The thing about improvisation is that it's not about what you say. It's listening to what other people say. It's about what you hear. Paul Merton More Quotes by Paul Merton More Quotes From Paul Merton I have never sold my story, done Hello! magazine, any of that stuff. I'm not guilty of exploiting my private life for cash and then saying, 'Oh, I don't want to talk about my private life.' I've never crossed that line. Paul Merton magazines done stories I really don't take any interest at all in contemporary comedy. Paul Merton contemporary comedy interest I don't always vote in general elections, but I think I've always voted Labour. Paul Merton election vote thinking And like the old stereotype, I overcame my shyness by making my friends laugh. Paul Merton shyness stereotype laughing I think having an outsider's viewpoint is interesting and good, especially for a comedian. Paul Merton comedian interesting thinking I've never been disappointed by politicians. I've never invested that much in them in the first place. Paul Merton disappointed politician firsts I looked at longevity in show business when I was about 13, and the people who seemed to have longevity were the ones who'd spent quite a bit of time learning about what they were doing before they made it. Paul Merton longevity made people When I turned about 12 or 13, I realised that being funny wasn't about remembering jokes. It was about creating them. Paul Merton realised creating remember In fact, I don't watch a lot of contemporary comedy for fear of being influenced by it. Paul Merton comedy watches facts If you became a comedian in the '80s, you had to work the circuit and make people laugh. Canned laughter is cheating. Paul Merton laughter cheating people I read every book about Buster Keaton and Chaplin to see how they worked - it's all about dedication, tunnel vision, pursuit of perfection, getting the gag right. Paul Merton dedication vision perfection book There's something magical about film, it's the ultimate for me, because it's kind of permanent - inasmuch as anything is. When I went to see Buster Keaton when I was about 14 and I came out of the cinema having really laughed at this film which had been made 50 years before, I thought: That's immortality. It's fantastic. Paul Merton thought see me cinema When things are difficult, awful, stressful, the thing that always gets you through is a sense of humour. I don't mean - well, maybe I do - laugh at the hangman as he puts the noose around your neck. But an eye, an ear, for the ridiculous, the absurd in life, can get you through a lot. Paul Merton laugh you eye life In 1986, I was attacked in the street as I helped Neil Mullarkey from the Comedy Store Players to put up posters. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time - midnight - and we were English. I got kicked in the head. Paul Merton street place comedy time Beginning with a trip out to Ellis Island, I saw for myself where thousands of European immigrants took their first steps onto American soil, bringing with them nothing but their ambition: people such as Erich von Stroheim and Adolph Zukor. Paul Merton beginning myself ambition people
