Comedy Festival 2018: Arj Barker takes aim at life in modern society in We Need To Talk ★★★½
PART Zen Master, part philosopher, all stand-up: Arj Barker entertains with his comedic insights into the downsides of living in our modern world.
Comedy Festival
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ARJ Barker is tired. In his brand new show, We Need To Talk, the 43-year-old American observational/satirical stand-up, tells us he’s tired of the obsessions of living in a modern world and sick of things being the latest and greatest.
The highly articulate Barker, now a familiar mainstay of the Australian comedy stage, modulates his 85-minute routine from Zen Buddhist prayer quiet, to Spinal Tap 11 on the 10-scale loud.
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According to the comedian/philosopher, to live is to suffer, and we should be aware of the direction we’re taking with technology, with each other, and with ourselves. Too much exponential choice has rendered us anxious, impatient, and depressed.
Taxis are too slow and passé, while Uber drivers arrive too darn fast; we use our pets’ names as passwords; too many useless mobile apps offer equally useless life hacks; and child attention spans have been obliterated thanks to mobile technology.
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In 2017, Barker got married. The most liberating thing that happened to him since getting married is that he can now wear camping pants; he gets the biggest laughs of the night from small things like the many uses for the diagonally stitched pockets on those pants.
While the last 15-20 minutes of Barker’s show are overly self-indulgent and self-promotional — Barker is so clever, he’s developed a collection of uplifting, motivational stickers for nearly every occasion — we forgive the charming Barker because he’s an absolute optimist, the world is getting better (so says Barker), and because, ultimately, he is the self-anointed, one true prophet!
Arj Barker, We Need To Talk
Melbourne Town Hall, cnr Swanston and Collins sts, Melbourne, until Saturday April 22.
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