As laidback sidekick to Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant on their popular, world record breaking podcasts, Karl Pilkington has become something of a cult hero to millions of comedy fans.
The round-headed, Mancunian simpleton is the source of ridicule in these podcasts, with his idiocy leading to hilariously daft beliefs, ludicrous opinions and inspired ideas. The podcasts can make for uncomfortable listening -- particularly when Gervais lambasts Karl's stupidity quite forcefully -- but it's rarely unfunny.
Channel 4 obviously saw TV potential in Karl, as he's been given a one-off special as part of their Comedy Lab brand. In the past, these one-off specials have provided notable launchpads for comedians Peter Kay, Dom Joly and Jimmy Carr. So is Karl Pilkington about to join them as TV comedy elite?
Well, nah... not on the evidence of Karl Pilkington: Satisfied Fool, anyway.
This was a lighthearted documentary, with Karl trying to determine whether intelligence equals a better, happier life. Or if dumb ignorance is bliss. A MENSA test was the first undertaking for Karl, to determine his I.Q (then keep the result a secret till the very end.) Karl left school with just 1 GCSE (Grade E) in History -- despite thinking he got 2 (in English and Art.) I didn't hold out much hope for the MENSA score...
After the test, the documentary basically consisted of Karl travelling around the UK, to meet brainiac Newsnight contributor Germaine Greer, scientist Professor Heinz Wolf, author Will Self and... er, crackpot David Ike. It was hardly a Who's Who of geniuses -- more a bunch of of D-list celebs who could do with the exposure -- but so be it.
Greer offered nothing of interest, beyond the knowledge she lives in a grotty country home with struggling electricity and likes to bake bread. But she was atleast willing to talk to Karl, despite her obvious confusion with his arguments against Newsnight, and launched into a few small rants.
Professor Heinz Wolf, an expert on the human brain, could have been the most insightful person to chat to, but he became exasperated when Karl suggested the evolution of the brain can be put down to alien intervention.
Will Self treated everything about Karl as a joke, so had him make a pipe whilst belittling him. If anything Self was proof that many intelligent people are unlikeable bores. I'd rather spend an afternoon laughing with Karl, trying to make him comprehend something, than sit around listening to Will Self bore me rigid quoting Socrates. The way he ushered Karl out, claiming it was "almost nice to meet you" was quite unnecessarily cruel, too.
David Ike was more fun and listened to what Karl had to say (no matter how dumb), but his basic answer to Karl's concerns about impressing clever people, engaging in clever conversations, and being able to quote facts and figures, was to say "fuck 'em" and just be yourself.
Inbetween these chats with "celebrity intelligensia" (and David Ike), Karl regaled us with some of his childhood memories, which all proved quite tedious. The only thing that raised a smile was hearing how his class apparently read Ian Fleming's Dr No instead of Shakespeare!
Overall, this was a massive waste of time. Karl's undoubtedly an unintentionally funny bloke, but this format didn't work to his strengths. His accidental comedy stems from his weird train of thought and general stupidity/ignorance -- but he needs someone to steer him. Without someone like Ricky Gervais or Stephen Merchant as a guide around Karl's head, Satisfied Fool was directionless, mostly unfunny, quite rambling and wasted a decent idea.
Karl's a likeable bloke, but he should stick to radio and books. Oh, and his I.Q score? Look away now if you don't want to know the result:
83
The average is 100.
22 October 2007
Channel 4, 11.05 pm
The round-headed, Mancunian simpleton is the source of ridicule in these podcasts, with his idiocy leading to hilariously daft beliefs, ludicrous opinions and inspired ideas. The podcasts can make for uncomfortable listening -- particularly when Gervais lambasts Karl's stupidity quite forcefully -- but it's rarely unfunny.
Channel 4 obviously saw TV potential in Karl, as he's been given a one-off special as part of their Comedy Lab brand. In the past, these one-off specials have provided notable launchpads for comedians Peter Kay, Dom Joly and Jimmy Carr. So is Karl Pilkington about to join them as TV comedy elite?
Well, nah... not on the evidence of Karl Pilkington: Satisfied Fool, anyway.
This was a lighthearted documentary, with Karl trying to determine whether intelligence equals a better, happier life. Or if dumb ignorance is bliss. A MENSA test was the first undertaking for Karl, to determine his I.Q (then keep the result a secret till the very end.) Karl left school with just 1 GCSE (Grade E) in History -- despite thinking he got 2 (in English and Art.) I didn't hold out much hope for the MENSA score...
After the test, the documentary basically consisted of Karl travelling around the UK, to meet brainiac Newsnight contributor Germaine Greer, scientist Professor Heinz Wolf, author Will Self and... er, crackpot David Ike. It was hardly a Who's Who of geniuses -- more a bunch of of D-list celebs who could do with the exposure -- but so be it.
Greer offered nothing of interest, beyond the knowledge she lives in a grotty country home with struggling electricity and likes to bake bread. But she was atleast willing to talk to Karl, despite her obvious confusion with his arguments against Newsnight, and launched into a few small rants.
Professor Heinz Wolf, an expert on the human brain, could have been the most insightful person to chat to, but he became exasperated when Karl suggested the evolution of the brain can be put down to alien intervention.
Will Self treated everything about Karl as a joke, so had him make a pipe whilst belittling him. If anything Self was proof that many intelligent people are unlikeable bores. I'd rather spend an afternoon laughing with Karl, trying to make him comprehend something, than sit around listening to Will Self bore me rigid quoting Socrates. The way he ushered Karl out, claiming it was "almost nice to meet you" was quite unnecessarily cruel, too.
David Ike was more fun and listened to what Karl had to say (no matter how dumb), but his basic answer to Karl's concerns about impressing clever people, engaging in clever conversations, and being able to quote facts and figures, was to say "fuck 'em" and just be yourself.
Inbetween these chats with "celebrity intelligensia" (and David Ike), Karl regaled us with some of his childhood memories, which all proved quite tedious. The only thing that raised a smile was hearing how his class apparently read Ian Fleming's Dr No instead of Shakespeare!
Overall, this was a massive waste of time. Karl's undoubtedly an unintentionally funny bloke, but this format didn't work to his strengths. His accidental comedy stems from his weird train of thought and general stupidity/ignorance -- but he needs someone to steer him. Without someone like Ricky Gervais or Stephen Merchant as a guide around Karl's head, Satisfied Fool was directionless, mostly unfunny, quite rambling and wasted a decent idea.
Karl's a likeable bloke, but he should stick to radio and books. Oh, and his I.Q score? Look away now if you don't want to know the result:
83
The average is 100.
22 October 2007
Channel 4, 11.05 pm
