Julien Cottereau: Imagine-toi

It seems you can hardly move in Edinburgh during August without bumping into a fifth0-rate street performer pissing about with a crystal ball or some other dreary alternative. Former Cirque-du-Soleil performer Julien Cottereau, however, offers a mesmerising mime showdown in the Princes Street Gardens that, although seemingly aimed at children, should be on everyone's list of alternative events to see during the Fringe.

Using only his body and his amazingly versatile voicebox for sound effects, Cottereau conjures a series of imaginary objects –a ball that he kicks back and forth into the audience, eventually getting stuck in his throat, and a lion whom he fights and then successfully tames. Only the wonderfully childlike Cottereau could make a sketch with an imaginary piece of chewing gum last fifteen minutes and leave the audience in stitches by the end. Audience participation is a huge part of the show and it is a testament to his versatility and his ability to engage that even the most reticent punters are coaxed onto stage during lengthy but always hugely entertaining sketches.

Younger children may find some of his routines difficult to interpret- it is easy to lose the thread of what is going on if you look away-and it does wear a bit thin in the last fifteen minutes, especially when he begins to repeat previously used material. But none of this detracts much from what is a touching and beautiful performance.