Karl grew up in Manchester, where he regularly missed school, because his parents took him on caravaning holidays during the school term.

He once claimed that he was given an award for attendance and speculates that this award was merely invented by his teachers to try and persuade him to spend more time at school. He also claimed that his teachers never once said "Well done" to him and that, on parents evening, his parents were informed by one of his teachers that he "Will never be a high flyer".

Karl had a "different" upbringing. He remembers receiving a computer for Christmas at about the age of 8, he wanted a ZX Spectrum, but was given the inferior ZX81. He tried to play a game, but was thwarted by the absence of a required accessory. He recalls that he vomited due to stress of the situation; one of the factors he attributes towards his baldness.

He spontaneously played the drums for the song Little Donkey in his school's nativity play, sometime between the ages of 6 and 13.

For a short time he had a pet magpie, which he named Maggie which sometimes pecked at his head. The magpie flew away when Karl took it to school to show his class and never returned. Karl's family also went through several cats, because they lived on a main road.

Pilkington left school without collecting his exam results, live on air (XFM) Ricky Gervais revealed that he had attained a single "E" GCSE grade. Pilkington went through a number of jobs, his favourite being his paper round.

Karl's anecdotes about his family are often a source of much amusement to Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais. His father once crashed a train into Manchester Central Station, his mother shaved one of their cats after it kept being sick, and his brother was thrown out of the Army for driving to the shops in a tank to buy a packet of cigarettes.

Karl has a number of possible causes of his baldness. It may have been caused by the fact that he once worked a 24-hour-shift overseeing the production of audio cassettes, or perhaps due to the negligence of a Manchester barber who cut the young Pilkington's hair in a shack near the local train station. His lack of a fulsome barnet never really bothers him, except when he was on Jury Duty and felt some form of hairpiece might be in order to diguise him from any proximate ne'er-do-wells.

Karl's neighbourhood contained other strange and eccentric personalities, such as a woman who rode around on a tricycle with her husband sitting in a basket attached to the end of it; a family who kept a horse in their front room; an elderly witch with a penchant for dishwashers and a woman who pushed a pram around with a bucket that had a face drawn on it, instead of a real baby.

Karl's anecdotes about his family are often a source of much amusement to Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais. His father once crashed a train into Manchester Central Station, his mother shaved one of their cats after it kept being sick, his uncle slept in a dinghy instead of a bed.

Karl was the producer of Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais' Xfm radio show. Some of Pilkington's most popular contributions to the show include Monkey News (news which is supposed to be about monkeys, but is almost always about chimpanzees), Rockbusters (which is nothing like Blockbusters despite punning on its title) and Knob News (a spin off of Monkey News, with the feature containing "knob-related news", such as "a man who grew a knob on his arm"). Other features normally tie in with Karl's eccentric interests and theories, like Do We Need 'Em?, normally about Karl's irritation with animals deemed by him to be irrelevant superfluous. Cheeky Freak of the Week, (a rundown of Karl's favourite freaks), and Songs With A Story (Karl only likes songs "with a little story goin' on and that", such as Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight, which is supposedly about "a little fella in a wheelchair").

In December 2005, Karl left his producing job at Xfm after 10 years of loyal service. When asked by his colleagues what he would like for a leaving gift, Karl requested a digital camera. When he was presented with the gift at his leaving party, he declined to open the gift-wrapped box as he intended to give the camera to his girlfriend for Christmas. Karl is considering two new sources of income - a paper round and dog walking (only if it doesn't rain). They may not pay as much money as working as Head of Production at Xfm, but according to Karl, "its about being happy, innit?"
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and this on his apparent opinions and beliefs...

Pilkington has expressed several opinions which most people would find unusual (and sometimes offensive). These include:

Gay people go out too late at the weekend. In reference to the Rod Stewart song 'The Killing of Georgie', they wouldn't have as much trouble if they were in bed by ten.

Gay people should have their own public toilets.

Issac Newton did not contribute much to human civilization as discovering gravity did not affect us as it had always been there. Had everyone been floating about then he would rightfully deserve the amount of credit he receives. Einstein's contribution to humanity is similarly unimpressive as Pilkington has never had to use the theory of relativity, whereas, in contrast, whoever invented the video recorder has received no recognition despite the fact that he watches one a week.

An infinite number of monkeys using an infinite number of typewriters for an infinite amount of time, could not produce the complete work of Shakespeare, unless they have read it.

Chinese people age badly in comparison to other races.

You never see old men eating Twix bars.

He thought the diaries of Anne Frank were "an Adrian Mole sort of thing"


It is important to note that, while some people have been offended by his comments in the past, particularly those regarding the chinese and homosexual communities, he has stated his goal was never to offend, merely state his opinion.
On the interview with Ricky Gervais, which can be found on the DVD Politics, he stated that "We're all the same really" when asked about the issue of race and responded that "Gays are alright" when asked about homosexuality. Karl often inadvertently provides material for Gervais' stand-up act.

he's hilarious!!

"I Could Eat A Knob At Night"

If anyone wants all 3 series and the extras i got em!

Note me

"Knowledge is hassle"
[Edited 1/16/07 13:32pm]

"It's 2006 ..why are they still using the finger?"

lol, "i could eat a knob at night" classic, im gonna have to go and listen to them now again

"Could the earth fall?"

Check this out.....
Bless his round fuckin head.....



http://www.youtube.com/wa...vAx0sDWfhU





[Edited 1/16/07 13:50pm]

Here is a link to the knob at night song....feel free

http://www.philbennett.f2...tnight.mp3

mdiver said:

Nice one!

They did 3 free podcasts at the end of 2006 so these are ok to share:

Here are 1 and 2

Enjoy

http://www.philbennett.f2...loween.m4a
http://www.philbennett.f2...giving.m4a

OMG


thanks for the podcasts!!!

oldpurple said:

Anytime

Here is the 3rd one


http://www.philbennett.f2.../Part3.m4a
[Edited 1/21/07 9:30am]
[Edited 1/21/07 9:31am]

They also did 12 free ones at the end of 05

I have all of thier XFM radio shows - hilarious

Actually Ricky later revealed that Karl had not infact got an E at all. Although History GCSE was the only exam Karl took (which he thought he had an E in) it later turns out that, although he sat through the exam, there was never any record of him registering so therefore he was never meant to take it and has no qualification

I find Ricky Gervais completely unfunny, but I can appreciate that he has a mildly amusing physicality...

This "Karl Pilkington" person actually looks unfunny - like a lapsed Hare Krishna.

If you want to hear a funny podcast in bed or at the gym, listen to The Feast Of Fools: http://www.feastoffools.net - Miss Ronnie is THE BOMB!

Justin1972UK said:

Ricky gervais is certainly an aquired taste....he doesnt really do jokes which is the cler thing about him - he takes the ridiculous circumstances around us in everyday life and points outr how ridiculous they are - his Animals Live tour is perfect example of this.

If you mean Ricky Gervais isnt funny in terms of David Brent or Andy Milman then you arent really getting Ricky himself. I though he was at his best in ALIAS...very dry


Im off to see him in 2 weeks for his new live tour.