Edinburgh Fringe: Kevin Eldon/ Lovelace: A Rock Musical/ Jeremy Lion/ Susan Calman

He may call it Titting About, but Kevin Eldon’s show, his first as a solo performer (at the grand age of 49), should be made compulsory viewing for young comics. For this is a man who has learned his craft, the value of good writing, of stage presence, of timing and myriad other things while putting together a lengthy CV that includes Nighty Night, I’m Alan Partridge, Fist of Fun and Brass Eye. If you have seen him in any of those, you will know he's a comedic actor of great range and restraint.

Kevin Eldon, The Stand ****

Eldon first comes on in the guise of “most promising poet of 1988” Paul Hamilton, who is blissfully unaware of his shortcomings and treats us to his odes, most of them mercifully short. This couplet about Chairman Mao: “Now your Little Red Book/ Is a little-read book....” And after a beat: “So hard to imply a hyphen.” A beautifully subtle joke and typical of much of Eldon’s show, as several gags follow each other in such rapid succession you are left trying to play catch-up while lost in laughter.

He appears as other characters, too, including a French punk/ folk singer, Stanley (an “entirely fictional Northern man”), and a whole range of them just in one sketch - "Carry On Shakespeare", complete with all manner of voices from the films - but Eldon also appears as himself doing quickfire gags and songs delivered mostly deadpan, which are for me the highlights of Titting About.

Although one feels slightly short-changed at its barely 50-minute length, this show is pure joy - it’s just a shame that it’s taken Eldon this long to go solo. Until 29 August

• Book tickets for Kevin Eldon's Titting About here

Lovelace: A Rock Musical, Cow Barn ****

As the musical begins, we are at the funeral of Linda Boreman, better known as Linda Lovelace, “star” of the 1972 hard-core pornographic film Deep Throat. Unlike other victims of that industry, Lovelace died of natural causes, aged 53, after a car crash, after she had settled far away from the sleazy porn world as a mother of two in suburban Denver.

Lovelace tells her story apace, from the child she had at 20, put up for adoption by her controlling Catholic mother, meeting her violent first husband, who pimped her and introduced her to drugs, and then forced her to make Deep Throat; and briefly we see a glimpse of the chance of happiness Lovelace had when she left the porn industry, remarried and become an anti-porn campaigner.

Lovelace is written by Anna Waronker of That Dog fame and Charlotte Caffey (of the Go-Go’s) and the mostly through-sung musical has a kicking rock score. But, the subject notwithstanding, the tone is unrelentingly serious and I could have done with some light among the shade. The American ensemble cast are, however, terrific, and Katrina Lenk as Lovelace is outstanding. Until 30 August

• Book tickets for Lovelace here

Jeremy Lion, Pleasance Dome ****

Jeremy Lion is the sort of children’s entertainer who would give your wee ones the willies. He doesn’t actually like children, for one thing, and that red nose he sports isn’t make-up, it’s a sign of his fondness for a drink. And besides, he’s a bit - well, a lot actually - rubbish at putting on a show. But, oh my, he’s deliriously, guffawingly funny.

Lion is not a real character, of course - he’s the alter ego of comic and actor Justin Edwards, who is returning to the Fringe in this role for the first time since 2005, as he has been busy appearing in The Thick of It. Lion has had a rough few years away, out of the industry, living in his brother’s garage but having to leave because of an unfortunate incident over a fried breakfast. He’s now making a comeback with Jeremy Lion Goes Green (with pianist Hilary Cox, performed by Gus Brown), a show he wants to take to primary schools and arts centres after Edinburgh, to teach children how to recycle and reuse.

The backstory is neatly shared in asides between Lion’s trips in his travel machine (like all his props, a wonderfully shabby contraption) to various locations - including one of the Poles, an oil-drenched beach and the Amazon rainforest - to explain why we should protect the environment. He’s already had a nerve-steadier before he comes on, but the show starts descending into a glorious shambles as Lion finds ever more inventive ways of necking some alcohol on stage, and the denouement is a tour de force. Until 30 August

• Book tickets for Jeremy Lion here

Susan Calman, Underbelly ***

Only a few years ago, Glaswegian comic Susan Calman was a rights lawyer, whose work could be summed up in the simple exhortation “Stop copying!” Now she is an established stand-up and looks set to break into the national consciousness after her frequent appearances on Radio 4’s The News Quiz and various television panel shows.

In Constantly Seeking Susan, her most personal show to date, she uses the rather clever device of her self-penned obituary (she’s only 35) to assess her life so far. She doesn’t pull punches because, she tells us, “I am my own harshest critic.... though The Scotsman would disagree."

That's typical of Calman’s self-deprecating style; she’ll get to the jokes, about her lack of height or her sexuality, for instance, before any heckler will. Along the way she riffs about life and relationships, how she and exercise are never spoken of in the same sentence - “The only hill I walk up is the disabled ramp at Kentucky Fried Chicken” - and how she wants to repackage feminists as Fanny Fighters. Amusing though much of it is, ultimately one’s appreciation of this show depends on how much of a Calman fan you already are. Until 29 August

• Book tickets for Susan Calman here