James Kettle

This week's new comedy

Previews of John-Luke Roberts, Dave Hill and Jeremy Lions.

Fans of Armando Iannucci's already classic The Thick Of It will be familiar with the comic work of Justin Edwards, thanks to his role as gormless wannabe-Machiavelli "Blinky" Ben Swain. But his solo shows in the guise of dipsomaniac children's "entertainer" Jeremy Lion are an altogether different (if no less hilarious) proposition. Red-faced, belching and swigging from cans of Special Brew, Lion is a majestically larger-than-life grotesque. When Edwards last brought this character to the fringe in 2005 he walked away with a Perrier nomination and, on the strength of his latest show, you wouldn't bet against him receiving similar recognition this time. The brand-new eco-themed spectacular sees Lion and pianist Hilary Cox (AKA comic Gus Brown) in a "play" about the dangers of an environmentally unfriendly lifestyle. This is big, vivid and brilliant comedy, with set pieces that could see you feeling incapacitated with laughter.

Edinburgh's festival fringe has a reputation as the perfect place for lesser-known American comics to forge an intimate relationship with UK audiences. Bill Hicks is the best known, but there have been many more, from daffy punster Emo Philips to the excoriating Doug Stanhope. Those speculating on who might be the next transatlantic unknown to break through over here should check out Dave Hill, a spectacularly inventive New York comic appearing in two shows at the Pleasance Courtyard. Hill's work mixes bizarre video footage with music and an extraordinary rambling self-obsessed stand-up to provide a tour de force of absurdist comedy, capable of appealing to teenage Boosh fans while keeping the grown-ups onside. His solo show Big In Japan is the full showcase for his unlikely talents, while late-night chat show The Dave Hill Explosion adds guests and even more anarchy.

Kevin Eldon finally makes his Edinburgh solo debut

Comic actor's cameos have lit up classics from Fist Of Fun to Four Lions, but at a rate of 'one poem a year', it's been a long road to the Edinburgh festival fringe.

Has Chegwin been stealing comedians' jokes on Twitter?

The standup community's displeasure at Cheggers recycling gags online shows how comedy's rulebook has changed.

Election 2010: Turning gaffes into gags

Reckon the election campaign's been tough on the politicians? Think of us, the poor satirists.

A Comedy Roast needs fierce heat

It's a US institution, but do UK comedians and celebs have the chops to insult their peers and entertain us in a new TV show?

Charity gigs come in all shapes and sizes, from a bunch of stand-ups passing the hat round in a room above a pub to this, a Channel 4-backed night to benefit Great Ormond Street which features one of the most celeb-heavy lineups you're likely to see anywhere this year. As Peep Show is unequivocally the network's biggest comedy hit in recent years, it's all the more fitting to have David Mitchell as one of the main attractions, doing a relatively rare live turn. Among those joining him at the O2 are Channel 4 regulars like Sean Lock, Jack Whitehall and the Fonejacker, but the net's also been spread wide enough to include the likes of Jonathan Ross and Gavin & Stacey stars Ruth Jones and James Corden. And given the charity involved, you can't rule out a last-minute cameo from Sir Alan Sugar. If you can't get a ticket, you'll be able to see the whole thing on TV next month.

What do comedians Hicks, Lee and Cooper have in common?

Er, not much - though they're Britain's three favourite comedians, according to the Leicester Comedy festival. Do you agree?

A freshly minted comedy classic here, as the third series of Mark Evans's Dickensian spoof gets a full commercial release following its Radio 4 run. While strictly speaking it's a literary parody, keen scholars shouldn't expect too much in the way of donnish wit: the focus here is much more on balls-to-the-wall silliness with flourishes of surrealism. Bleak Expectations chronicles the struggles of orphan turned wealthy wastepaper-basket magnate Pip Bin (played by ebullient, talented newcomer Tom Allen) against the villainous activities of his legal guardian and tormentor-in-chief, the inappropriately named Mr Gently Benevolent (a who-knew comic performance of genius from Buffy's one-time mentor Anthony Head). While the show cocks plenty of snooks at costume-drama cliches, bigger laughs come from outlandish moments like the succession of bizarre and ineffectual inventions offered up by Bin's nice but useless engineer sidekick, Harry Biscuit.