Famous Brits of Grenadian origin? Lewis Hamilton, Craig David … and now Dane Baptiste, who obligingly supplies those two examples in a routine about the obscurity of his Caribbean homeland. That Baptiste kicks off with a riff on cultural identity is symptomatic – Citizen Dane is a by-the book Edinburgh debut, in which a rising club comic lays out for the first time who he is and what makes him tick. Baptiste is far from the finished article, but the show just about transcends its formula by dint of some fresh perspectives and an appealing personality: unassuming, but a little bit barbed; low-octane, but with flashes of flamboyance.
The Grenada routine occupies the first 10 minutes, and devolves into an alternative-reality fantasy casting Baptiste as drugs kingpin trading in contraband nutmeg. Then we sidestep to his UK childhood, resenting his twin sister's share of parental affection, and feeling isolated among peers because – an exotic quirk, this – he has a dad. A picture emerges, which Baptiste completes as his conclusion to the show, of a young man awkwardly positioned between cultures. He's not white, he's not a true "rude boy", and his values are at odds with those of his Grenadian parents: witness the droll skit in which Baptiste re-enacts his own life experiences as seen through his father's disapproving eyes.
Sometimes his inexperience shows. Between set-pieces, he defaults to a slightly monotonous delivery. Some jokes need work: for example, the third instance he cites disadvantaged kids getting better presents from their parents needs to subvert not reiterate the main idea. But there's some fine stuff here, like the skit in which immigrants "stealing jobs" is conceived as an actual crime; or a weirder one imagining a genital version of the tooth fairy, being teased by his fellow mythical creatures. It's a restrained debut, but an auspicious one.
• Until 24 August. Box office: 0131-226 0000. Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh.
