Julia Masli

Julia Masli (born 1995 or 1996) is an Estonian-born, London-based clown who garnered wide attention and a number of awards at the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe for her show ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. She was raised in Tallinn, Estonia, where her parents are lawyers, and at the age of 12 was sent to a girls' boarding school in England. Not speaking fluent English at the time, she often communicated by miming. As a teenager she intended to become a dramatic actor and perform tragedies on London stages, but failed to gain entry to British drama schools, which she has attributed to her strong accent.

Masli trained at the Ecole Philippe Gaulier from 2014 to 2016. After returning to London she struggled to succeed as a clown, and for a time stopped performing for 18 months. In 2019 she took a show called Legs to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, in which she shook hands with audience members using her feet; the show won a comic innovation prize, and she now tries to use legs in all her shows. In 2022 she returned to the Fringe with Choosh!, a solo show about a migrant's struggles in the United States, and co-created the competitive clown show Clownts with John-Luke Roberts, Sami Abu Wardeh, and Viggo Venn.

Her 2023 show ha ha ha ha ha ha ha features Masli dressed in Victorian clothing with a mannequin's leg instead of a left arm, approaching audience members and asking "Problem?" before responding with leftfield efforts to solve their issues. The show won Best Show at the ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards and the Comedians' Choice Award, as well as the Malcolm Hardee 'Act Most Likely to Make a Million Quid' Award in 2023, and was nominated for the "Best Comedy Show" award in the main 2023 Edinburgh Comedy Awards.