By Nell Geraets
Since Arj Barker asked a mother and her seven-month-old daughter to leave his comedy show on Saturday night, plenty of comedians and comedy fans have been wondering what they would have done in that situation.
Playing in front of babies and young children isn’t unique, but Barker’s decision mid-show to ask the mother and her child to leave has triggered a larger debate within entertainment circles over whether babies and live shows can ever successfully mix.
Meshel Laurie, co-host of comedy podcast Can We Be Real? and mother of 14-year-old twins, remembers what it was like having small babies, yet she still believes they do not belong at stand-up shows.
Gen Fricker (left), Morry Morgan (centre) and Meshel Laurie (right) share their thoughts on babies at live shows.
“There’s a lot more going on than you may realise when you go see a really skilful comedian. It’s not TV, it’s not a movie. You are actually part of the environment and part of an agreement,” Laurie says. “You have to play your part, which is to not introduce some kind of wildly strange element to the environment.”
Babies are a prime example of an unpredictable element, Laurie says. They cry, squirm and gurgle on a whim. The same baby who was kicked out of Barker’s show was too “cranky” to remain on-screen during a segment on The Project on Monday.
Exposing children to the arts is important, Laurie says, but that should never come at the expense of the performers’ focus and craft. Stand-up gigs are therefore probably not the most appropriate place for young children, unless it is a baby-friendly session, which Laurie says she is now considering adding to her line-up.
Some have defended Barker’s decision to ask the pair to leave, seeing it as a sign of his commitment to both his audience and material.
“It’s not really about Arj Barker v a crying baby. It’s really about an inconsiderate mother v the audience,” says Morry Morgan, founder of Melbourne’s Hard Knock Knocks comedy school. “All the responsibility has been put on to the comedian, but he’s got a job to do. And that’s a job that many people rely on for their paycheques.”
The incident also illuminates a double standard within the entertainment industries, Morgan says.
“If this had happened at a Les Misérables or Miss Saigon performance, it would have been a non-event. There’s an unwritten rule that there’s a certain maturity in theatre that perhaps doesn’t always transfer to audiences of stand-up, which is generally seen as a lot more relaxed, looser.”
Gen Fricker, who will be performing at the Sydney Comedy Festival in May, says she has performed in front of babies with no problem in the past. Though it always depends on the specific performer and the size of the venue, she says much of the beauty of a live show comes from the unplanned moments or audience interaction.
“Audiences have changed post-COVID in that they aren’t seeing as much. Also, this ‘Netflix special’ attitude has been brought to the live space, so people don’t give enough grace. But these things are live and made by humans, so they’re often prone to error and change,” Fricker says.
“People may not love crying babies, but it’s also what makes it fun and dangerous to be going out seeing stuff.”
‘No one size fits all’ rule
According to chief executive of Live Performance Australia Evelyn Richardson, policies around underage audience members can differ across the live event sector depending on the type of performance, its content, the audience and venue.
“There’s no ‘one size fits all’ rule,” Richardson says. “Performers are within their rights to ask audience members to quieten, move, or leave if they’re causing a distraction to their performance on stage.
“Whether it’s baby noises, food wrappings or mobile phones, it’s a pretty commonsense matter of respecting the work of those on stage, as well as the audience’s enjoyment of the performance.”
Most performers will include an age restriction for their shows, which oftentimes refers to the appropriateness of the content. For example, Barker’s show was advertised as 15+. However, these restrictions become more ambiguous when concerning infants who cannot comprehend the material.
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival generally welcomes infants to festival-managed venues, however, its terms and conditions page notes most shows are considered unsuitable for young children, unless specifically designated as a “Kids Show”.
“Parents or guardians should make reasonable enquiries to inform themselves about content and suitability of MICF shows for children,” the conditions say.
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