Over the past 15 years or so, Paul Merton has earned a reputation as one of the most popular comedy performers in these isles, courtesy of his winningly deadpan delivery and frequently mesmerising flights of absurdist fancy. Merton’s skills have been most effectively deployed on BBC’s perennially successful topical news parody, Have I Got News For You, where his wild improvisational riffs have contrasted splendidly with Private Eye editor, Ian Hislop’s, more measured satirical observations.

Starting out in stand-up in 1981, the former civil servant moved into improv a few years later with the Comedy Store players, whose line-up he remains a key member of to this day. What prompted him to make the move from conventional stand-up to the more challenging realm of extempore performance?
“Well, funnily enough, Mike Myers, of Austin Powers fame, was instrumental in me trying out improv,” replies Merton, speaking shortly before his slot with the Comedy Store players at the recent Murphy’s Uncorked festival. “He was spending some time in London around the mid-’80s, and was quite of fan of the alternative comics who were starting to make their name at the time; Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall, Ade Edmonson and so on. But he felt that there was something of a gap in the market in terms of improv, so he and his partner decided to start a regular night at the Comedy Store. I volunteered to participate, really enjoyed it, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Does this most demanding of comedic forms get any easier with experience?
“Yes, I think it does,” replies Paul. “When you’re starting out, it’s about the most terrifying thing you can do onstage. Although there are a few conventions – particular games you’ll play each week, certain musical styles we’ll incorporate into each show – 90% of the time you’re operating without a safety net, which is what makes it so difficult. But the more time goes by – and particularly, the more accustomed you become to working with the same group of performers – the more you pick up on the rhythm of the show and the more you’re able to anticipate how a particular sketch is going to develop.
“Also, we have certain tenets we abide by, such as ‘Agree and add’. If somebody says something, no matter how outrageous it is, you play along with and work it until some kind of logic emerges. I suppose it’s that old thing of ‘If we make sure the other people look good, then we’ll all look good’. But it’s weird, there hasn’t really been that much written or that much research done on the psychology of being a performer, so it’s hard to know what causes a bad night. Some nights you go out and it feels like your living room. Then other times it’s just not happening and it’s the crowd who carry you through. It can be a bit hit and miss, but I suppose that’s the nature of improvisation.”
Controversy has rocked the seemingly inseparable HIGNFY three-piece of Merton, Hislop and Angus Deayton in recent times, following the latter protagonist’s departure from the show due to his cocaine-fuelled romp with a London lady of the night. At the time, many observers suggested that Merton and Hislop were keen to see Deayton replaced as host of the show, lest his indiscretions undermine the satirical nature of the programme. What was Paul’s take on the whole saga?
“Well, the first thing that has to be said is that Angus was an excellent host of the show,” replies Merton diplomatically. “I think the dynamic between the three of us was really good and I have no doubt that that played a major part in the show being re-commissioned year after year. But the fact of the matter is that Have I Got News For You has a very specific brief; it’s there to poke fun at people and institutions that are in the public eye. And if the presenter, no less, is being hung out to dry in the tabloids every other day, well, it becomes rather like the elephant in the corner of the room that nobody is willing to mention.
“You know, it would just have ended up in a situation where guests would be doing interviews with the press, and end up saying stuff like, ‘I was on Have I Got News For You, I cracked this hilarious joke about Angus Deayton and the audience laughed uproariously – and it was cut’. So I think for the continued health of the show – or rather, for us to go on with a veneer of credibility – it was necessary for Angus to leave. But it certainly didn’t fatally damage his career or anything like that – he did this fantastic show with Julia Davis recently called Nighty Night and he was great in that. Angus is a smart guy, y’know? He’ll be alright.”
One of the most memorable episodes of Have I Got News For You was the programme where Merton triumphantly emerged victorious in the company of a tub of lard, sitting in for an otherwise engaged Roy Hattersley. Is that his favourite performance on the show?
“It was certainly a great laugh,” reflects. “The strange thing was that I was doing another programme for Channel 4 that same night, so I’d been incredibly busy during the previous week. And one day during lunchtime, someone from Have I Got News rang me and said, ‘Paul, Roy Hattersley can’t make it, we want you to answer some questions with a tub of lard.’ And I was just so wrapped up with production meetings and God knows what else that I just said ‘Fine’ and thought no more of it. And then I turned up to the set and they’d actually gone through with it!
“But probably the funniest moment during that show was when Ian, head in hands, dejectedly said, ‘I’ve just realised that Paul is answering questions in a foreign language with a tub of lard – and I’m still losing!’