"An Idiot Abroad" (Season 2) - Sky1

Ash.J.Williams

it was decent...not as funny as the preview show with the 3 of them...his oddness got a bit annoying during the massage....he just seemed rude rather than funny.

L31mr0d

Loved the animated HBO show, having never listened to the podcasts originally.

Karl P. has become a bit of a caricature now though. I still find him immensely humorous but I don't believe for a second that the way he talks and acts isn't his shtick.

At a few points during the episode in China you could see him visibly trying to force his face to remain vacant looking and hold back laughing.

bad2dabone

perhaps, but it was still hilarious. Loved it. Loved the preview of the india episode too - looks class.

RandolphEsq

I loved when he was taking a piss and saw that the cubicles had no doors. Then Ricky's laugh over the phone as he told him was hilarious!

Horse_box

Lads if you havn't heard the podcasts yet go download them on pilkipedia. I listen to them on the bus in the morning and find myself getting funny looks because I crack up laughing so regularly. They are the funniest trio ever

BaZmO*

Mr E wrote: »

For someone who is supposed to be an idiot, his insight and wit are pin sharp.

Kepti wrote: »

He's not playing a character, that's really what he's like.

L31mr0d wrote: »

Karl P. has become a bit of a caricature now though. I still find him immensely humorous but I don't believe for a second that the way he talks and acts isn't his shtick.

At a few points during the episode in China you could see him visibly trying to force his face to remain vacant looking and hold back laughing.

I'm a 100% certain that it's just an act with Karl Pilkington, an extremely funny one, but an act nonetheless. He's just very good at observational comedy and is able to hide his laughter extremely well with his deadpan expressions, although there were a couple of times when the mask did look like it was slipping during the show.

The thing that finally convinced me that it was all an act was during the preview show where he was playing the idiot to something or other and then he just switched into promo mode and started talking about how lucky everybody would be to get to see the show because Sky were so great. (or something along the lines)

All that aside, I still think that what he does is pure genius, and even more so because he actually comes up with the stuff. And the new show is hilarious.

Mr E

Anyone know if the book is any good? I was looking out for it today in a local bookshop but they didn't have it. Is it worth tracking down?

Anyone know if the DVD/Bluray has any extras? The listings are a bit light on details....

Tchaikovsky

BaZmO* wrote: »

I'm a 100% certain that it's just an act with Karl Pilkington, an extremely funny one, but an act nonetheless. He's just very good at observational comedy and is able to hide his laughter extremely well with his deadpan expressions, although there were a couple of times when the mask did look like it was slipping during the show.

The thing that finally convinced me that it was all an act was during the preview show where he was playing the idiot to something or other and then he just switched into promo mode and started talking about how lucky everybody would be to get to see the show because Sky were so great. (or something along the lines)

All that aside, I still think that what he does is pure genius, and even more so because he actually comes up with the stuff. And the new show is hilarious.

The thing is, it's even funnier when you can see he's desperately trying to suppress his laughter. There's a podcast in which he just can't stop laughing- check it out. I don't think it's an act, he's only human and there are going to be times when he laughs or go into promo mode or whatever- he does work in radio after all.

Some of the gems from the podcast-
"I passed by this homeless bloke, right? Get this: homeless.... Chinese bloke. I've never seen one of them."

[Karl's Diary] "I picked up this piece of paper and there was a list written in biro. It was really old and it said 'Nappies, Dummy, Blanket'. Then I turned the paper over and it said 'No need for these, baby now dead'."

[Karl's Diary] "Woke up at 9.55am. I looked at Suzanne, she looked at me. I said to her 'have I told you about the immune system?'. She started laughing. I said 'it's amazing!', she said 'not now'."

"I could eat a knob at night".
:D:D:D:D

Skid

If Karl Pilkington is an actor then he deserves every Oscar, Bafta, Golden Globe and Emmy going for the next decade.

There's a possibility he is acting - but I just don't believe it. He's kept the act going for hundreds of hours on XFM, podcasts and audiobooks and Tv appearances.

The only slight doubt I have is that you never see his partner Suzanne. How would anyone stay with Karl for so long?

Either way, to anyone who enjoyed the show but hasn't heard Karl before - once you start listening to the old material (podcasts and XFM shows) you won't stop. He is always, always funny and frequently hilarious. Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant are smart enough to be the provocateurs to Karl, but not to dominate the airtime. There is no-one like Karl - legend.

H8GHOTI

On the podcasts, what are the best ones? There's so many to go through. Where to start? The XFM ones? The Ricky Gervais Guide To...... series?
Had no interest before really, as I'm not really a huge fan of Ricky or Steve but Karl is amazingly funny, so I'll check them out for him.

BaZmO*

SkidMark wrote: »

If Karl Pilkington is an actor then he deserves every Oscar, Bafta, Golden Globe and Emmy going for the next decade.

There's a possibility he is acting - but I just don't believe it. He's kept the act going for hundreds of hours on XFM, podcasts and audiobooks and Tv appearances.

The only slight doubt I have is that you never see his partner Suzanne. How would anyone stay with Karl for so long?

Either way, to anyone who enjoyed the show but hasn't heard Karl before - once you start listening to the old material (podcasts and XFM shows) you won't stop. He is always, always funny and frequently hilarious. Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant are smart enough to be the provocateurs to Karl, but not to dominate the airtime. There is no-one like Karl - legend.

I never said he was acting, I just think he's not as dumb as he makes out. I think he's amazing at what he does and I'm well aware of his podcasts, which is brilliant for what it is, 3 very talented comedians making comedy.

Mr.Nice Guy

I found this one on Youtube and was in tears of laughter. Go to about 3:50:

Whoever said his life is like Larry David's is right.

ronnie3585

"Me eyes have never been as busy"

I love Karl, hilarious.

littlefriend

Loving it.

Basq

When he compared the Baba to Bill Oddie!

"I was there looking at him thinking I haven't seen The Goodies in a while!"

Skid

H8GHOTI wrote: »

On the podcasts, what are the best ones? There's so many to go through. Where to start? The XFM ones? The Ricky Gervais Guide To...... series?
Had no interest before really, as I'm not really a huge fan of Ricky or Steve but Karl is amazingly funny, so I'll check them out for him.

I'd suggest the original podcasts (The Ricky Gervais Show,Series 1-3) are a good starting point, some of the material is rehashed from XFM but that's not a problem if you aren't familiar with the radio shows.

The podcasts are Karl-intensive, some of the earlier XFM series have a bit too much of Ricky and Steve (before they realised that Karl was the real star)

Either that or hit the Youtube, where an abundance of quality Karl Pilkington material awaits.

davyjose

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I found this one on Youtube and was in tears of laughter. Go to about 3:50:

Whoever said his life is like Larry David's is right.

Nice Guy, that clip was insanely funny. i nearly woke my son laughing.

Tonight's show was a bit more serious. Still really entertaining, but the china one was much funnier. i think India was a bit too intense. You could see he was just beaten by the experience. My missus said the show made her sad -- despite laughing at times, and that's a fair assessment. I guarantee though, if he retold the experience six months or a year later, just like the above clip, you'd literally piss your pants.

Gotta add this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQBlZIXu3Yg

Funniest man alive!

Basq

This week was slightly more serious, but excellent nonetheless!

I think it was interesting to see Karl finally crack and leave the "honeymoon suite" in a huff. He almost seems just too nice at times (almost infallible), and this showed that he is human.

My girlfriend was in India during the Summer on work for a few weeks, and she had a similar opinion to Karl. Busy, smelly, manic and a bit depressing!

Can't wait to see more of this!

Basq

Hmmm... very tempted to revisit the podcasts!

EDIT: Any newbies to Pilkington.. may I present 'Karl Pilkington's Ideas for Human Ageing"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzzqx_b1SSc

And 'Organ Donation':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjT0D0cWbbE

H8GHOTI

Last nights episode was a bit more serious alright. It was interesting but from a comedy point of view, I didn't think it was nearly as funny as China. It did have it's moments though.
"My neck is going to be killing tonight from all this looking around"
"That's nice, an en-suite shed"
& my favourite
"There's no point in me going to this festival if I'm not going to get involved. It'd be like going to a brothel and just standing in the corner watching"

de Faoite_girl

True, didn't find myself laughing as much last night as I did with the Chinese episode. Still a good few lines, especially when he said at the very start that the guy building the Taj Mahal for his wife must have done something bad, when he said "Hold on! What's going on there?" I nearly wet myself laughing.

Looking forward to ep 3, fingers crossed it will be a tiny bit funnier. Still really good though.

Think I might get the book accompanying the series, might be worth a look.

DFG

RandolphEsq

I loved his face when he saw the naked man doing 'yoga' and wrapping his cock around the walking stick!

nicklauski

Karl is hilarious. I listened to some of the pods on YouTube after seeing the promo for An Idiot Abroad. There is one where he was talking about dolphins having machine guns on there backs. I swear I nearly pissed myself at it.
When he was in the Ganjes last night was especially funny

"Three times he dunked me. You don't do that many with a Ginger nut in a cup of tea. "

H8GHOTI

The book (An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington) is less than half price (now £7.64) on Amazon, this week only.
For anyone that's interested.

Brillaint episode tonight, best so far for me.

"The Dragons Den would of been really easy back then..ye a spoon, get it made"

Sharkey 10

Watched this for the first ime tonight but am a regular viewer the ricky gervais show . I really enjoyed it and agreed with karl on the looking at the nice building instead of living in it .

davyjose

Some brilliant one liners tonight. The bit about the wall meaning more than the birthplace of Jesus, while everyone else ignored it was genius. The guy really is clued in.

A few things bugged me though -- the timing of the phonecalls: in the dead sea, etc, seemed staged. And when he said "is it safe" and the other guy said "yeah, I'm insured". Cheeseball central. What bugs me the most are when the crew step in to chastise him though. Simply wouldn't happen: a) they sound too bugged by him ... too much like they don't like him, when clearly spending weeks at a time together (and being KP) they must. And b) the crew would never step in like that ... especially not to their boss!

leggo

Rather than being staged, I'd say it's more a case of one of the producers thinking "This could really benefit from Ricky winding him up,", sending a text and Ricky calling them to play his part.

H8GHOTI

Good episode. Not as funny as China but still enjoyable. Mexico looks good next week.
Here's a good interview with him about the show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzEo0FZwYvw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI_S93zqyTw

thenutflush

Just a heads up to anybody who missed last Thursdays episode, it's on sky one at 11 tonight.
I'm definitely going to watch it. I think Karl Pilkington is one of the most interesting and funny individuals to listen to or watch and the show so far has been brilliant in my opinion, although I thought the China episode was better than the India one.