Mebbe. Here’s something from an interview with co-star Kerry Godliman:
That’s not the answer of someone who thinks his act is pure Karl.
Yes, of course he’s playing a character. They all are. Even Merchant is not really an archetypal wry straight man when the mikes are off. Jesus, people.
I, for one, don’t care. I watch it and suspend my disbelief, and it works for me.
I don’t recall your name, but apparently you are still around, so I have to say that your response fascinates me, as it makes me wonder if different people have a different people have a different view of consciousness.
I, being me, see through my eyes and sense through my senses. It is trivial for me to figure out what parts of my reality are me and what parts are not. The fact that I see an exact duplicate of me doesn’t change that.
Sure, both people will think they are “me,” but that’s the way every human being on the planet processes things. The point is, if you do something to only one of us, the other will know it is not happening to them.
These types of responses in threads like this make me wonder if some of you experience life not as a participant but as an observer. Because, otherwise, unless you propose some way of connecting the two separate individuals, they will always be able to tell each other apart.
Yeah, but that’s what the other one is saying!
Yea I hate to be THAT guy but one word describes Karl to a T and that word is autism/Aspergers. Fer christsake one of the original diagnostic criteria was “unawareness of personal identity” which neatly explains both Karl’s statement and the fact others agree with it.
Karl is pretty much a absolute match for any diagnostic criteria, this isn’t seeing autism everywhere its just noticing when someone is a stereotypical example.
I’ve come to very dislike the show because a lot of the humor is in “bullying” Karl for what to me sound like valid and legit observations, and I have bad memories of being bullied for that in my own life. The hosts often intentionally misunderstand Karl and it strikes as cruelty.
I suggest you all watch the out-takes and “making of” parts of Karl’s work.
Clearly his underpinning personality is all his own. His twisted (or overtly simplistic) view of the world is very much him. Having heard him from the old radio show days he apparently has maintained a consistent “character” for a decade or more so if it is scripted or crafted then his writers are working 24-7.
Does he play up to this persona? of course. Do he says things that he knows will amuse/bemuse/annoy Ricky and Stephen? of course. Do the hours of his life devoted to sensible conversation and normal human interactions make for broadcastable material? of course not.
And Suzanne is very much real, she just shuns the limelight. Probably why she and Karl have been together so long.
I think s/he was confusing the question “How would I know which one is me?” with the question “How do I know which one will be me?”
ETA: Or else, they were thinking that since there can only be one genuine “me” and the other must be an imposter, each of them would rightly be wondering “Am I the real one or the imposter?” The assumption that only one can be genuine is not clearly true, of course, but not clearly irrational either.
Sorry, but you are that guy. “Noticing when someone is a stereotypical example” on the basis of a bunch of youtube clips in which that person is arguably playing a character or at least a version of himself in which certain attributes of his character are inflated and taken beyond their regular performance, to me is the equivalent seeing autism everywhere and stretching the meaning of that term to the point where it becomes of little use and value.
I’m pretty sure he’s for real. Boiled down.
I think that he was playing for laughs at points in the recent miniseries with the Dwarf, but his gradual introduction from silent producer for Gervais to a co-host over years cannot be anything but genuine.
Okay, so I put you in a duplication machine, which makes a perfect copy of you, including your memories. There’s a puff of smoke and a brilliant shining light and, disoriented, you stagger out the other side of the machine with a perfect copy of you.
How do you know you’re the original?
It could be a carefully crafted character, I’ll give you that. Why create a character showing essentially all major traits?
If I created a character who suddenly in their early twenties had strange and paranoid delusions, audio hallucinations and disordered thoughts and in a topic about analyzing this character mentions of schizophrenia would be off the table? Not diagnosing anyone, pointing out that the symptoms match up?
Well then what are we doing here picking apart words the guy said?
I think the show doesn’t want any discussion of this because it would make the mocking of Karl seem cruel and unwarranted, which would kill the appeal.
I don’t think Karl is exploited, he is making off like a bandit. And he often has excellent and intelligent points that aren’t stupid at all.
It’s not off the table, but I’m seriously questioning your ability or that of anyone to make such a diagnosis given what is in evidence. The comparison with schizophrenia is just not on because you have no clue about how Pilkington goes about living his daily life. All you have are possibly scripted, probably heavily edited (esp the TV shows), and likely unrepresentative clips. No equivalent of ‘strange and paranoid delusions, audio hallucinations and disordered thoughts’ or ‘all major traits’ has been established here.
Anyone professionally involved in making these sorts of diagnoses would (I should hope) be very circumspect about the sort of assertions they make; I’m guessing you don’t belong to that group in the first place which makes your claims all the more suspect.
I don’t think ‘the show’ gives a rat’s ass what we discuss. It’s not like they have any control over it in the first place, but if anything they probably welcome it since it creates more attention for their work.
I think it’s great that so many peole aren’t sure one way or the other.
When RG did the XFM shows on Saturday lunchtime you just knew you were listening to something special. What was great was it was like a conversation down the pub between workmates - not nec friends but people who at least enjoyed each other.
Ricky & Karl are pretty close friends at this point. Karl:
I never claimed to be diagnosing Karl with anything, I’m not even sure if he is or isn’t either a distillation of some innate personality or a total fabrication out of whole cloth. None of us know if he is for real, I pointed out that his behavior is similar to a real condition, nothing more. If he is a total fabrication it isn’t outrageous to suggest the similarities were intentional or maybe he was copying a person or composite of persons he knew.
It would be like asking what is the deal with Dustin’s Hoffman’s character in Rainman, or what was the intention of the portrayal. Is he an idiot?
Anyway I never claimed to be a medical professional, and never claimed I had diagnosed a real man with a medical condition. But you know that.
Oh I know that it, it being the show, is an act whether Karl is real or fake or somewhere in between. I know it isn’t real bullying and we’re watching two friends and business partners collaborating on an act, and that Karl is cleaning up money wise on the deal.
I just found it got less funny and more uncomfortable to watch/listen to over time.
Imagine there was a sitcom, it is pretty light hearted but over time watching it starts to feel rather uncomfortable. You know its all fake, actors and scripts and no one is actually being insulted, but sometimes it just feels like watching people being unpleasant with each other and it gets old.
I’m guessing that made no sense, just sometimes Ricky feels like the idiot but we’re supposed to root for him.
I still like the programs with Karl, but I never watch more than one episode in a row now.
More than that and the shtick becomes not only obvious, but repetitive and a tad annoying.
You’d have to peer over and see if the other one had a smarmy look on it’s face.
That’s how you tell.