COMEDIAN Arj Barker, the adopted favourite son of Australian audiences, is on the road again.
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And this time he’s inviting audiences to “Get in my head”.
‘’What are you waiting for? Hop on in, and let's ride,” Barker said.
It promises to be a confronting, informative but hilarious journey.
‘’I'll even mention fondue at some point, and that's a promise. So take a load off your mind, and get into mine already.’’
In recent years, the comic has spent more time in Australia than his American homeland.
In that time he has come to understand Australian culture perhaps better than we understand it ourselves. His stand-up is both insightful and pointed.
His current show is honed, but that’s not to say Barker trots out the same gags every night.
‘’There is an element that's a little different every night: the audience is different, I'm in a different mood from the night before,” Barker said.
“There is always an unknown element to live performance.
"You make things better, sometimes you might add something, drop something else, fix it up, tinker with it.”
As ever, Barker's shows draw on diverse inspiration: there's no rule or reason for the comedian when it comes to writing a new show.
"The whole process of coming up with material isn't scientific for me, it never has been," he said. "For me, I get my jokes kind of naturally and the best ones form over time in my mind. But it takes a little time - I can't just mass-produce material.
"The jokes come from all different places, sometimes it's a random thought that's not related to my immediate environment, sometimes it is. Sometimes it is something somebody said, sometimes it's something I said."
The key is taking the plunge and putting some - or a lot - of yourself into the show.
"It's really where you decide to focus too, a lot of it has to do with taking a chance and putting effort into taking something on to the stage from your personal life," he said.
"Most things aren't ready to go: you have to make them ready."
Barker cited Monty Python as a big inspiration during his teens and was elated to be able to meet one of the cast decades down the track.
"Then 30-something years later, I was a guest on a talk show in Sweden and the other guest was John Cleese; it was really nice to go from seeing someone on TV when you're a kid to one day getting to work with them," he said.
Barker will perform in The Showroom, at Wyong Leagues Club, on Friday night. Tickets cost $39.
Doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm show. The support act is Joel Ozborn.