SATURDAY, 9 DECEMBER 2017
Our TV finally sputtered its last, so I started looking on Netflix – which we can watch on the computer – for my daily hour or so of entertainment. So it came that I rediscovered Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s production, An Idiot Abroad with Karl Pilkington as the titular idiot.
For people who never followed the show: Karl Pilkington was a producer on a radio program hosted by Gervais and Merchant, after they had achieved success with the series, The Office. Pilkington gained fame after being approached several times for his comments on the radio program. His unique views on life and his honest opinions became a popular part of the program. A few years later, Gervais and Merchant came up with the idea to make their former producer the host of a travel program. Pilkington, known for having no enthusiasm for foreign countries and international journeys, was to visit the Seven Wonders of the World, with some additional tasks and hardships thrown in for the entertainment of the two producers, and of course, for millions of TV viewers.
Every episode of The Idiot Abroad starts with Gervais and Merchant explaining to Pilkington where he would travel. They would show him a picture of the main attraction, and then wait for him to comment on his forthcoming journey with his trademark sincerity. Gervais usually explodes in hysterical laughter when Pilkington speaks, and would even repeat what Karl had said to his partner Stephen Merchant, just in case Merchant failed to understand quite how funny it was.
By the second or third episode it dawned on me that the situation seemed very familiar. My older sister regularly responds in the exact same way to some of my utterances. She will laugh hysterically and immediately translate so that her British husband, who doesn’t understand Afrikaans that well, can also share in the hilarity. Then it hit me: My sister thinks of me as her idiot brother – who just happens to live abroad.
This reminded me of the time when I went to Hong Kong for a long weekend, a few months after I had arrived in Taiwan. My sister wanted to visit some friends who had worked with her in London a year or two earlier, and she thought it would be nice if I could meet her there. We went out one day with her friends. I behaved most modestly all afternoon, and didn’t have much to say. After dinner we ended up at an outdoor restaurant for drinks. I was probably tired by this time of keeping my mouth shut and started sharing my amateur psycho-analysis of some of the other customers. Seeing that my intellect was now “on”, I also noticed that my sister was becoming restless, with a tense glance at her friends every now and then.
I realised that I was being … peculiar – as she only knew I could be but certainly hoped I would keep under wraps whilst socialising with her and her colleagues. Nevertheless, I pushed on with my analysis and predictions of how I thought the rest of the evening would work out for the various people seated at one of the tables. As I suspected, in the end I did add a little sparkle to the evening for my sister and her friends – who were probably all talked out about work and the good old days in London.
About two years after the Hong Kong episode, my sister met the man whom she would marry. During the first few visits after they settled in South Africa I must have behaved reasonably normal, for it was only during the last few visits that I became aware again that my sister apparently thinks I am most hilarious – especially when I’m not trying to be.
Oh well, I look at the bright side: At least my statements occasionally elicit a somewhat hysterical reaction, even though it’s probably due to the person being relieved that I didn’t embarrass them rather than my observations being truly entertaining.
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