Karl Pilkington

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Karl Pilkington

Pilkington in 2007
Born 23 September 1972 (1972-09-23) (age 36)
Manchester, England
Occupation Former Head of Production at Xfm London
Podcast Presenter
Author
Spouse(s) Suzanne Whiston

Karl Pilkington (born on 23 September 1972) is a Sony Award-winning English radio producer, podcaster and author, best known for producing and co-presenting The Ricky Gervais Show on London radio station Xfm from 2001 to 2005 and later in the form of podcasts. In October 2006, Pilkington's first book The World of Karl Pilkington was published, featuring original ideas and drawings by Pilkington, based upon the subject matter discussed in the podcasts.[1] His second book, Happyslapped by a Jellyfish, was published in October 2007, and he was the subject of the Comedy Lab episode "Karl Pilkington - Satisfied Fool", which aired in October 2007.[2] His third book, Karlology, a musing on his views on his own intelligence, and attitude to learning, was released on October 1, 2008.[3]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Karl Pilkington grew up in Manchester, and spent much of his childhood in Porthmadog, Wales due to his father's work.[4] He was also educated in Manchester, but had neither the punctuality or the motivation to learn. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant contacted Karl's school after a conversation during their XFM show [5] and discovered that he attained only one GCSE for History, for which he achieved an "E" grade.[6] Pilkington was surprised and upset at this as he remembered sitting several other GCSE exams - including English, Maths, Physics and Art, where he recalled making a "little clay man with his arms in a car" - however, he appeared not to know that registration is required for the school to pay for the exams and for it to be marked, and that you cannot just "turn up on the day", which may explain the lack of other grades. His reason for not registering was that he "never got a letter or anything telling him". (which after the exam results prompted Gervais to have a new segment called "Re-Education of Karl" in which he gave Pilkington some small historical books on Che Guevara, Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, and Rasputin) [7]

Despite his absence, Pilkington has been remembered by a schoolmate on Friends Reunited as bringing to school his pet magpie "Maggie" to show his friends, before it unexpectedly flew away; a story confirmed by Pilkington during the show in which this story was revealed.

According to Pilkington, his first name was chosen as a result of his mother dreaming when she had pneumonia and being assured of her survival by a doctor whose name-tag read "Karl".[8]

Pilkington has been through a number of jobs, his favourite being his paper round, which he had at age 14.[9]

In December 2005, Pilkington stood in for two BBC 6Music shows for Nemone, and co-presented the shows with Russell Brand. They proved so popular that by the following April Brand was working as a permanent DJ at BBC 6Music, which was the forerunner to his Radio 2 show.

It is often mused by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, that Karl "has a head shaped like a fucking orange." This phrase has become well known by the British public, and possibly worldwide, as this phrase was shouted at Stephen Merchant by a British tourist in a Vietnamese airport.[10]

Pilkington is a supporter of Manchester United.[11]

Pilkington lives in London and Kent and is known as something of a social recluse; he is rarely seen in public, even by his closest friends.

Pilkington has voiced his opinion on many occasions about doppelgängers. He is quoted as once saying "How would I know which one I was"

[edit] Persona

On 24 April 2006, The New York Times ran an article about Ricky Gervais and the podcast which described Pilkington's behaviour as a well executed "deadpan comedian" routine which "crosses Ali G and Steven Wright".[12]

Merchant and Gervais themselves have repeatedly denied claims that Pilkington's comic persona is their creation. In an on-air response to similar claims made by Chris Campling during a broadcast on Xfm, Merchant stated that he would be "ashamed" if the radio show were scripted, adding that "If we came up with a character as good as Karl, we would never squander him on a poxy little radio station like this one".[13] Gervais concurred, pointing out that writing half-hour episodes of shows such as The Office and Extras took the two up to a year, thus making the writing of weekly two-hour radio shows extremely unlikely.

[edit] Celebrity

Graffiti in Augusta, Georgia, of Karl Pilkington and his famous soundbite "I could eat a knob at night".

As a result of the success of The Ricky Gervais Show podcasts in particular, Pilkington has become a cult celebrity. Pilkington has often been mentioned in interviews given by Gervais, and he is often on the receiving end of Gervais's practical jokes. When asked who was the funniest person he knew, Gervais said that Karl Pilkington was "the funniest man alive in Britain today."[14] In addition, Pilkington appears in a twenty minute interview on Ricky Gervais's live stand-up comedy DVD, Politics. He was also invited to be an extra on the final episode of Gervais' and Merchant's Extras.

Pilkington reached new heights of fame by commenting that he could "Eat a knob at night" during a discussion on the podcast The Ricky Gervais Show when a conversation about how contestants on I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! had to eat a kangaroo's penis.[15] Pilkington stated that, whilst in the morning he would be unable to face the appendage due to having a weak stomach, he would more than likely be able to eat it in the evening, 'when he had some rice or something on his stomach to bulk it up'. His phrase "I could eat a knob at night" has since spawned dance music remixes, T-shirts and other merchandise, as well as discussion on many websites. A newspaper commenting on this issue described Pilkington as a "phenomenon" who had made "Internet history".[16]

Pilkington also found work independently of Gervais and Merchant on a number of projects. He appeared as a guest on the Nation 277 series Flipside TV, been featured several times as a guest on BBC series The Culture Show,[17] was in several short films as part of the Channel 4 initiative "3 Minute Wonders", and Channel 4's "Karl Pilkington - Satisfied Fool" was broadcast 22 October 2007. The executive producer was Henry Normal, the co-owner of Baby Cow Productions[18]. Pilkington has also done voiceover work for such clients as Vodafone, HMV, Sony PSP, W H Smith and Unilever. [19]

[edit] Books

[edit] References

 This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2009)
  1. ^ Pilkington, K. (2006)
  2. ^ "Baby Cow Poductions". http://www.babycow.co.uk/flashmen.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-01. 
  3. ^ "Dorling Kindersley". http://www.dorlingkindersley-uk.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781405333351,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-21. 
  4. ^ Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2002, 9 February)
  5. ^ Ricky Gervaise XFM show - 23 January 2002
  6. ^ Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2002, 2 March)
  7. ^ Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2002, 23 February)
  8. ^ Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2003, 7 December)
  9. ^ "Karl Pilkington Biography". http://www.xfm.co.uk/Article.asp?id=86779. Retrieved on 2007-03-19. 
  10. ^ NME test radio broadcast 24/06/2008
  11. ^ "Famous Fan: Karl Pilkington". http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={6DDFCB6E-3471-4E45-9385-F04D05F4A70D}&newsid=2045384. Retrieved on 2008-06-29. 
  12. ^ Heffernan, V. (2006).
  13. ^ Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2005, June)
  14. ^ http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/karl-pilkington-the-funniest-man-alive-1139699.html
  15. ^ http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=I%20could%20eat%20a%20knob%20at%20night
  16. ^ Egan, Mark. "Podcast creates an unlikely Internet icon". Rickygervais.com. http://www.rickygervais.com/karlisacult.php. Retrieved on 2008-02-01. 
  17. ^ http://www.rlslog.net/the-culture-show-s08e03-ws-pdtv-xvid-remax/
  18. ^ Karl Pilkington
  19. ^ Qvoice Ltd
  20. ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/World-Karl-Pilkington/dp/0007240279
  21. ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Happyslapped-jellyfish-words-Karl-Pilkington/dp/1405328479
  22. ^ Karlology page at Waterstones.com
  1. Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2003, 7 December). The Ricky Gervais Show [Radio programme]. London: Xfm London
  2. Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2002, 23 February). The Ricky Gervais Show [Radio programme]. London: Xfm London
  3. Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2002, 9 February). The Ricky Gervais Show [Radio programme]. London: Xfm London
  4. Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2003, 26 July). The Ricky Gervais Show [Radio programme]. London: Xfm London
  5. Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2003, 2 August). The Ricky Gervais Show [Radio programme]. London: Xfm London
  6. Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2003, 1 November). The Ricky Gervais Show [Radio programme]. London: Xfm London
  7. Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2003, 8 November). The Ricky Gervais Show [Radio programme]. London: Xfm London
  8. Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2003, 29 November). The Ricky Gervais Show [Radio programme]. London: Xfm London
  9. Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2002, 2 March). The Ricky Gervais Show [Radio programme]. London: Xfm London
  10. Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2005, June). The Ricky Gervais Show [Radio programme]. London: Xfm London
  11. Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (2006, September). The Ricky Gervais Show [Podcast].
  12. Pilkington, K. (2006). "Ricky Gervais presents - The World of Karl Pilkington" Fourth Estate: London ISBN 978-1401303426
  13. GCap Media Plc authors, et al. (2007). "Karl Pilkington Biography" Retrieved 15 April 2007 from http://www.xfm.co.uk/Article.asp?id=86779
  14. Heffernan, V. (2006). "A Comic Expands His Persona via Podcast on The Ricky Gervais Show" Retrieved 15 April 2007 from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/24/arts/television/24heff.html (Requires full membership)
  15. Campling, C. (2005). "A Qualified success?" Retrieved 15 April 2007 from http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14934-1653726,00.html
  16. Amazon UK (2007). "Happy slapped by a jellyfish: the words of Karl Pilkington" Retrieved 24 June 2007 from Amazon
  17. RickyGervais.com (2008). "Ooohh Chimpanzee That!!! Monkey News" from Head Like A Fucking Orange
  18. The Karl Pilkington Poster Project (2008, 2 April). "What's the point of this blog?" from http://worldsroundesthead.blogspot.com

[edit] External links

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