It's not often that I, to say nothing of the rest of the viewing public, enjoy a TV show essentially revolving around a man wandering about, and moaning. Yet I feel Karl Pilkington's the Moaning of Life is quite a triumph. I first came into contact with the work of the man from Manchester (I am very proud of this comic northern connection - come on!) when he starred in the Channel 4 series Derek, penned by Ricky Gervais, earlier in the year. His character was a no-nonsense, down to earth, uncouth, depressive care-taker and handyman. Who also happened to be hilarious. I didn't know it at the time, but this is essentially how Pilikington is in real life, minus the care-taker/handy man bit. Discovered by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant some years ago, Karl has been given a gradually larger set of roles and involvement in their shows, yet now Sky 1 have made a series about him and only him, displaying his unique outlook on life.
Obviously, if we watched an annoyed man travel the world and just be nasty to everyone and about everything, that wouldn't really be any good. Yet it is the uncanny way Karl gives his unabashed take upon everything he sees which is both incredibly funny and completely straightforward, without agenda or shame. This can be illustrated straight away in how he advertises his show in the promotional advert:- "watch the first one and if you don't like it, don't watch the next four, simple".
It is difficult to get across just how wonderfully gems like this and more pour out of his mouth, resulting in a laugh-a-minute minimum. Of course it is supposed to be informative and educational, and indeed it is interesting to see all the various people and cultures encountered around the world, and how they deal with various issues such as life, death, birth and marriage etc. Yet what we are always watching for as an audience, is Karl and how he approaches and then tries to immerse himself into the thick of it all, often with very odd and hilarious results.
If you've never come across the work of Karl Pilkington, or the Moaning of Life, I implore you to do so. In fact, the final episode has not yet been transmitted, being postponed due to the typhoon disaster in the Philippines, so if anything just give that a go. I promise you, this is not just about a man from Manc having a moan. Well...it is, but he's hilarious with it.
No comments:
Post a Comment