The Podcasts Complete First Series Volumes 1-5.

A great listen…, 12 Jan 2011

A brilliant set of discs that will have you chuckling all day long.

The star is Karl Pilkinton though and strangely, the biggest disappointment is Ricky Gervais. Pilkinton is a genuine pleasure to listen to, with his crazy yet so simple solutions and suggestions on everyday life, as is Stephen Merchant who just casually keeps feeding Karl the topics and lines with which he can then let his mind wander in all manner of directions.

Sadly then you’ve got Gervais and his over-the-top high-pitched squealing and laughing which after a while becomes as grating as Janice from ‘Friends’.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Ricky ‘The Actor’ (Extras, The Office) but Ricky ‘The Person’ can be extremely annoying – none more so than on these discs. His constant interrupting of Karl when he’s in full flow, just so he can repeat what Karl has just said only now in a high pitched voice, therefore reiterating to the listener just how funny it was (as if we’re too stupid to hear it when it comes from Karl’s mouth) get very frustrating after a while.

He also tries to make Karl look more stupid than he actually is by trying to outsmart him with stuff he’s read in a book somewhere, when it’s actually Karl’s outlook on things that (some of the time) actually make a lot more sense and is by far the more entertaining to listen too.

Merchant comes across as a genuinely intelligent guy who counteracts Karl’s stories perfectly, whereas Gervais simply comes across as a smartarse trying to make the stupid kid in the playfround feel a moron purely to make his mates laugh.

Overall a great set of discs but loses a star for me due to the annoying Ricky Gervais. If it was just Merchant and Pilkinton, this would be Comedy Gold!

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