The Barker

Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart is a memory
And there you’ll always be
– J. Patch / R. Rich

He’s an illustrator and art director, but just like some other irrepressible creative spirits, when he’s skiving from that he makes jokes on the internet.

His name is Chris Barker, aka Chris the Barker. His daughter wished someone else was her dad. “Someone specific. That man who goes on holiday and cooks shrimps on the beach”. They worked through the details and it turns out she means Ainsley Harriott. Chris’ daughter wishes Ainsley Harriott was her dad.

From 2016, at the end of each year, Chris collects celebrities who have died in the past 12 months into a Sgt. Pepper’s album cover collage. In 2022, his thread of edits of famous artworks, tweaked to include classic TV references, was so popular that it led to a book, Brush Strokes: Fine art blended with light entertainment, a 2023 calendar and an exhibition at the Museum of Comedy in the undercroft of St George’s Church, in Bloomsbury, London.