Fantastically uncomfortable
Gaullier trained clown Daniel Maseda has created a wonderful character in the ridiculously courteous Paulette. Be Good! With Paulette tracks his tentative journey from the auditorium door to the stage, embroiling audience members in a series of hilariously unpredictable detours along the way.
For the first five minutes of Maseda’s performance, as he cowers at the door with senseless blabber leaking from his mouth, the room is slicked over with palpable discomfort. The audience twist awkwardly in their chairs, attempting to view this strange, squirming man before them, several also attempting to hide the doubt on their faces in the name of politeness. Maseda holds an unforgiving mirror up to this compulsion towards false manners, stumbling through entirely insincere yet meticulously planned greetings as he pulls his absurd world into focus.
A skilled performer, Maseda soon wins the room – his training in improvisation becoming evident as he mangles and mishears whatever is offered to him to comedic success. Be Good! With Paulette is not concerned with plot but rather delves steadily more into the absurd as it develops, and surprises throughout. Maseda’s wild writing achieves an almost Wildean satirical tone as he mocks decorum, sense, and social anxiousness. However, I feel I would have engaged better with the production had it rooted itself slightly more firmly in a particular social sphere, or given slightly more substance to some of its repeated but never developing motifs.
Maseda has a clear vision which he executes well. For fans of character clowning and unpredictable humour, this show will be a hit.
Reviewed by Ella Thornburn on 07/08/26
Fringe Listing: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/be-good-with-paulette
LISTING INFORMATION:
Dates: 5-7 Aug (Previews), 8-17 & 19-30 Aug
Time: 22:15 (60 min)
Venue: Underbelly Bristo Square, Dexter (Venue 302)
Tickets: Mon-Thu £12.00, Fri-Sun £13.00
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / http://www.edfringe.com