Arj Barker
Acting
Biography
Arjan Singh Āulakh (born August 12, 1974), known by the stage name Arj Barker, is an American comedian and actor from San Anselmo, California. He has toured in North America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. He was born to an engineer father and artist mother. His father is of Indian Punjabi Sikh descent and his mother is of European descent. Barker started his career in comedy after graduating from high school in 1989. His first gigs were at a café called Caffe Nuvo in downtown San Anselmo where he hosted stand-up night every Sunday throughout the early 1990s. Barker appeared on Premium Blend in 1997, followed by appearances on the shows Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Glass House. He twice hosted Comedy Central Presents, first on September 20, 2000, and again on March 31, 2006. Barker was featured in Comedy Central's animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties. He appeared on the Australian show Thank God You're Here on October 18, 2006, September 19, 2007, and June 17, 2009. Barker co-wrote and performed in The Marijuana-Logues, an Off-Broadway show in New York City, with Doug Benson and Tony Camin. The title of the show was a parody of The Vagina Monologues. NBC gave Barker the lead role for sitcom Nearly Nirvana, originally scheduled for 2004. However, Barker was replaced in the lead role by the show's creator, Ajay Sahgal, and the show never aired Barker appeared in the HBO sitcom Flight of the Conchords, playing Dave. Barker has been successful in Australia for a number of years since first appearing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2000, and presently resides there. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, he won Best Comedy Release for Organic. During the 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Barker attracted widespread media attention in Australia for, while on stage in front of a live audience, demanding a mother breastfeeding her 7-month-old baby to leave and have her ticket refunded. Barker claimed the baby was interrupting his train of thought.
Known For
Each week Bill Maher surrounds himself with a panel of guests which include politicians, actors, comedians, musicians and the like to discuss what's going on in the world.
Real Time with Bill Maher
Stepping into the late-late slot vacated by David Letterman, Conan O'Brien stars in a show that far outdoes its competition in sheer strangeness. Along with the celebrity interviews and musical numbers typical of late-night talk shows, this program make frequent use of odd walk-on characters and frequent "visits" from celebrity guests.
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
A documentary-style look into the daily (or rather, nightly) lives of a group of vampires in Staten Island who have “lived” together for hundreds and hundreds of years.
What We Do in the Shadows
Topical comedy-quiz show featuring five guests competing to see who can remember the most about events of the week. A fast-paced, funny look at international affairs, politics, sport and entertainment news, we test just how well our contestants have been paying attention.
Have You Been Paying Attention?
Good News Week was an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and 11 February 2008 to 28 April 2012. The show's initial run aired on ABC until being bought by Network Ten in 1999. The show was revived for its second run when the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike caused many of Network Ten's imported US programmes to cease production. Good News Week drew its comedy and satire from recent news stories, political figures, media organisations, and often, aspects of the show itself. The show opened with a monologue by McDermott relating to recent headlines, after which two teams of three panellists competed in recurring segments to gain points. The show has spawned three short-lived spin-off series, the ABC's Good News Weekend, Ten's GNW Night Lite and Ten's skit-based Good News World.
Good News Week
The trials and tribulations of a two man, digi-folk band who have moved from New Zealand to New York City in the hope of forging a successful music career. So far they've managed to find a manager (whose "other" job is at the New Zealand Consulate), one fan (a married obsessive) and one friend (who owns the local pawn shop) -- but not much else.
Flight of the Conchords
Rove, formerly Rove Live, was an Australian television variety show which premiered on the Nine Network on 22 September 1999, before moving to Network Ten which aired the program from 2000 until November, 2009. The show was hosted by comedian Rove McManus, and featured an ensemble cast, who presented various segments throughout the course of the show. The show won the Logie Award for "Most Popular Light Entertainment Program" five times.
Rove
These half-hour specials showcased some of the best up-and-coming comedians of the moment. The show was a pivotal stepping stone for many of today's stand-up stars.
Comedy Central Presents
Premium Blend was a stand-up comedy series that aired on the American cable television channel Comedy Central from 1997 to 2005.
Premium Blend
Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation is an Australian game show produced by Granada Productions which premiered on Network Ten on 5 May 2009. It is hosted by Shaun Micallef. The first series ran for 18 episodes, with the original production order extended due to the success of the show. A second series of 26 episodes began airing from 7 February 2010. Series 2 had a planned hiatus after episode 10 on 18 April 2010 and returned to finish its run on 1 August 2010. Series 3 began on 8 February 2011. On 27 October 2011, Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation was renewed for a fourth series. On 22 January 2012, it was announced that the show would begin airing Series 4 on 1 February 2012 in an 8 pm timeslot.
Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation
Robins is a Swedish late-night talk show which premiered on SVT2 on August 23, 2006. The host is the young stand-up comedian Robin Paulsson from Malmö. The show's format is similar to that of other late-night shows, Robin makes jokes about recent news, shows sketches, and talks to a guest in the studio. One of the most popular sketches in the show features Robin appearing as Swedish football player Zlatan Ibrahimović.
Robins
Each episode involves performers walking through a door into an unknown situation, greeted by the line "Thank God you're here!". They then had to improvise their way through the scene. At the end of each episode a winner was announced.
Thank God You're Here
In a BattleBots event the competitors are remote-controlled armed and armored machines, designed to fight in an arena combat elimination tournament. If both combat robots are still operational at the end of the match the winner is determined by a point system based on damage, aggression, and strategy. The television show BattleBots aired on the American cable network Comedy Central for five seasons, covering five BattleBots tournaments. The first season aired starting in August 2000, and the fifth season aired starting in August 2002. Hosts of BattleBots were Bil Dwyer and Sean Salisbury and correspondents included former Baywatch actresses Donna D'Errico, Carmen Electra, and Traci Bingham, former Playboy Playmate Heidi Mark, and identical twins Randy and Jason Sklar. Bill Nye was the show's "technical expert". After five 'seasons', Comedy Central terminated their contract with BattleBots Inc. in late 2002.
BattleBots
My Coolest Years is a television program that aired on VH1 in which actors, musicians, and other celebrities reminisce about their high school years.
My Coolest Years
A US property developer realises that he has a battle on his hands when he tries to renovate a London building containing a vast photographic collection and discovers that the library employees will resort to anything to thwart him.
Shooting the Past
A coming of age story about the quirky lives of car salesman.
Car Babes
Determined to find out the true effects of marijuana on the human body, stand-up comedian and former Stoner of the Year Doug Benson documents his experience avoiding pot for 30 days and then consuming massive amounts of the drug for 30 days. More than just an amusing story of one man's quest to get superhigh, this documentary also examines the hotly contested debate over medical marijuana use.
Super High Me
Shaun Micallef joins six beloved comedians as they undertake transformative journeys around the world, diving deep into their culture, history and identity
Shaun Micallef's Origin Odyssey
A selection of comics from the Montreal International Comedy Festival
Just For Laughs: Over The Edge
An isolated guy with cerebral palsy is railroaded into helping an unassertive comedienne, and finds love and acceptance through stand-up comedy.