An Australian comedian has been praised for how she handled having a baby in the audience at a recent stand-up show, with some on social media declaring comic Arj Barker “needs to see” video of the incident.
Sydney-based comedian Jenny Tian posted video from a recent gig on her socials as Barker’s conduct during a Melbourne show over the weekend ignited fierce public debate.
In short, Barker was distracted by a mother with a noisy baby sitting within the first few rows of his show at Melbourne’s Athanaeum Theatre on Saturday night, and asked her to leave the premises.
Things turned ugly as other audience members heckled the new mum, who later said she felt “humiliated” by the premature end to her night.
In video posted to her socials overnight, Tian showed how she handled a similar issue during a recent show.
“Is there a baby in here?” she asked of the audience after hearing the infant.
“I always knew with TikTok I had influence with the younger generation – I didn’t know it would be this young,” she continued, to laughter from the crowd.
Then, she addressed the baby’s parent directly: “If for any reason you feel like you do have to leave and relieve your baby, I won’t be offended. You do what you have to do … cool parents!”
And on with the show.
On TikTok, fans were quick to praise Tian for how she’d handled the situation, particularly in comparison to Barker:
“Hey Arj Barker, this is how you handle it.”
“A professional comedian! I think Arj Barker needs to see this.”
“Handled with class.”
However, the same clip posted to Tian’s Instagram account received a much more mixed response, with many arguing a stand-up concert is no place for a baby – particularly one who is disrupting the comedian’s flow.
And as debate still rages, today comes another eyewitness report from an audience member at Saturday’s show – who is firmly Team Barker.
In a letter to the editor published by The Age, Melbourne resident Carole Marshall writes that she wished to “offer some clarity” about what went on in the room that night.
Seated towards the back of the 800-odd seat theatre, Marshall said she could hear the baby as it “cried out several times and made loud noises”.
Marshall wrote that Barker “politely” asked the mother to leave: “The mother has said she found Barker intimidating but he did not tower over her, criticise breastfeeding or was in any way belligerent.
“He was clearly embarrassed and uncomfortable that he was forced to say something to save his concentration and his show.”
Meanwhile, Barker and the mother in question, went head-to-head on-air yesterday having embarked on their own separate media blitzes in recent days to share their respective sides of the story.
But surprisingly, the fireworks between them were nothing compared to Barker’s spat with radio host Erin Molan, who was facilitating the on-air encounter on 2DAY FM’s Hughesy, Ed & Erin yesterday.
After Barker took a swipe at Molan during the interview, the radio host complained that “we’ve had Arj on this show twice, and he’s shut me down on both occasions, so maybe sometimes the way that he speaks to people doesn’t always come across that well.
“I’m happy to cop it once – but that second time was actually rude,” she told him.