Arj Barker and a gurgling baby: Comedians ask mother to leave Melbourne show sparks fury | News Australia

Comedian Arj Barker's interaction with a mother who brought a seven-month-old baby to his comedy show in Melbourne on Saturday night sparked outrage, sympathy and debate over the woman's decision to bring her baby to the concert and his decision to ask him to do so. leave.

The account of the incident is disputed, with mother Trish Faranda saying the baby was gurgling during the show and that she felt humiliated when the comedian asked her to leave the theater in front of 700 people.

Another audience member, interviewed by the Guardian, said the baby was crying and disrupted the performance several times before Barker politely asked the woman to leave.

The mother and baby were sitting outside the Athenaeum Theater watching the Barkers The Mind Field show, part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Faranda clarified that she didn't choose the seats and that her group sat toward the end of the row so they could get out quickly if the baby made a lot of noise.

Faranda told 3aw that during the show the baby was gurgling a bit, which is the equivalent of someone coughing and said Barker heard and joked about the noises, saying I was talking baby and she told me to take me outside.

Later in the show the baby made more noise, which Faranda described as she was gurgling a little, she was moaning, nothing very loud and she said Barker came and told her to leave the theater .

Faranda said she was humiliated, packed her bags and left. I wasn't comfortable staying, people were out having a good night's sleep, and it wasn't a big deal if he didn't make it [the babys noises]I don't want to have an impact on others.

Faranda said 10 or 12 other women, all mothers or grandmothers and able to relate to her experience, as well as a lovely gentleman, left the theater with her in protest.

However, Steven Adlard, a Melbourne-based doctor who was at the show, said the noises were more disruptive than the mother had indicated.

It wasn't a little gurgling, it was crying. I was on the second floor and I could hear it, he said. Arj was distracted, he was trying to tell a joke, he stopped very politely and said: would you mind? Could you please leave? and she just sat there, and the baby settled, and a few minutes later it started again.

He was trying to perform and he couldn't, he wasn't rude to her, he just said all these other people were there to hear the performance, and they can't.

Adlard said the experience was uncomfortable for everyone, Faranda, Barker and members of the public.

Really, I found it to be quite an upsetting thing for everyone involved. He was uncomfortable; she was, I'm sure, upset.

Barker said in a statement to ABC Radio: The show is strictly for ages 15 and over, as clearly stated on the ticketing website. She had a baby with her, the baby was disrupting my performance. On behalf of the other 700 people who paid to see the concert, I politely told him the baby couldn't stay. She thought I was joking, which made the exchange a little awkward. I felt bad about the whole situation and said so more than once that night. I offered him a refund. The theater staff shouldn't have seated a baby in my audience in the first place.

The show description on Ticketmaster said: This show is suitable for ages 15 and up. All customers must have a ticket, regardless of age.

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Adding to the online outrage is Faranda's claim that at the time he asked her to leave, she was breastfeeding her baby.

“I was actually breastfeeding when he came and stood in front of me and then he basically told me to leave,” she told 3AW, saying she found the intimidating interaction.

Barker clarified in a statement that his decision to ask Faranda to leave had nothing to do with the fact that she was breastfeeding the baby, and given the bright lights in her face, he could not see whether she was breastfeeding or No.

For the record, I support public breastfeeding because it is perfectly natural, he said in his statement.

The incident sparked furious debate online and fits into discussions around the exclusion of breastfeeding women and parents of young children from public places.

Melbourne Greens MP Ellen Sandell wrote on X: I'm furious to hear this. It's hard enough for new moms to participate in society with all the barriers put in front of them and be humiliated like that, because just trying to enjoy the comedy festival is horrible. Arj Barker should question himself and apologize.

Adlard said it took Barker a few minutes to regain his composure after the woman left the theater and he later made self-deprecating jokes about the incident, including saying the concert was his last performance for the comedy festival and probably my last in Melbourne.

Trish told 3aw that she would not return to see Barker perform again. No and the sad thing is I went to a lot of his shows before kids and you kind of get lost when you have kids and I was just trying to get back to something that I loved before 'have children.

Faranda and Barker have been contacted for comment.