Ooohh!!! Chimpanzee That!!! Monkey News (blog)

Ooohh!!! Chimpanzee That!!! Monkey News is a blog created on 16 March 2008 by Ricky Gervais in response to Karl's recent lack of output and unwillingness to do more podcasts. The blog (named after the popular feature) revealed several facts about Karl that were previously unknown. Apparently, Karl does look at "the forums" (assumed to be primarily the Pilkipedia forums) and he generally does not like what is posted there about his work. Karl specifically did not like conspiracy threads against his true identity. In addition, it was revealed that Karl lives in a house in Kent and uses his flat in London as an office. Much to the surprise of fans, Ricky initially updated the blog frequently, even providing updates on Karl's reaction to previous blog posts. The blog also included past clips of podcasts at the end of each post. The blog is still currently active.

Fan Reaction

Reaction to the blog was mixed, but mostly involved surprise and disappointment. According to forum posts about the initial few entries, some fans were excited to see direct communication from Ricky. The fact that Karl actually looked at the forum also excited others with fans directly addressing him in response posts. However, the overall tone was shock that Karl was essentially stopping his output with Ricky and Steve, and that this may have been a direct result of the forum itself. Responses primarily consisted of fans asking for Karl's return, citing how much they appreciated his work, however a few others supported Karl's decision.

Archive

The following is an archive of the posts found in the blog.

Entry No. 1 - 16 March 2008

Since charging for the podcasts The Ricky Gervais show sold about 2 million episodes (plus a further 48 million free downloads). We're not saying how much Karl made from this but he now has a house in Kent as well as his Marylebone flat, which he keeps on as his office. We're not sure why he has an office as he rarely does any work now.

When he's not in his Kent retreat he is visiting either his girlfriend's parents in Manchester or his own parents in Wales (he did both the last two weekends for example). He is in Kent this weekend.

Whenever Ricky phones him and asks what he is up to work-wise, Karl usually replies "nothin' - no point".

Karl refuses to do any further podcasts because he is "sick of people moaning".

He still reads forums. Comments like "It's definitely scripted" and "Karl is a character whose real name is Graham" have annoyed Karl so much that last week he told Ricky that he wishes he could turn the internet off to see their "stupid fuckin' faces".

Apparently they don't like it when Karl swears either.

So with no more Pilkington available Ricky has decided to write a blog to report Karl's every move. Ricky is doing this to annoy Karl. Karl recons Ricky will be bored in a week.

He is probably right.

Enjoy a classic Monkey News here to celebrate the launch of this new blog

Entry No. 2 - 18 March 2008

Karl is still in Kent. He says there is no point going into London anymore as "everyone tries to rip you off there" (he got two parking tickets in one day).

He is also "sick of doing pointless meetings with people who don't know what they want". So he stayed down in Kent "playin' scrabble 'n' that".

I pointed out that if he did some work he would have money coming in as well as out. He said "I'm doin' another book and I can do that anywhere". I said, "But you're not doing the book; you're playing scrabble".

He replied, "I've learnt two new words that can go in the book". "What are they?" I said. "Tittle", he said. (So look forward to reading that word in the new publication) "What was the other word?", I said. (long pause) "Can't remember". Idiot.

There are still a few teething problems with his new coastal home. He had to have someone come round and sort out the windows. "That's 300 quid a window", he moaned. "How many windows do you have", I asked. "Loads", he said. "It's like a fuckin' greenhouse".

Well we all know about people who live in glasshouses...

Entry No. 3 - 19 March 2008

Karl is annoyed with me.

"Why did you mention I lived in Kent?" was the whinge. "Kent's a big place", I said. "No one will find you from that".

"They might", he said, "you've given 'em a challenge".

"Don't talk shit", I said. "How will they find you just from knowing you're in Kent? You gave away more when you said on The Culture Show that I chased you through the streets of central London to your flat".

"Yeah but the interesting bit in that story was the fact that a forty two year old world famous actor was chasing me through the streets. Not the fact that I lived in central London".

Good point. I laughed and said, "imagine if you start getting notes put through the door saying 'Karl Pilkington do you live here'?".

Karl said "I wouldn't worry. Not even the postman can get that right. Most of my letters are to Karl fucking Dilkington".