"Funniest Comedian STEPHEN MERCHANT vs PAUL MERTON"

Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English actor, comedian, director, presenter and writer. Alongside Ricky Gervais, he was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series The Office (2001–2003), and co-writer, co-director, and co-star of both Extras (2005–2007) and Life's Too Short (2011–2013). With Gervais and Karl Pilkington, he hosted The Ricky Gervais Show in its radio, podcast, audiobook, and television formats; the radio version won a bronze Sony Award. He also provided the voice of the robot Wheatley in the 2011 video game Portal 2. Merchant co-developed the Sky1 travel series An Idiot Abroad (2010–2011) and co-created Lip Sync Battle (2015–present). Merchant has also performed as a stand-up comedian, which led to his writing and starring in the HBO series Hello Ladies (2013–2014), which was based on his stand-up material. He starred in his first play, Richard Bean's The Mentalists, at London's Wyndham's Theatre in 2015. He also appeared as the mutant Caliban in the superhero film Logan (2017). He has received accolades such as two Golden Globe Awards, three BAFTA Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four British Comedy Awards.

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Paul James Martin (born 9 July 1957), known under the stage name Paul Merton, is an English writer, actor, comedian and radio and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, Merton's humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and sometimes dark comedy. He has been ranked by critics, fellow comedians and viewers to be among Britain's greatest comedians. He is well known for his regular appearances as a team captain on the BBC panel game Have I Got News for You, and as the former host of Room 101, as well as for several appearances on the original British version of the improvisational comedy television show Whose Line Is It Anyway? Merton appears as a panellist regularly on Radio 4's Just a Minute. He has also appeared as one of the Comedy Store's Comedy Store Players. Merton married actress Caroline Quentin in 1990; they announced their separation in April 1997, which was followed by divorce in 1998. Merton subsequently had a relationship with producer and actress Sarah Parkinson; they were married unofficially in a service in the Maldives in 2000. They were officially married three months before her death from breast cancer on 23 September 2003. He married fellow improviser Suki Webster in 2009. Shortly before becoming a household name on Have I Got News for You, Merton booked himself into the Maudsley psychiatric hospital for six weeks, because of psychiatric problems caused by the malaria medicine Lariam. In an interview with The Guardian he was reported to have been "hallucinating conversations with friends, and became convinced he was a target for the Freemasons".

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