Hannah Platt @ Pleasance Courtyard

Hannah Platt’s Fringe debut tells the story of her relationship with her body: her diagnosis with, and response to, body dysmorphia. Platt presents herself as a purveyor of self-deprecating humour, but has a firm sense of the line between confessional material and maintaining the dignity of her private life – that boundary in itself soon becomes a source of laughs.

Platt leans towards a relaxed storytelling style – not exactly stuffed with jokes, but rather a patchwork of funny asides that create the impression of a chat with a friend. Platt says herself that this is a conversation – just not one we should feel we have to take part in. This laid-back and even-handed tone is crucial: in a sea of Fringe hours dealing with issues of mental health, Platt is rare in that she handles her material without ever allowing the tone to become too dark. She is able to tell the story of her own suicidal thoughts in a sober way without making the audience feel that her sustained mental health is their responsibility.

She has the skill and the ease to take that conversation further, make it more in-depth, if she wants – there's a lot of discussion of what dysmorphia is not, and less explanation of the series of events that took her from it manifesting to her seeking a diagnosis, and what happened after that.

Defence Mechanism has a lot more going on under the surface, too. There's family, rage, and light skewering of class narratives at the Fringe. Platt's debut hour is a show which wins several important victories. Perhaps the greatest of all is that she produces something rare, and sadly missing from so many Fringe shows: a strong, funny ending.

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Hannah Platt: Defence Mechanism, Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker Two), until 25 Aug, 8.10pm, £7-12