Karl Pilkington | |
|---|---|
 Pilkington in 2008 | |
| Born | (1972-09-23)23 September 1972 (age 52) |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Partner | Suzanne |
| Website | karlpilkington |
Karl Pilkington (born 23 September 1972) is an English presenter, actor, voice-artist, producer and author.
After working withRicky Gervais andStephen Merchant as producer on theirXfm radio show, Pilkington became a co-host ofThe Ricky Gervais Show. He presented theSky travel comedy seriesAn Idiot Abroad and theSky One travel comedy seriesThe Moaning of Life. He made his acting debut in Gervais's comedy-drama seriesDerek and co-founded the television production company RiSK Productions alongside Gervais and Merchant. He also co-created, co-wrote, and starred in the comedy seriesSick of It.
Pilkington was born on 23 September 1972[1] inSale,Cheshire (modern dayGreater Manchester).[2] He grew up in the Racecourse Estate in Sale, and has an elder sister and brother. He has discussed having a close relationship with his parents, and has shared stories about his mother and father holding multiple jobs. However, he was never close to his siblings, which he attributed to being 10 years younger than them; he once said that it had been "years" since he had last talked to them.[3] He attendedAshton-on-Mersey School in Sale.[4] He said that he never liked school and struggled with the system, at some point losing all interest in it. He has said he attended school only to sell items to his schoolmates, usually video games that he had purchased and made copies of. He said, "I wasn't going to school to learn, I was going to earn." At the age of 15, he dropped out of school to work as a cassette and disk printer through aYouth Training Scheme programme.[5]
Pilkington moved toLondon to work as a producer atXfm, where he was later promoted to head of production.[6] While there, he unintentionally causedGail Porter to leave the station in tears after only one show; he criticised her performance, which Pilkington defended as an attempt to encourage improvement.[7]
After several years, he began work onThe Ricky Gervais Show. Initially, Pilkington was solely the programme's producer and rarely spoke on air, but as Gervais and Merchant began to frequently invite him to makecameo appearances, Pilkington'seccentric personality and unconventional views came to prominence and his popularity increased. He was eventually included as a main presenter on the broadcasts, with large amounts of airtime devoted to his controversial opinions on various subjects: often due to his misunderstanding of the stories.
Pilkington created many features for the broadcasts, including Monkey News, Rockbusters, Educating Ricky and many others.[8] Rockbusters garnered the most attention, with regular emails being sent to the station by listeners in the hope of winning a prize. These prizes were often mundane and low quality and were often referred to as things Pilkington "picked up from around the office". In December 2005, Pilkington stood in on twoBBC Radio 6 Music shows forNemone, co-presenting withRussell Brand.[9]
Pilkington's presence onThe Ricky Gervais Show podcasts significantly increased his fame. He has often been mentioned in interviews given by Gervais and is often the victim of Gervais'spranks and insults directed towards the spherical appearance of his bald head, which has often been compared to anorange. During the podcast, Pilkington would often discuss his bizarre upbringing and worldview, alongside absurd news stories.
In describing a challenge fromI'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in which contestantsconsumed a kangaroo penis, Pilkington claimed the challenge was more difficult than presented due to contestants' consuming of the kangaroo penis on an empty stomach. Pilkington reasoned that he could perform the challenge should it occur later in the day, surmising "I could eat a knob at night". In response to Pilkington's claim, Gervais encouraged his listeners to sample the humorous sound bite and remix it into dance music. The phrase spawned several dance music mixes, T-shirts and other merchandise. Many of Pilkington's quotes have since gained publicity, particularly on the Internet.Reuters described Pilkington as a "phenomenon" who had made "Internet history".[10]
On 23 November 2010, while appearing live onRichard Bacon'sRadio 5 Live afternoon show, Gervais surprised Pilkington with an on-air phone call. This led to a conversation in which Pilkington, who claimed to have been interrupted whilegrouting his kitchen, claimed that he had not yet been paid for his work onAn Idiot Abroad and concluded the interview with an improvised link into the hourly news.[11]
Pilkington has worked independently of Gervais and Merchant on several projects. He appeared as a guest on the showsFlipside TV andThe Culture Show,[12] and appeared in several short films as part of theChannel 4 project3 Minute Wonders.[citation needed]
Merchant and Gervais have repeatedly denied claims that Pilkington's 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 had been scripted, adding that "I would not have squandered a character that good on this poxy radio station."[13] Gervais concurred, pointing out that writing a single series's worth of six half-hour episodes of shows such asThe Office andExtras consumed as long as a full year of their time. An interviewer forThe Daily Telegraph concluded that Pilkington's behaviour is genuine.[14]
In 2019, a species of insect from theMutillidae family was namedTraumatomutilla pilkingtoni after a recurring gag on the Ricky Gervais Show, in which Gervais would compare the rounded shape of Pilkington's head to an orange.[15]
Pilkington appeared in an interview titledMeet Karl Pilkington on Gervais's live standup comedy DVDPolitics (2004). The DVD of Gervais's filmThe Invention of Lying (2009) contains a special feature also calledMeet Karl Pilkington[16] that documents his participation in the film as a non-speakingcaveman in another special feature,The Dawn of Lying.[17][unreliable source?] He was given a small role in the final episode ofExtras.
In September 2010, Pilkington starred inAn Idiot Abroad,[18] a light-heartedSky One travel documentary series produced by Gervais and Merchant in which he visits theNew 7 Wonders of the World while participating in various activities along the way.[19] He wrote a book to accompany the series.[20]
The second series, subtitledThe Bucket List, debuted on 23 September 2011 on Sky One and features Pilkington partaking in ultimate experiences from a list selected for him.[21] In June 2011, he won the Best Presenter award forAn Idiot Abroad at the Factual Entertainment Awards.[22] The third series of the show,An Idiot Abroad: The Short Way Round, premiered in November 2012 and showed Pilkington andWarwick Davis travelling theMarco Polo route.[23][24]
Pilkington made his acting debut on 12 April 2012 in theChannel 4 comedy-dramaDerek, portrayingcaretaker and bus driver Dougie. He left the show after the first episode of the second series. From 2013 to 2015, Pilkington starred in a two-series Sky One documentary calledThe Moaning of Life.[25] From 2018 to 2020, he co-wrote and starred in a Sky One scripted sitcom calledSick of It.[26][27]
In 2022, Pilkington starred in theITV dramaThe Thief, His Wife and the Canoe as DC Phil Bayley. Pilkington has also performedvoice-over work for such clients as Sky TV, One Stop Office Shop,Freeview,Vodafone,HMV,PlayStation Portable,WHSmith,Wickes,Unilever andSMARTY.
In 2023, Pilkington appeared in the comedy-drama seriesRain Dogs. In 2024, he guest starred in theBBC detectivedramedyLudwig.
In 2014, Pilkington designed and signed his own card for theThomas Coram Foundation for Children charity. The campaign was launched by crafting company Stampin' Up! UK; his card, along with those designed and signed by other celebrities, was auctioned oneBay in May 2014.[28]
Pilkington resides inSandbanks,Poole,Dorset.[29] He is in a long-term cohabiting relationship with his partner, Suzanne, whom he frequently mentions in his work.[30][31]
Pilkington supportedManchester City as a child, but has supportedManchester United since the 1990s.[32][33] In January 2020, he revealed onSunday Brunch that he had been attempting to eat fewer animal products and described himself as aflexitarian.[34]
Regarding his experience of other religions during the production ofAn Idiot Abroad, Pilkington noted that "Religion was never a big part of my life. I wasn't christened."[35] Nevertheless, he commented that "I've always thought of myself as sort of aBuddhist."[36]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | The Invention of Lying | Caveman | Cameo, cut from final release. |
| 2010 | Cemetery Junction | Extra | |
| 2012 | Chingari | English Reporter |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Flipside TV | Himself | |
| 2006 | 3 Minute Wonder | Segment: "Some Thoughts by Karl Pilkington" | |
| 2007 | Comedy Lab | Episode: "Karl Pilkington: Satisfied Fool"[37] | |
| Extras | Autograph Hunter | 1 episode; "2007 Christmas Special" | |
| Monkey Lovers (documentary) | Himself | Voice | |
| 2010–2012 | The Ricky Gervais Show | ||
| An Idiot Abroad | 21 episodes | ||
| 2012–2014 | Derek | Dougie | 8 episodes |
| 2013–2015 | The Moaning of Life | Himself | 11 episodes |
| 2018–2020 | Sick of It | Karl | 12 episodes; also creator and writer |
| 2022 | The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe | DC Phil Bayley | 2 episodes |
| 2023 | Rain Dogs | Simon | 2 episodes; series 1 episodes 7 & 8 |
| 2024 | Ludwig | DI Matt Neville |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–2011 | The Ricky Gervais Show | Himself |
| Year | Title | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The World of Karl Pilkington | 978-0007240272 |
| 2007 | Happyslapped by a Jellyfish | 978-1405328470 |
| 2008 | Karlology: What I've Learnt So Far[38] | 978-1405333351 |
| 2010 | An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington[39] | 978-1847679260 |
| 2012 | The Further Adventures of An Idiot Abroad[40] | 978-0857867490 |
| 2013 | The Moaning of Life: The Worldly Wisdom of Karl Pilkington[41] | 978-1782111511 |
| 2016 | More Moaning: The Enlightened One Returns | 978-1782117315 |
This remarkable species, is named in honor of the British philosopher, comedian, radio personality, presenter, author, and actor Karl Pilkington due to its rounded orange head.
Gervais set up Risk Productions along with Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington to make the second series following the success of the first Mentorn Media-produced series.
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