Arjun Singh, also known as Arj Barker
[1] (born August 12, 1974) is an Indian-American stand-up comedian and actor from San Anselmo, California. He has toured in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. [2] He was born to an engineer father and artist mother, and is half-Indian, half-European.
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ARJ BARKER TICKETS
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Works
Arj Barker has appeared on several television comedy shows since his 1997 appearance on
Premium Blend
. Most of his appearances are late-night shows such as
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
and
The Glass House
. He has had his own
Comedy Central Presents
episode on two occasions, first on 20 September, 2000 and again on 31 March, 2006. He also has appeared on the Australian show,
Thank God You're Here
on 18 October, 2006 and the 19th September, 2007 (the latter of which, he won).
Barker also co-wrote
The Marijuana-Logues
, an
off-Broadway show currently showing in
New York - the title is a parody of production
The Vagina Monologues
.
Doug Benson and Tony Camin also wrote the play, and all three perform in it as the original cast.
NBC had given him the lead role for
Nearly Nirvana
, a
sitcom originally scheduled for fall 2004. However, Barker was replaced in the lead role by the show's creator,
Ajay Sahgal, and the show never aired.
[3]
Arj Barker also appears in the
HBO sitcom
Flight of the Conchords
, as Dave, Bret and Jemaine's friend, whom they meet after moving to New York.
[4]
Style
Arj Barker could probably be best classified as an observational comedian. Unlike many other observational comics such as
Jerry Seinfeld, however, Arj Barker places the typical emphasis on an irrelevant portion of the joke. His actual punchlines are more akin to subtle or absurdist comedians, such as
Mitch Hedberg.
Arj and Poopy
Arj also has his own
Flash series,
Arj and Poopy
, based on some of his stand-up material, that stars him and his cat, Poopy, who talks by farting.
[5] The series is animated by
Bernard Derriman. The cat has acquired his own MySpace blog, which lists his hobbies as eating, watching TV, paper chains, star gazing, train spotting, golf caddying, bowling, fly fishing and chess.
[6] The series has been syndicated to
AtomFilms.
[7]
The episode "Unlucky in Love" won the Annecy 2006 animated film festival Internet Selection.
[8] The series also has a planned spin-off called Bouncy the Dog.
List of episodes
#"Experimentation"
#"Venetian Rowing Machine"
#"Philosopher"
#"Brutally Ambushed"
#"Long Distance Relationship"
#"Shpants"
#"Unlucky in Love"
#"Yoga"
#"Oh, Christmas tree"
#"Congo Windfall"
#"Poetreet"
Arj and Last Comic Standing
Arj was featured as a contestant on the first episode of the fifth season of
Last Comic Standing
, where he advanced to the Los Angeles semi-final round. He then failed to progress to the final 10 in the semi-final round.
References
- Real name and heritage
- Arj Barker's Biography: Chortle :The UK Comedy Guide
- The Vine: NBC finds new 'Nirvana' lead
- HBO: Arj Barker as Dave: Flight of the Conchords
- Arj and Poopy
- MySpace.com - Poopy - 101 - Garçon - San Francisco, CALIFORNIA - www.myspace.com/poopythecat
- AtomFilms: Arj & Poopy series
- "Unlucky in Love"