Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Warning - Laughing can be bad for your health............

Well at least mine!!!

I started to watch An Idiot Abroad last night, but had to turn it off after ten minutes as I was exhausted.  I was laughing that hard at them, which in turn made me cough, which in turn meant I was short of breath, which in turn tired me out..............

When I went up to bed, dh asked me if I was alright, I said I was exhausted from laughing!!!

For those of you who have not heard of this series, here's the overview kindly provided by Wikipedia:

Originally titled Karl Pilkington's Seven Wonders Of The World,[4] An Idiot Abroad documents Karl Pilkington's journeys to foreign countries under the guise of visiting the New Seven Wonders of the World. Though the New Seven Wonders of the World include the Colosseum in Rome, this is not one of Pilkington's destinations because Gervais and Merchant thought that he might feel too comfortable in Rome; instead he visits the Great Pyramids in Egypt (which is the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World to remain intact). Despite the stated focus of visiting the wonders, most of each episode focuses on Pilkington’s reactions to cultural differences and idiosyncrasies in the countries he visits. To make things more interesting, Gervais and Merchant unexpectedly call Pilkington during each trip, to assign him tasks often not related to why he believed he was visiting the country in the first place. These include training as a luchador, travelling the desert on a camel, and dancing with a samba school in a Carnival parade. It was confirmed by the show's producers that Pilkington has no prior warning about these situations. The camera man coaxes him along.[5] Gervais commented: "This is a [more real] documentary than most others you'll ever see on television. We don't plan it, he doesn't know what's going to happen."[5]

A book titled The Travel Diaries Of Karl Pilkington was published shortly after the series. It was authored by Pilkington and gives a deeper insight into his feelings on what he was experiencing.
The second series shows Pilkington performing activities from a general (but not his) "bucket list". Pilkington agreed to do a second series on the condition that he was to choose what he would do and that he got to use proper toilets. To keep the series interesting, Gervais and Merchant went behind Pilkington's back and arranged surprises for him to make him hate it even more than the first. He ends up visiting more places than he did in the first series, suffering through a number of detours. When asked why he had returned for a second series after being continuously adamant that he was not going to, Pilkington replied "I'm in a programme called Idiot Abroad; job offers aren't wizzin' in."

Despite saying that there would not be a third series, Gervais produced a Christmas special mini-series which aired in the UK in late 2012. The original concept, pitched by Gervais, was to show Pilkington and Warwick Davis travelling around England on a bike together. However, the final outcome featured the pair travelling to China from Venice via Eastern Europe and India, loosely based on the journey of Marco Polo. Gervais said, "We started planning the route for An Idiot Abroad 3: The Short Way Round, this week. It's only a three-part special but we've decided to make it a bit more global as opposed to 'around Kent for a few days', Pilkington is starting to regret it already." An Idiot Abroad 3 did not feature Stephen Merchant who was busy with other projects. The show has now finished as Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington are now involved in a new series called Derek.

There is also an official podcast to accompany the programme and book.[6]

The programme was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sky1, but has since started airing in other countries.

If you like British humour and dry wit, you will love this show.

9 comments:

Holly Hollyson @ Full of Beans and Sausages said...

One of my favourite shows! Do you think that is what Karl Pilkington is like in real life?!

Buttons Thoughts said...

Exhausted from laughing the very best kind:) Hug B

bonsaimum said...

We had that show here. It was an absolute hoot. :)

Gill - That British Woman said...

Holly, I do think that is what Karl is in real life and that's what makes it even funnier!!

Gill - That British Woman said...

what I should have also added, everything that Karl says is something I could totally relate too if I were in the same situation!!

Jane and Chris said...

I can't stand Ricky Gervais...so that's me out.
Jane x

Country Gal said...

Laughter is the best medicine I think but sadly I do not like him either just something about him bugs me lol ! I love Brit humor just not his lol ! Thanks for sharing though ! Hope you have a good day !

Cash Only Living said...

Thanks for the heads up! I love dry, British humor so will definitely check it out!

angela said...

It is so funny. Don't they put him through some horrible things though. Mates like those two you don't need enemies. Lol

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