Karl Pilkington: Difference between revisions

After working with [[Ricky Gervais]] and [[Stephen Merchant]] as producer on their [[Radio X (United Kingdom)|XFM]] radio show, Pilkington became a co-host of ''[[The Ricky Gervais Show]]''. He presented the [[Sky UKBSkyB|Sky]] travel comedy series ''[[An Idiot Abroad]]'' and the [[Sky One1]] travel comedy series ''[[The Moaning of Life]]''. He made his acting debut in Gervais's comedy-drama series ''[[Derek (TV series)|Derek]]'' and co-founded the television production company RiSK Productions alongside Gervais and Merchant. He also co-created, co-wrote, and starred in the comedy series ''[[Sick of It (TV series)|Sick of It]]''.

Pilkington was born on 23 September 1972<ref>{{cite episode |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ncWbyqINcY&t=2538 |title=The Ricky Gervais Show Series 2 Episode 34 |access-date=14 October 2019 |series=The Ricky Gervais Show |station=XFM |date=12 April 2003 |transcript=Transcript |transcript-url=http://www.pilkipedia.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=12_April_2003/Transcript |archive-date=15 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115064435/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ncWbyqINcY&gl=US&hl=en&has_verified=1&bpctr=9999999999 |url-status=live }}</ref> in [[Sale, Greater Manchester|Sale]], [[Cheshire]] (modern day [[Greater Manchester]]).<ref>[https://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/news/16260756.waynes-world-karl-pilkington-growing-trafford/ Wayne's World: Karl Pilkington on growing up in Trafford] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715121458/https://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/news/16260756.waynes-world-karl-pilkington-growing-trafford/ |date=15 July 2021 }}, Wayne Devlin, Messenger, 31 May 2018</ref> 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.<ref>{{Citation|title=The Complete Karl Pilkington on Family (A Compilation with Ricky Gervais & Steve Merchant)| date=24 December 2018 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqZ-mBXqUmI| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/ZqZ-mBXqUmI| archive-date=2021-11-17 | url-status=live|language=en|access-date=2021-04-18}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He attended [[Ashton-on-Mersey School]] in Sale.<ref name="ind">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/karl-pilkington-ricky-gervaiss-extra-pair-of-hands-416309.html |title=Karl Pilkington: Ricky Gervais's extra pair of hands |newspaper=The Independent |date=17 September 2006 |access-date=1 September 2015 |archive-date=25 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925144602/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/karl-pilkington-ricky-gervaiss-extra-pair-of-hands-416309.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 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 a [[Youth Training Scheme]] programme.<ref>{{Citation|title=#TSP055 - Karl Pilkington Podcast| date=19 September 2018 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyBkXnH47sg|language=en|access-date=2021-03-25|archive-date=29 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629014506/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyBkXnH47sg|url-status=live}}</ref>

Pilkington's presence on ''The 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's [[practical joke|pranks]] and insults directed towards the spherical appearance of his bald head, which has often been compared to an [[Orange (fruit)|orange]]. During the podcast, Pilkington would often discuss his bizarre upbringing and worldview, alongside absurd news stories (often concerning [[chimpanzees]]) which he would often assert were nonfictional (despite containing obvious fictitious aspects). Oftentimes, these news stories were submitted to Pilkington via email and he would recount them for Gervais and Merchant without checking their authenticity or the credibility of the senders: often leading Gervais to become irate.

AfterIn Pilkington claimed he could "eatdescribing a knobchallenge at night" on the podcast (in relation tofrom ''[[I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!|I'm a Celebrity]]'' in which contestants [[I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (UK TV series)#Bushtucker trials|eatingconsumed a kangaroo penis]]), Pilkington claimed the challenge was more difficult than presented due to contestants consuming 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 mixremix 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 meme|Internet history]]".<ref>{{cite web |date=August 2004 |url=http://www.rickygervais.com/karlisacult.php |title=Ricky Gervais... Obviously |publisher=Rickygervais.com |access-date=12 November 2010 |archive-date=28 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128170427/http://www.rickygervais.com/karlisacult.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

Pilkington supported [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] as a child, but has supported [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] since the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45651999 |title=Premier League predictions: Lawro v comedian Karl Pilkington |work=BBC Sport |date=30 September 2018 |access-date=27 January 2019 |archive-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215232253/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45651999 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Features/2008/May/Famous-fan-Karl-Pilkington.aspx?pageNo=1|title=Famous fan: Karl Pilkington - Official Manchester United Website|website=www.manutd.com|access-date=4 May 2018|archive-date=21 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421202041/http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Features/2008/May/Famous-fan-Karl-Pilkington.aspx?pageNo=1|url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2020, he revealed on ''[[Sunday Brunch]]'' that he had been attempting to eat fewer animal products and described himself as a [[Semi-vegetarianism|flexitarian]].<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/YmXDcng6JgI Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200905231912/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmXDcng6JgI&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmXDcng6JgI| title = Karl Pilkington's Best Moanments {{!}} Sunday Brunch | website=[[YouTube]]| date = 19 January 2020 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>