Arj Barker
Arj Barker (born August 12, 1974) is an American stand-up comedian from California. He is relatively well-known among comedy fans in the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and many other parts of the world, continuing to tour venues in all these nations. He was born to an Engineer father and artist mother, and is off half-Indian extraction.
Works
Arj Barker has appeared on several television comedy shows since his 1997 appearance on Premium Blend. Most of his appearances are late-night shows such as Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Glass House. He has had his own Comedy Central Presents episode.
Barker also co-wrote The Marijuana-Logues, an off-Broadway show currently showing in New York - the title is a parody of production The Vagina Monologues. Doug Benson and Tony Camin also wrote the play, and all three perform in it as the original cast.
NBC had given him the lead role for Nearly Nirvana, a sitcom originally scheduled for fall 2004. However, Barker was replaced in the lead role by the show's creator, Ajay Sahgal, and then the show never aired. [1]
Style
Arj Barker could probably be best quantified as an observational comedian. Unlike many other observational comics such as Jerry Seinfeld, however, Arj Barker places the typical emphasis on an irrelevant portion of the joke. His actual punchlines are more akin to subtle or absurdist comedians, such as Mitch Hedberg.
Arj and Poopy
Arj also has his own Flash series, based on some of his stand-up material, that stars him and his cat, Poopy, who talks by farting. The cat has recently acquired his own MySpace blog which lists his hobbies as eating, watching TV, paper chains, star gazing, train spotting, golf caddying, bowling, fly fishing and chess. Also included on arjandpoopy.com are wallpapers, games and more all featuring the cartoon pair.
The series is animated by Bernard Derriman and has recently won the Annency 2006 animated film festival Internet Selection. The cartoon also has a planned spin-off called Bouncy the Dog.