Paul Merton: Comedy is an escape

Paul Merton thinks comedy provides "an escape" from hard times.

The \'Have I Got News For You\' star - who has appeared on the political comedy panel show since its launch in 1990 - explained how laughter is a positive thing for "good mental health", and how vital it is to have a release even when things are getting tough.

Asked if the programme will always have a place on air, he exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "Yeah, I think so. Particularly comedy, comedy has always been a popular form of entertainment in good times and bad times.

"It\'s an escape. When you\'re laughing at something, your brain is being flooded by good-feel chemicals and endorphins. For that moment of laughter, you\'re not thinking about the mortgage, or the kids education, the shelves that need putting up in the kitchen.

"You\'re just in that moment laughing at what you\'re laughing at. So, I think it\'s a great thing for general good mental health, to be able to laugh at stuff!"

Paul, 62, insisted entertainment as a whole has helped people in this way, and he pointed to the success of musicals in the US as the country was going through the Great Depression.

He added: "Entertainment has always worked as a means of escaping from reality.

"If you look at the Great Depression in the 1930s in America, the most popular films people were going to see were the musicals.

"They took you out of the everyday life struggle, and into something that was aspirational, fun, toe-tapping. Musicals were very popular in that time because they were sheer escapism."

Paul recently appeared in a countdown of \'The Top 10 Most Watched Films You Have Never Heard Of\' as part of BFI\'s \'Britain In Film\' campaign, which has been funded by the National Lottery.

He said: "It\'s an expensive process to digitise this films, and the BFI have an incredibly rich archive. An archive is really only of use if people get to view the material.

"If it\'s sitting on a shelf somewhere, it\'s almost the same as not having any at all if people can\'t access it."

\'The Top 10 Most Watched Films You Have Never Heard Of\' are free to watch on the BFI Player now.