastfeeding her baby.

A breastfeeding mother has been kicked out of a Melbourne comedy show after a popular comedian claimed it was “interrupting his train of thought”. Picture: Jim Lee

A breastfeeding mother was left “humiliated” after she was kicked out of a Melbourne comedy show by a high-profile comedian who claimed it was “interrupting his train of thought”.

Comedian Arj Barker forced mother Trish Faranda and her seven-month-old baby to leave his show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival on Saturday night.

The mother-of-three, who attended the show with her sister and a friend, said she was “extremely embarrassed” after Barker “heckled” her out of the theatre.

Ms Faranda with four-year-old Ylaria and seven-month-old baby Clara. Picture: Tony Gough

“We were seated in the fourth row and I made sure I sat right towards the end to make sure I was ready to leave quickly if my baby started to cry,” Ms Faranda said.

“She was babbling a bit, she was laughing along to the show and just looking around and enjoying where she was. She wasn’t making much noise at all and certainly wasn’t crying. Someone that had to cough would have been much louder.

“No one in the crowd turned around to look at us or took notice of her – just Arj.”

Ms Faranda, 46, said Barker made a joke to the effect of: “You’ve got a baby, I speak fluent baby, it said take me outside”.

“Everyone was laughing, we thought it was part of the show. But then he made it clear he didn’t want me there and basically said to leave while still speaking on the mic. He said it was interrupting his train of thought,” she said.

“I was breastfeeding at the time and felt very intimidated by him.

“He then turned to the crowd to get them to support him. Some of the crowd were heckling us as we left like he wanted them to. It was awful and humiliating.”

The mother of three said she was ‘extremely embarrassed’ after Barker ‘heckled’ her out of the theatre. Picture: Tony Gough

Despite audience members telling her to stay, Ms Faranda said she did not feel comfortable to remain and left the theatre.

She said about 12 other attendees left with her in solidarity.

“Not one of the theatre staff said anything to me about me bringing in my baby at the front door. Lots of people were interacting with her and telling me how cute she was,” she said.

“My experience highlights a broader issue of mothers feeling as though they can’t go anywhere when they have a dependent baby.

“My baby is 100 per cent breast milk fed, I can’t leave her at home. I rarely ever leave the house and now I’m scared to go to places after this.”

Despite audience members telling her to stay, Ms Faranda said she did not feel comfortable to remain and left the theatre. Picture: Tony Gough

Barker performed his new show Mind Field, which is strictly for audiences aged over 15, at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre from March 28 to April 21.

In a statement provided to the Herald Sun on Monday afternoon, Barker doubled down on his decision, claiming the baby had disrupted his performance.

“In my experience of doing comedy for nearly 35 years, an audience’s focus is a delicate thing. If a noise or movement distracts people mid joke, the payoff can be greatly diminished,” he said.

“At this point, with about 50 minutes of show left, I made a difficult decision. I calmly informed the woman holding the baby that the baby couldn’t stay. I felt bad doing so and stated this at the time, as well as several times throughout the remainder of the show.

“I also offered her a refund as she was getting up to leave — not because I felt at fault but because I felt bad for her having to leave.

“I want to be very clear that this was difficult decision that I made on behalf of the other 700 or so audience members who deserved to see the show they had paid for, uninterrupted.

“As is clearly stated on the ticket purchase site, this show was ‘Strictly for Audiences 15+. The theatre should have flagged this before seating her but for some reason they did not.”

Barker said he couldn’t see that the woman was breastfeeding, due to the bright stage lights.

“This was all to do with audio disruption of my show, nothing more.

For the record, I support public breastfeeding, as it’s perfectly natural,” he said.

Comedian Arj Barker forced mother Trish Faranda and her seven-month-old baby to leave his show.

A spokesman from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival said Barker was independently produced and performed at a venue not managed by the festival.

“However, any interaction between performers and their audiences requires sensitivity and respect,” they said.

“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.”

It comes after County Court judge Mark Gamble ejected a breastfeeding mother from pedophile Malka Leifer’s trial in March last year.

Judge Gamble was later cleared of any wrongdoing after an investigation by the judiciary watchdog

The decision sparked anger, with the mother saying she was left with feelings of “shame and humiliation”.

Originally published as Breastfeeding mother forced out of Arj Barker’s Melbourne comedy show