For those people who have listened to the podcasts or watch the Ricky Gervais show, it will come as no surprise that Karl Pilkington, their former XFM Producer, has risen to prominence on a show centred around him rather than his better known cohorts.
Karl Pilkington – The Man
Predominantly the butt of jokes at the hands of Ricky Gervais, Pilkington is often described as a dour Mancunian who is pretty miserable for the vast majority of his day. His unintentionally accurate and dry observations if life are a constant source of amusement to Gervais and Merchant, as is his steadfast refusal to be overly impressed with any subject matter that he is asked to comment on.
However he is also as intelligent as he is funny and has come to realise that being the source of amusement to Gervais in the form of a modern day court jester could propel him, somewhat reluctantly it has to be said, into the public eye. And An Idiot Abroad therefore became reality.
An Idiot Abroad – The Concept
Each week Pilkington is sent to see one of the seven wonders of the world by Merchant and Gervais as a sort of elaborate practical joke. However before he can get to each of the respective wonders he is actively encouraged, or coerced, into sampling the local cultures.
To date this has seen him regurgitate many unpalatable local delicacies, refuse to ride a bull and a camel, nearly be attacked by bees, wasps and fireworks, take part in a Mexican wrestling school, have a dodgy stomach for days on end, be covered in painted flour at a festival and learn some forms of martial arts. And this is not an exhaustive list by any means. All these activities have left Pilkington in a constant state of either panic or utter bewilderment, neither being anything less than hilarious.
Karl Pilkington and the Seven Wonders of the World
And then when he has reached the wonders he has been less than impressed in his unique assessments of them. The Great Wall of China was deemed a bit of a con as some of it has scaffolding suggesting it was fairly recent, the Taj Mahal was annoying as there were too many people trying to visit it, Petra City was deemed not as inhabitable as the empty cave across the road and the Chichen Itza was too much like the pyramids and not as interesting as a lady tourist who fainted nearby.
There are still three wonders to go, the Pyramids, Christ the Redeemer and Machu Picchu. One can only speculate what Pilkington will make of these.
The show so far has been utterly wonderful. It is undoubtedly educational as Merchant and Gervais are trying to give us a laugh at our hero’s misery but they also want the true culture of these weird and wonderful places to bleed through the screen.
However the comedy simply does not stop. Pilkington is so endearing and unlike most of us, he says exactly what he is thinking. He smiles at people in India who don’t acknowledge him so he thinks out loud that smiling might have other connotations in India. He thinks the food that the Mayans eat is not substantial enough so he offers them Monster Munch!
Whereas Gervais and Merchant are undoubtedly funny with the written word and adopting wonderful characters, Pilkington is hysterical for allowing us on this ride with him and just being himself.
Steve Bartle - Steve Bartle, is a 33 year old from Bradford in the UK. He has had a successful and varied career to date performing such roles as a ...
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