The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is back for another year and throughout August, a gaggle of comedians will be heading up north to showcase their latest gags and puns to audiences who are visiting the Scottish capital from all over the world.

Leytonstone comedian Nigel Lovell only started on the comedy scene six years ago but has spent the past four years hosting his own shows, one of which is Worst Show On The Fringe, which has featured various comedians who all have had one-star reviews to their names including Russell Howard, Tim Minchin, Miranda Hart and Jack Whitehall.

His second show is called Stellar à Trois and is filled with stories about getting old and things not working as well as they used to.

Nigel explains why the festival keeps knocking his socks off every year.

"There is always a magnificent crowd when I'm there, as the city is so vibrant and buzzing and you've got so much going on, including the book festival, the Military Tattoo and the Fringe, so it is always just packed to the rafters with people and I'm so lucky as quite a lot of those people like coming to my shows, which is really gratifying," says the 42-year-old.

"I've created shows specifically for the festival. The Worst Show On The Fringe only exists there and so is an exclusive show for people who attend. I think it is the only place that the show could work as it is the only time that you have so many comedians from all over the world just in one city.

"Also, it may seem like the acts are going to be rubbish if they've had bad reviews but really, most top comedians have had a one-star review at some point."

As well as recounting humorous tales of his life, Nigel admits he can't resist telling puns and has even made it to the final stages of competitions with his deadpan jokes.

He says: "I was in the UK pun championships in February and got down to the last eight. The best pun I can come up with is: do you know what I find annoying, when you're driving along and then a hearse zips up on the inside of you. I hate undertakers.

"I'm going to see if I can go further in the competition next year."

Although he has only been working in comedy for a few years, he has certainly made the most of every opportunity that has come his way.

He says: "Before getting into comedy, I worked as a certified accountant but one day I woke up and just thought to myself that I didn't want to keep adding up numbers for the rest of my life and had always fancied giving stand up a go, so I did.

"Over the years, I have been inspired by comedians such as Adam Hills and Alan Davies and the first time I saw them really knocked my socks off. Alan Davies even came and did My Worst Show a few years ago in 2012, which was amazing.

"I don't mean to sound like a name dropper, but this year we have Tony Law, Phil Nichol and I recently bumped into Russell Howard and Rob Becket. Stephen K Amos is always around too and is just a lovely human being."

Growing up in Leytonstone, Nigel was a fan of watching Friday and Saturday Night Live, as well as Not The Nine O'Clock News with Griff Rhys Jones and these television shows inspired his passion for performing.

He says: "As a child, I loved watching Ben Elton and Harry Enfield with all his characters. I also bumped into Rowan Atkinson up in Edinburgh last year and he was another childhood favourite.

"When I'm not on stage, I enjoy sports in my spare time, such as hockey and cricket and I'm also a Leyton Orient fan so we all have our crosses to bear!

"I like reading, going to the pub and run a comedy night in Leyton called Oh So Funny once a month, so it's good that I'm able to keep living the dream."

Edinburgh Festival Fringe, until August 29. Details: edfringe.com

By Rachel Russell