Meeting Karl Pilkington

On November 23rd last year, I was lucky enough to meet one of my absolute favourite people: Karl Pilkington! He was at Waterstones' flagship store in London signing copies of his latest book, The Moaning of Life, which accompanies the TV series of the same name.

It took a 6am start, almost two hours on the train and a gruelling three hour wait outside the bookshop in a line consisting of at least five-hundred people, but it was all definitely worth it for the minute or so that I had with the man himself.

And I can happily say that he is exactly the same in person as he is on the TV (perhaps even nicer)! He was also very engaging and took his time to have a mini-conversation with me about the epic photograph that's on the back of his book. Here's a picture of us discussing it:

He's smiling! I made Karl smile! YAY me!

Here's another photo of us together, which also features this little red gift bag that I'd brought for him. His reaction was, 'Oh, what is it? I hate surprises.' Yup, I had my very own classic Karl moment! He was amused, slightly, when he saw that it enclosed teabags (what can I say? The man enjoys his tea!)

Finally, the signature he left inside my copy of The Moaning of Life. This will have pride of place on my bookshelf for a long time to come!

I'm so happy that I finally got to meet Karl and experience, first-hand, his unique personality. As he would say himself, 'yeah, was alright, wa'n't it?'

Have you met any of your favourite famous people? 

Enter to win Karl Pilkington & The Moaning of Life goodies [UK only]

If you're in the UK and happen to be a fan of Karl Pilkington, you'll love this competition where you can win a bunch of amazing Moaning of Life prizes!

Check out the details here:

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If the approaching end of Karl Pilkington’s TV series The Moaning of Life is set to send you into a spiral of withdrawal, worry not as the book to accompany the show is out now. And, to coincide with the launch of the DVD, a new competition has launched where three lucky winners will each receive:

• a SIGNED copy of the book
• a SIGNED illustration from the book
• a copy of the DVD. 

Plus, five runner-ups will each receive a copy of the book. Does life get any better, Karl Pilkington fans?!

To enter, simply look at the photo below and then e-mail marketing@canongate.co.uk with Karl Pilkington in the subject line, telling us what you think Karl is saying in the picture:

The funniest entries win. The competition closes on Monday 2 December and the lucky winners will be chosen at random by Canongate. 

Don’t forget to follow @welovemoaning on Twitter for all the latest updates on Karl Pilkington’s Moaning of Life book.

Good luck, everyone!

Michael Palin and Karl Pilkington talk books!

If you've seen Karl Pilkington's hilarious travel programme, An Idiot Abroad, you might remember when he went to Egypt and stayed in the same hotel Michael Palin visited several years beforehand.

Now you can watch the two of them, briefly, as they meet for the first time to discuss their new book releases. Expect two different men, one common subject, and a lot of inimitable personality!

Where has Quote of the Week gone, you ask?

Just as a bonus, here's the king of quotes!

 
I've decided to change Quote of the Week to Quote of the Month. On average, I publish up to three posts a week of reviews, articles, and the occasional guest post, interview, or giveaway. And I've started to notice that, because of this relatively low number, all these weekly quotes tend to overwhelm the blog and compromise its appearance.

So, from now on, I'm going to post a quote at the beginning of each month when I know there'll be a fairer amount of content between each one. Makes more sense, right?

Also, if you'd like to see one of your favourite quotes featured as the QOTM, let me know.

Happy quoting!

Review: An Idiot Abroad by Karl Pilkington

Presenting the Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington: Adventurer. Philosopher. Idiot. Karl Pilkington isn't keen on travelling. Given the choice, he'll go on holiday to Devon or Wales or, at a push, eat English food on a package holiday in Majorca. Which isn't exactly Michael Palin, is it? So what happened when he was convinced by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant to go on an epic adventure to see the Seven Wonders of the World? Travel broadens the mind, right? You'd think so. Find out in Karl Pilkington's hilarious travel diaries.
'He is a moron. A completely round, empty-headed, part-chimp Manc.' RICKY GERVAIS
'He'd have been happier in medieval times in a village where you didn't travel beyond the local community.' STEPHEN MERCHANT (via amazon.co.uk)

I started watching An Idiot Abroad only about a month ago after catching the repeat of the Taj Mahal episode on Sky. When it first aired, it didn't appeal to me at all – who wants to see an idiotic, narrow minded person go around the world and basically insult everything? Oh, but I couldn't have been more wrong! Yup Karl is an idiot, but he's also completely hilarious and will try almost anything (that isn't bungee jumping of course!) Much to his own chagrin, he gets involved in everything and is honest to everybody. Sometimes I have a hard time believing what he says isn't scripted because it's so offbeat, but apparently it's all just him. I love it!

The book is supposed to be Karl's travel diaries that he wrote as he stumbled across the world under the influence of Ricky and Steve's directions. It does recycle some things he says on the show, but there are quite a lot of new anecdotes in here as well including behind-the-scenes stuff. I don't think I've laughed quite as hard reading a book before! All of his deadpan humour is represented so well. In fact, I've bookmarked some of the pages I found most entertaining. Here's something of Karl's that had me rolling over with laughter:

'I had some toast and a bit of papaya. This was the first time I'd ever eaten papaya. It was okay, but if someone told me I'd never eat papaya ever again, I wouldn't be bothered. I feel like this about most fruit. There is too much fruit in the world, and I don't like buying a lot of it, as it goes off so quickly. Maybe that's why we're told to eat five portions a day, just to get through the stuff before it turns mouldy.'

Classic Karl philosophy! Ha.

I very much enjoyed this book. Though, saying that, it wasn't perfect. There were a few bits that upset me – like when he described people eating guinea pigs, frogs, and so forth. Oh, and especially the Chinese 'delicacies'. No offense intended to anyone reading this, but coming from the UK and being a big animal lover, I just don't agree with how animals are treated/slaughtered/eaten in these countries. But, apart from that, this book was a complete riot. If you watch An Idiot Abroad, you'll want to read this gem!


Rating: 3.5 / 5