After years of world-record-setting podcasts and best-selling audiobooks, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington have returned with a brand new entry in their “Guide To…” series, “The Ricky Gervais Guide to…THE FUTURE”
. Though it’s hard to top their previous “The Ricky Gervais Guide to…LAW AND ORDER”
, delving into the realm of the future offers countless opportunities for Pilkington to muse on such things as internet-connected computer chips implanted in the brain, a new strategy for winning on quiz shows, and the evolution of the little finger. Thankfully, Gervais and Merchant are there to take the piss out of everything Pilkington says.
For newbies to the series, Gervais and Merchant are the creators and writers of the original version of The Office
and HBO’s brilliant showbiz comedy Extras
. Before they were huge, award-winning stars, they had a radio show in the U.K. and Pilkington was assigned to them to be their producer. Soon they discovered the wealth of comedy that was Pilkington’s idiocy and some of the funniest radio in history was born. The trio continued their show into the realm of podcasting, where they had the most downloaded podcast of all time, as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. Eventually, they realized how much money could be made from this enormous hit and began releasing audiobooks for sale in the iTunes store. Their “Guide To…” series has covered such topics as medicine, the arts, society and others areas that have allowed Pilkington to ramble on nonsense as Gervais and Merchant try not to die laughing.
In this episode, Pilkington shows his apprehension when it comes to technology with an undercurrent of fear at the new ideas Gervais and Merchant propose. Having a chip connected to Google in your head? Terrible idea because people won’t utilize their own knowledge anymore. Relying solely on a navigation system to give you directions to your destination? Takes away the fun of getting lost. He even muses on trousers becoming extinct as people wear lower rise pants. Pilkington sums it all up by saying, “The future: it’s a scary place.”
If you’re one of the few people who still haven’t listened to The Ricky Gervais Show
podcasts or picked up one of Pilkington’s many books, you are missing out on some major comedy. I remember listening to the podcasts on the Metro on my way to class in D.C. and laughing out loud like a psychopath at some of the thoughts that pop out of the mind of Karl Pilkington. If you’ve never listened to the podcasts, you can start with the first series on audiobook or jump right into the “Guide To…” series as it’s not too hard to get into the vibe of the show. Definitely pick up the “The Ricky Gervais Guide to…THE FUTURE” out now on iTunes or Audible.com.
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