EDINBURGH 2026: Review: BE GOOD! WITH PAULETTE, Underbelly Bristo Square
Daniel Maseda brings his masterclass in physical comedy and social anxiety to Underbelly Bristo Square.
Social anxiety is rarely this delightfully chaotic. In BE GOOD! WITH PAULETTE, American clown Daniel Maseda transforms the agonizing terror of small talk into an interactive, high-voltage playground. Entering as Paulette: a hyper-polite, sweater-clad figure terrified of rejection. Maseda turns the intimacy of Underbelly’s Dexter space into a pressure cooker of hysterical overstimulation.
From the moment he begins scanning the crowd, Maseda’s control of audience dynamics is astonishing. He works the room not by picking on people, but by desperately enlisting them as co-conspirators in his quest for social survival. What makes the hour soar is Maseda’s extraordinary physical instrument. His performance is a showcase of twitchy micro-expressions, frantic stutters, and precise physical movement. Every nervous shift of his weight and sharp intake of breath communicates a creature perpetually on the verge of emotional combustion. You cannot help but want to jump in and answer his every question just to save him from himself.
Where the piece falters slightly is in its thematic resolution. As the show careens toward its climax, Maseda pivots into surreal narrative monologues to unpack his panic-management techniques. While these fever-dream detours showcase his lightning-fast verbal dexterity, the underlying core message about what it truly means to “be good” in a terrifying world gets somewhat lost in the madness.
Even if the ultimate philosophical thesis feels a bit elusive by the final bows, the sheer comedic craft on display is undeniable. It is a wildly entertaining, sweat-drenched hour of Fringe anarchy that turns collective awkwardness into pure joy.
BE GOOD! WITH PAULETTE plays at Underbelly Bristo Square (Dexter) until 30 August.
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