TV INTERVIEW: ARJ BARKER

Star of 'Flight of the Conchords' Talks Stand-Up & His New CD/DVD

By: Team Buzzine

February 17, 2010

Arj Barker was born and raised in California, but since 2006 (when he first appeared on the Australian show Thank God You’re Here), he has become a massive star down under. That status was cemented when Arj appeared as the indifferent frenemy Dave in HBO’s Flight of the Conchords with the pride of New Zealand, Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie. Back home in the States, Arj Barker is about to release a new comedy CD/DVD which Buzzine's Adam Ullian sat down to talk to him about...

Adam Ullian: You have a new release coming out called LYAO?

Arj Barker: It's a new DVD and CD. I also put out a one-hour comedy special which is a portion of that DVD. It's my best new material, although I'm already working on my next hour.

AU: What's your favorite topic?

AB: I don't have a favorite topic... Well, I do, but I don't have a lot of jokes about it. My two favorite topics right now are probably UFOs and near-death experiences, as far as having conversations with people, but I don't have a lot of friends left because of that.

AU: How was your experience with Flight of the Conchords?

AB: It was great; it was good fun. A lot of people loved the show and it was a great experience, but now it's ended and it's time to move on. I kind of had a feeling that was it, so I wasn't as shocked as a lot of people. It's more about getting a vibe, since I'm friends with the guys. No one specifically said, "This is it." Maybe it was more of what I didn't hear than what I did, if you know what I'm saying.

AU: Did you enjoy being on Last Comic Standing?

AB: It was okay. There are two problems. Number one is that any comedy contest isn't intrinsically fair. If you do go by audience reaction, the hacks are going to win every comedy contest. If you don't go by audience reaction, the audience is going to walk away and go, "That was bullshit. We liked the guy who did Christopher Walken and Robert DeNiro at 'The Last Supper.'" Generally, they tend to skew more toward audience reaction. I think a comedy contest is more of a judge of audience reaction than comedy. With a lot of reality television, there is a produced side to it where they want the final field to reflect different demographics, so it's not purely based on the results of the comedy contest.  So I'd say that those contests should be taken lightly, as a comic, and have fun for what it's worth.

AU: If you could be on any reality show, which one would it be?

AB: Probably Jersey Shore because they'd all shout, "Who the f*ck is that guy?" Or I could be the run-off collector on Rock of Love.

AU: Which member of The View are you most like?

AB: Hmmm. I've never watched that show. I'm vaguely aware of it. It's all those women who sit around chatting. I'm probably most physically similar to Joy Behar.

AU: What would you be doing if you weren't doing stand-up?

AB: I like mountain biking and rapping. I'm into music. I play guitar and I write rap songs. On the DVD, one of the extras is a video for a rap song I did. I love traveling and anything outdoors. Sometimes when I get asked that question I go, "Jesus, I don't really do very much, do I?" 

'LYAO' is out now on Warner Bros. Records DVD/CD