Karl Pilkington
| Karl Pilkington | |
 { Egg headed moron } | |
| Date of Birth | 23 September 1972 |
| Place of Birth | Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK |
| Education | Ashton-on-Mersey School |
| Occupation | Radio Producer, Head of Production and Author |
| Partner | Suzanne Whiston |
| Parents | Unknown |
"Come together and annoy Karl. He is your leader. He is your messiah! He is your god! And he fucking hates it." - Ricky Gervais
Karl Pilkington (born 23 September 1972 in Manchester, England) is an English radio producer previously best known for producing The Ricky Gervais Show on the radio station Xfm. After leaving Xfm, Pilkington reached an international audience through his appearances with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant on The Ricky Gervais Show. He is also a published author and the star of a Channel 4 documentary.
Career
Before Ricky and Steve
Karl went to work as a printer after leaving school at age 15, and was made to work a 24-hour shift pressing CDs for the band Smokey. He partly attributes his baldness to this grueling schedule. Karl also briefly hosted an overnight phone-in show on a Manchester radio station where he was something of an agony uncle.<ref>The Ricky Gervais Show, Xfm London, 19 January 2002</ref> It was in Manchester that he met long-time girlfriend Suzanne. He later moved on to work as Head of Production at London radio station Xfm, where he worked for eleven years and would first cross paths with Ricky and Steve. Karl was given the job of producing their second run of shows at the station, shortly after the first series of The Office ran on BBC2. At first he merely "pressed the buttons", but his quirky antics and unique worldview soon prompted Gervais and Merchant to make him a third member of their team.
On-Air
Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant
Karl began his on-air role by occasionally interjecting during the Xfm show co-hosted by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. As more of his anecdotes and opinions were revealed, he became more of a focal point of the show. Eventually, he began to take part in and create segments. The first bit that focused on Karl was White Van Karl where Karl spoke his thoughts on current events and minor news stories. Karl began creating his own segments after awhile such as Educating Ricky, Monkey News, and Rockbusters. With these bits, Karl's relative status on the show grew, Ricky eventually saying it should be called "the Karl Pilkington show". After the end of the Xfm show, Karl remained part of the trio, giving up his position as head of production at Xfm to make podcasts with Ricky and Steve and work on his writing. When Danny Wallace debuted his Saturday show on Xfm on 9th February 2008, Karl recorded a message for him containing advice and support on how to do a radio show and revealing that he had only received an extra thirty pounds for each show he did with Ricky and Steve.
The Russell Brand Show
Karl also co-hosted four radio shows with Russell Brand on BBC 6Music. Three shows aired after Christmas in 2005 with Karl and Russell substituting for Nemone. Another aired on 09 April 2006, the beginning of the Russell Brand Show. After this show, Karl no longer had a speaking role, but was talked about on air and seen on the webcam during the next couple of shows. There is speculation that Karl's participation in the show was discontinued due to his contract obligations with Ricky and Steve. Russell Brand remained on BBC 6Music with new co-presenters Matt Morgan and Trevor Lock (which Karl once was guest on over the phone on 11 June 2006) until November 2006 when he moved on to BBC Radio 2. Brand has recalled his stint with K