PAUL Merton, probably best known for his quick wit and repartee, and his dead-pan comedy look, prefers speechless entertainment.

For the man who has been hailed as the funniest man in Britain has such a feel for the kings of the silent movies, they could almost be said to be responsible for his career in comedy. Nipping into the cinema as a 14-year-old had a profound effect on him.

Paul explained: "I saw The General, Buster Keaton's classic 1927 silent film, which was accompanied by a live piano player. Even though the movie was 50 years old, I was amazed by the power it still possessed. I came out of the cinema walking on air."

Paul's passion for the likes of Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chaplin, verges on hero worship.

"Look at that most famous stunt in Steamboat Bill Jr, where the house falls on Keaton and he is saved by standing in the space left by the window. The front of that building weighed two-and-a-half tons, but Keaton was nerveless, he simply knocked in two nails to mark where he should put his heels.

"He had only three-and-a-half inches' clearance all round him and as the house falls past him, you can actually see it making his shirt move. He was unbelievably brave."

Paul reckons these films have stood the test of time because Keaton, Chaplin and Stan Laurel knew instinctively what people would laugh at.

"In Laurel and Hardy's talkies the laughter fits into the gaps between the dialogue, they'd cut it to those precise timings."

Paul added: "The silent movie stars had an absolute mastery of visual humour. The sight of, say, Keaton being chased down a mountain by boulders provides six minutes of non-stop laughter. It is as killingly funny today as the day it was filmed."

Paul reckons the best silent movies are the ones where the actors appear silent by choice.

Paul, 50, has spent 17 years as a team captain on the BBC1 quiz Have I Got New For You, and was a founder-member of the Comedy Store Players. He starred in programmes including Room 101, Just a Minute and Paul Merton in China.

He is currently presenting Paul Merton's Silent Clowns at theatres throughout the UK, screening extracts from silent comedians in some of their funniest films, including Harold Lloyd's Safety Last! where he performs his own death-defying stunts at the top of a tall building.

"Seeing Lloyd's climb to the clock at the top of the building is a gripping experience in itself. The whole silent era was a health and safety nightmare.

"Every time Lloyd goes up another floor, there's a more difficult obstacle for him to overcome. At one point, a mouse runs up Lloyd's trouser-leg and he jumps up and down on a high ledge. At the end, he is knocked off the top of the building and is saved by getting his leg caught on a pole. Then he swings back and embraces the girl.

"There would be no chance of Lloyd or Keaton being allowed to make a film nowadays, they were so dangerous."

In 2000 Paul wrote and directed his own wordless short film The Suicidal Dog, and he admitted he would love to make more movies - if he only had the time .

Paul Merton's Silent Clowns is on at the Hackney Empire in Mare Street on November 18, with pianist Neil Brand playing the background music to Safety Last!

For more information call the box office on 8985 2424. or visit their website