Joanna Griffin's semi-autobiographical one woman show Clown Slut initially seems like a jolly romp through the indignities of university life, but slowly reveals itself as something much sharper.

She plays a gauche protagonist, desperate to dance and debate, whose idea of 'a sausage-eating contest' is different from the one she eventually faces. Through bad dancing (which got Griffin chucked out of a club, and into a soothing kebab shop), Wonder Woman costumes and the pain of bikini waxing, Griffin's giddy and beautifully-written monologue is not as knockabout as the title would suggest.

The pornification of culture, which values the aesthetic over the intelligent, and attractiveness over achievement, is scrutinised at breakneck speed, with a sweetness that belies a ferocious need for true empowerment and, above all, self-respect.

Griffin's light approach to societal taboos makes her accessible to a wider audience, and calls for feminism not alienating to men. She is as hilarious as she is poignant. There may be winces at the recognition of ill-advised student shenanigans, but through her excellent mimicry and perfectly-rendered Beyonce routine, a story about affirmation emerges. Eye-watering, in all the right ways – unlike that waxing.

Dario's Restaurant, Lothian Road, 229 9625, 4pm, until 24 Aug, free.