Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Three years ago, Estonian clown Julia Masli had a huge late-night hit at Edinburgh by asking her audience ‘Problem?’ and attempting to solve each dilemma, either alone or through the collective will of the room, increasingly united by the desire to do good. 

Now, Romanian clown Edith Alibec is going around her audience and asking how they fill their ‘voids’, getting suggestions that might provide her with what’s missing in her life. 

That’s represented very literally with the word ‘The Void’ written on a black hole in the stomach of her morph-style suit in a vivid shade of purple rarely seen outside of Quality Street wrappers. In one of many nods to absurdity, the outfit comes with preposterously long arms, which she uses to physically and, by extension, spiritually connect to her ‘volunteers’.

How do the chosen punters fill their voids? With friends. With music. With a love of Christmas decorations. These are some of the solutions offered tonight. 

Alibec’s responses include amusingly awkward exchanges fumbling for something to happen, segues into prepared scenes, and a few sparkles of comic brilliance. A good proportion of the latter are provided by the audience themselves. Tonight, the patsy she selected as her husband brought the house down with a well-placed revelation during their intense interactions while the woman who filled her void with laughter delivered a well-received, if corny, gag about genies. 

Some of her performance techniques we have come to recognise as typical Gaulier-style clown fare, such as  the tentative entrance, her cautious vulnerability subsiding as she grows emboldened by the spirit of play  she gradually spreads through the room

Alibec is certainly a winsome enough performer to make this all succeed. We’re on her side, and will try to do what's required to make the show work. As you'd hope, a community of sorts emerges from the audience, whose responses to her child-like curiosity range from hesitant to enthusiastic. 

A few moments of theatricality at the end, accompanied by simple but effective sound and lights, do not quite add the profundity she’s striving for, given that her ultimate message is fairly straightforward – but the build-up is good fun.

This won't fill your void long term, but it will surely let you forget about it for an hour or so.

• Edith Alibec: The Void is on at PBH's Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth at 20:55

Review date: 9 Aug 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: PBH's Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth