OK, so right here we are tackling a big one. As far as media goes, this is probably one thing that consumes the most time I spend listening, watching or playing. I listen to this every day, and nothing has made me laugh quite like it. For four years now, I have been listening to and in awe of Ricky Gervais' Radio/Podcast endeavours, backed up by writing partner Steve Merchant, and the quite unbelievable Karl Pilkington.
It started out as a coincidence. Whilst Gervais and Merchant were working at London radio station XFM, they were finding their feet and floundering slightly as shock jocks, presenters constantly getting rapped for saying the wrong things, at the wrong time. Enter Karl Pilkington, jingle producer who was on hand to be caretaker button-pusher for the boisterous pair. Slowly but surely, the chaps started talking to Karl, and realised they'd discovered a mind unlike any other.
"If you go on a world cruise, the problem is,
where do you go next year?"
The man is extraordinary. I'm sure you've half-heard of him from people extolling his virtues and making half-arsed attempts at explaining his genius. One thing people never do justice to, however, is his delivery. Fully serious, his deadpan monotone adds to the comic effect, and makes everything his says that little bit funnier. His musings and thoughts are fully pushed to the front by Gervais and Merchant, gently prodding him, sometimes abusing him, always encouraging him.
"After nearly choking on that Ice Pop,
I couldn't go back to eating 'em.
It's like asking a fella who's been run over if they wanna play Frogger."
It would be nothing though without the talent and chemistry that Gervais and Merchant bring to the table. The chemistry between the trio is nothing short of exhilerating, especially in the XFM days. The frenetic pace, the sense of the show collapsing at any moment and the genuine on-air thinking mean the show is charming, really fresh and feels 'real'. It never feels scripted, or proposterous, it genuinely feels as if what Karl is saying is real. And it is. I understand though, that for some people, just audio isn't enough. Step forward HBO...
"Little disabled fellas playing on the centre court at Wimbledon.
They couldn't get a rally going. They should of played Swingball."
HBO have set some of the best moments of the first series to a Cartoon, showing the action on the small screen, and bringing Karl to the masses. Already on it's 3rd episode in America, we get in in April, on Channel 4. The diehard fans are already loving it, but will the mainstream take it into it's bosom, and herald Karl as a genius? Or is it just too obscure for a family to understand? I'm unsure, but part of me kind of wants to keep this little gem a secret, a pleasure I divulge in, my own little secret club where I'm the fourth member, and we're just mates having a laugh.
Whatever happens, I URGE you to pick up the XFM shows, just to get a taste of what you may have been missing. Multiplayer games have never been the same for me, and games of COD or Battlefield are given a new dimension by turning the sound off, and being whisked away to the land of Pilkington. Pilkipedia, the number one resource on all things round-headed, have the archive of shows for your downloading pleasure, for free. You NEED to get stuck into these, please. They are so good, and so life-affirming, and so genuinely hilarious.
"You'll never see an old man eating a Twix. Think about it."
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