Robin Tran @ Assembly George Square

Robin Tran’s Don’t Look At Me is a classic Fringe debut in form: the story of who she is and how she got here. The content is probably less familiar to Edinburgh audiences, unless you’re the next trans Vietnamese stand-up about to steal her material. Tran has the trademark ease and delightful bawdiness of an American club comic, striking a perfect balance between sincere discussions of mental health and dick jokes. And those aforementioned dick jokes? They’re pretty good. 

Tran’s at her strongest when she delves into one theme and takes five or ten minutes to really interrogate it: America’s relationship with the Vietnam war; her PornHub habits. Here, more than ever, you can feel the experience of her decade of experience clubbing on the circuit – they’re full of gags and well embroidered. She tells us the name of her favourite porn video, and that she likes it because of how clearly it describes the content (“like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre”).

There is a lot of action in the second half of the show, and at points Tran loses the audience as she has to do a lot of narrating and explaining in quick succession. Everything she has to say is thought-provoking, but we’re left wishing she would delve into some of these ideas with the depth seen in the first half. 

Don’t Look At Me is a solid hour – and fans of Tran’s who have seen the show online already should not be put off. Although her Fringe debut shares the title of the hour-long special she uploaded to YouTube last year, more than half of the material is new – this iteration doesn’t even bear the joke for which the show is named. Don’t Look At Me: Fringe Edition is less shocking than its online sister, and gives the audience less cause to question what is real and what is edgy exaggeration. But it’s also more tender. Both versions are good and equally deserving of your attention.

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Robin Tran: Don't Look at Me, Assembly George Square (The Box), until 27 Aug (not 15), 6.25pm, £10.50-11.50