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Karl Pilkington

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Karl Pilkington
Pilkington in 2008
Born (1972-09-23) 23 September 1972 (age 52)
Sale, Cheshire, England
Occupation(s)Television personality, presenter, actor, voice actor, radio producer, author, DJ
PartnerSuzanne Whiston (1994-present)

Karl Pilkington (born 23 September 1972) is an English television personality, social commentator, author and former radio producer. He gained prominence as the producer of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's radio programme on XFM.[1] He appeared on The Ricky Gervais Show, presented the Sky travel series An Idiot Abroad,[2] and made his full acting debut (following a cameo appearance in the final episode of Extras) on Gervais' 2012 comedy-drama series Derek. Pilkington, along with his girlfriend Suzanne Whiston, founded Round Ed Productions Ltd, a television production company that co-produced Comedy Lab: "Karl Pilkington: Satisfied Fool" with Baby Cow Productions.[3][4] Pilkington also co-founded RiSK Ltd, a television production company with his former radio show colleagues Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.[5]

Early life and education

Karl Pilkington was born in Sale, Cheshire in 1972. He was educated at Ashton-on-Mersey School, Ashton upon Mersey, Sale.

Career

Early work

Pilkington moved to London to work with XFM as a producer and after several years he began work on The Ricky Gervais Show, broadcast on Saturday afternoons. Initially Pilkington was solely the programme's producer. As Gervais and Merchant began to invite him to make the odd comment, Pilkington's persona came to light and his popularity increased. Pilkington was eventually included as a main element of the broadcasts, with large amounts of airtime often given over to his thoughts on various subjects, or various childhood stories. In December 2005, Pilkington stood in for two BBC 6 Music shows for Nemone, and co-presented the shows with Russell Brand.

Celebrity

Pilkington's presence on The Ricky Gervais Show podcasts significantly increased his popularity. He has often been mentioned in interviews given by Gervais, and is often the butt of Gervais' practical jokes. After saying "I could eat a knob at night" on the podcast (in relation to I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! contestants eating a kangaroo penis), Gervais encouraged his listeners to sample the sound bite and mix it into dance songs for night clubs. The phrase spawned several dance music mixes, T-shirts and merchandise. Many of Pilkington's quotes have since gained publicity, particularly on the Internet. Reuters, commenting on this issue, described Pilkington as a "phenomenon" who had made "Internet history".[6]

On 23 November 2010, while appearing live on Richard Bacon's Radio 5 Live afternoon show, Gervais surprised Pilkington with an on-air phone call. This led to a conversation where Pilkington, who claimed to have been interrupted while grouting his kitchen, said he had not yet been paid for his work on An Idiot Abroad and concluded the interview with an off-the-cuff link into the hourly news.[7] Pilkington has worked independently of Gervais and Merchant on several projects. He appeared as a guest on the shows Flipside TV and The Culture Show,[8] and appeared in several short films as part of the Channel 4 initiative "3 Minute Wonders".

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 was scripted, adding, "If we had created Karl, I would not have squandered a character that good on this poxy radio station".[9] Gervais concurred, pointing out that writing a single series' worth of half-hour episodes of shows such as The Office and Extras took the two of them up to a year to write. An interviewer for The Daily Telegraph concluded that Pilkington's persona is genuine.[10]

Television and DVD

In September 2010, Pilkington featured in a television series produced by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, An Idiot Abroad on Sky1.[11][12] The series documented a global adventure by Pilkington instigated by Gervais and Merchant in order to take Pilkington out of his comfort zone.[13] The series consists of eight 45-minute episodes tracking Pilkington as he negotiates the Wonders of the World in an attempt to broaden his horizons. The series is accompanied by a book published by Canongate and co-written by Gervais and Merchant.[14] The second series of An Idiot Abroad, entitled An Idiot Abroad: The Bucket List, debuted on 23 September 2011 on Sky1. The series involved Pilkington trying to cross items off a list of ultimate things to do before you die.[15] In June 2011, he won the Best Presenter Award for An Idiot Abroad at the Factual Entertainment Awards.[16]

Pilkington appeared in an interview on Gervais's live stand-up comedy DVD, Politics. The DVD of Gervais's film The Invention of Lying contains a special feature called Meet Karl Pilkington which is entirely devoted to documenting Pilkington's humiliating non-speaking caveman role in another special feature, The Dawn of Lying. He was given a small role in the final episode of Extras. Pilkington has performed voiceover work for such clients as One Stop Office Shop, FreeView, Vodafone, HMV, Sony PSP, W H Smith, Wickes, and Unilever. He made his acting debut on 12 April 2012 in the Channel 4 comedy-drama Derek, portraying caretaker and bus driver Dougie.[17]

Pilkington is going to appear in a five-part Sky1 comic documentary called "The Moaning of Life", which is set to air in 2013.[18]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Flipside TV Himself
2004 Politics Himself Segment: "Meet Karl Pilkington"
2006 3 Minute Wonder Himself Segment: "Some Thoughts by Karl Pilkington"
2007 Comedy Lab Himself Series 9, Episode 1: "Karl Pilkington: Satisfied Fool"[19]
2007 Extras Autograph Hunter Christmas Special
2009 Meet Karl Pilkington Himself The Invention of Lying DVD extra
2010–2012 The Ricky Gervais Show Himself
2010 An Idiot Abroad Himself
2011 An Idiot Abroad: The Bucket List Himself
2012–present Derek Dougie
2012 An Idiot Abroad: The Short Way Round Himself
2013 The Moaning of Life Himself

Film

Year - Role
2009 The Invention of Lying

(Deleted scene)

Caveman
2010 Cemetery Junction Guest at ball[20]
2013 Chingari Gangster/Journalist[21]

Audio

Year Title Role
2001–2009 The Ricky Gervais Show Himself

Bibliography

Year Title
2006 The World of Karl Pilkington[22]
2007 Happyslapped by a Jellyfish[23]
2008 Karlology: What I've Learnt So Far[24]
2010 An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington[25]
2012 The Further Adventures of An Idiot Abroad[26]

References

  1. ^ "Tonight's TV: The Ricky Gervais Show (XFM)". the times.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  2. ^ "Sky1: An Idiot Abroad". Sky1.sky.com. 23 September 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  3. ^ "Bizzy Business Information - Company number: 07096016 Round Ed Productions Ltd, Directors". bizzy.co.uk. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  4. ^ "IMDb Baby Cow Productions Ltd". imdb.com. 22 October 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  5. ^ "Bizzy Business Information - Company number: 07434153 RiSK Productions Ltd, Directors". bizzy.co.uk. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  6. ^ "Ricky Gervais... Obviously". Rickygervais.com. August 2004. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  7. ^ "Ricky Gervais makes a surprise call to Karl Pilkington". BBC News. 22 November 2010.
  8. ^ "Releaselog | RLSLOG.net » The Culture Show S08E03 WS PDTV XviD-REMAX". RLSLOG.net. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  9. ^ Pilkington, K. (Producer) & Merchant, S., Gervais, R. (Presenters). (June 2005)
  10. ^ "The idiot philosopher". The Daily Telegraph. 17 September 2006. Retrieved 28 May 2012. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "An Idiot Abroad". London: IMDB. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  12. ^ "An Idiot Abroad Official Site". Sky1.sky.com. 23 September 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  13. ^ "An Idiot Abroad". London: IMDB. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  14. ^ "An Idiot Abroad". London: Waterstones. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  15. ^ "An Idiot Abroad 2: About the Show - Sky1 HD". Sky1.sky.com. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  16. ^ Benzine, Adam. ""Deadliest Catch"," Amazing Race" win big at Factual Entertainment Awards » Realscreen". Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  17. ^ "Ricky Gervais: Karl Pilkington has proven to be a great actor in Derek". Metro.co.uk. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  18. ^ "Karl's mid-life crisis".
  19. ^ http://www.channel4.com/programmes/comedy-lab/episode-guide/series-125/episode-1
  20. ^ "Ricky Gervais... Obviously". Plumplard.com. Rickygervais.com. August 2004. Retrieved 21 November 2009.
  21. ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/bhojpuri/did-you-know/Karl-Pilkington-in-Bhojpuri-cinema/articleshow/15582283.cms. Retrieved 04 March 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  22. ^ "The World of Karl Pilkington: Amazon.co.uk: Karl Pilkington, Stephen Merchant, Ricky Gervais: Books". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  23. ^ "Happyslapped by a jellyfish : The words of Karl Pilkington: Amazon.co.uk: Karl Pilkington: Books". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  24. ^ Pilkington, Karl. "Karlology page at". Waterstones.com. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  25. ^ "An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington page at". Waterstones.com. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  26. ^ "An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington page at". Waterstones.com. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
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