Words: Calum Baxter
Image: M Julings

4 stars 

Having first picked up a microphone at aged seventeen, performing in unsafe basements to hostile crowds, a decade into her stand-up career Bella Hull finds herself in a safer basement with a much more appreciative sold-out crowd this afternoon at Monkey Barrel 1. With several appearances on Have I Got News For You and The News Quiz as well as becoming a writer on the new Saturday Night Live UK, it is clear her career is in an upward trajectory. Nevertheless, not one to rest on her laurels, Bella opens her set with brief, intense and intimidating crowd work to assert her dominance and command the stage. This is accompanied by a satisfying payoff which must be seen to be believed.

A comic at ease on stage who relishes in toying with audience expectations, Bella describes herself as an emotional terrorist who psychologically manipulates. That statement seems a bit harsh, however, it is clear to see she enjoys honing her craft by skirting around the edges of the crowd’s comfort zone. 

Bella regales her audience with tales about her unconventional family life, residing in ant-infested shared accommodation and grappling with the use of dating apps to conceal her true self to a potential partner. These subject areas are not entirely untrodden ground, but her insights are never hackneyed. Bella Hull is a unique voice in the stand-up circuit well worth seeing live. 

Bella Hull: Mad Cow Disease
Monkey Barrel 1 at Monkey Barrel Comedy
12:30
Aug 12-30