Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

File this one under ‘only at the Fringe’ experiences. Using the relaxing sounds of ASMR, Yogie Belle creates an absorbing, hypnotic, low-key, low-volume soundscape, underpinning a journey of gentle absurdity.

Dressed like a druid from a post-technological apocalypse, Belle is calm and welcoming, lulling us with his strange cadences. His soporific whisper requires intense attention which, along with the authoritative resonant ring of the Tibetan Singing Bowl and wafts of incense, lends a false gravitas to the nonsense he is spouting. 

Some moments are specifically designed to create that ASMR ‘tingle’, such as when he rubs the microphone into his luxuriant grey beard, but it’s more about the somniferous mood, transporting us to an alternative dreamlike reality. And in that world the tropes of ASMR recordings have great importance – especially dolphin song. For one of the aquatic mammals holds great knowledge… and a love of Kasabian songs.Belle also sing-songs some poetry about a loofah from St Lucia.

The surrealism Belle peddles is very much of the ‘wouldn’t it be weird if I did this?’ school that, without all the trappings of the sound design, would amount to little beyond playing in the dress-up box and mucking about with household items to foley the story’s sound effects.

So while it is undoubtedly a gimmick, the ASMR is crucial to elevating the superficial absurdity into an all-round experience… and definitely a unique way of presenting comedy.

Review date: 27 Aug 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Whistlebinkies