Paul Merton and his Improv Chums will be in Aberdeen tonight Paul Merton doesn't "do" jokes. If he is funny - and he definitely is funny - it springs from his ability to walk a tightrope of improvisation with the skill of a modern-day Blondin. Tonight, at the Music Hall in Aberdeen, the star of "Have I Got News For You" will be doing what he does best, in the company of his colleagues or "Improv Chums." Script There is no script, no set, nothing as fancy as costumes or props: the evening works because Merton has a rare ability for invention and spontaneity, which often steers him off the beaten track and into comedy gold. We watched the proceedings when he was last in the Granite City and the skill with with Merton and his wife, Suki Webster, responded to the challenge of creating magic from a blank page was amazing. Time and time again, it seemed as if he might have problems developing a theme, only to leave the audience howling with laughter. This is a man in love with the work of the early comics, such as Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Harold Lloyd, and it showed. If you stay in a house and you go to the bathroom, and there is no toilet paper, you can always slide down the banisters. Don't tell me you haven't done it. Merton doesn't pretend that he just turns up and switches on a tap. Behind the scenes, he is methodical, professional, and all-consuming in his quest for new ways to induce laughter. He has been involved in a variety of programmes, including the British films of Alfred Hitchcock, the early history of Hollywood, and has analysed the craft of myriad comic actors from as far back as the Victorian music hall and the Mack Sennett short films. People know him best for HIGNFY, but that is only a minuscule part of Merton's repertoire. Indeed, people might not particularly associate him with class war, or political satire, but he has a keen awareness of the divisions which still exist in 21st century Britain. Barrier "When I started off as a comic, aged 23 or 24, I remember looking at another comedian who used to read the Guardian, and thinking to myself: "God, I wish I read the Guardian." And then I thought: "Hang on a minute, just go and buy it. Yes I can! But actually I had to get over that barrier. It's just like I used to say: "Oh, I wish I liked jazz, jazz seems to be something you could really get into." It's bizarre, isn't it? "[As for class], someone like Boris Johnson, he has done Have I Got News for You several times, but Boris doesn't know anything about - well, Boris is just not from the world where you think: "I have got 36p in my pocket and the giro doesn't arrive for another two days, what am I going to do?" But that used to be my world. It isn't like that any more, but it used to be. Merton doesn't indulge in Ben Elton-style rants, nor engage in Frankie Boyle-like diatribes. For the most part, on the Improv trail, the humour is gentle, witty, urbane....and side-splitting. It is an extraordinary feat and one which has to be witnessed to be truly appreciated. My hair's got a life of its own. Last week, I found it in the kitchen, making an omelette.