Anu Vaidyanathan has enjoyed many successes before her Fringe arrival: as an engineer, triathlete, memoirist, even flirting with a Bollywood career. Her Edinburgh debut, Blimp, is unfortunately much less impressive than attracting the creative interest of big-time directors or being the first Indian to complete an Ironman Triathlon.

While Vaidyanathan’s life offers enough material to fill an hour of stand-up, Blimp is let down by weak structuring of both the overall narrative and specific jokes. To Vaidyanathan’s credit, her dry delivery remains tight and focused throughout, a sign of the confidence necessary for any comedy debut. There are a few excellent moments of surprise and subversion that catch you off-guard, and as a South Indian who’s lived on three continents, she takes advantage of her complex outsider status to interrogate and assess a variety of cultural quirks.

Blimp is less stand-up and more amusing storytelling, an hour where we phase through the beats of Vaidyanathan’s life with charming asides rather than well-crafted jokes. Her gags aren’t painful, but they are without purpose or direction, and Blimp ends up feeling like a missed opportunity to make a compelling perspective and life story truly soar.

One benefit of Blimp’s unwavering linear narrative is noticing the similarities to how Vaidyanathan has tried, or resisted, assimilation around the world, especially after realising a key theme is how the comic has compromised or reasserted her own cultural heritage. Still, it's a merit that never properly sings; another reason why Blimp is left deflated. 

Anu Vaidyanathan: Blimp, Underbelly Bristo Square, until 19 August, 7.15pm.