one4review | On 16, Aug 2024

Bella Hull elicits more involuntary noises and facial expressions from an audience than I have experienced in a long time; not all laughter (though plenty of that), and pretty much continuous through the show. Her own facial expressions and body language are also myriad, and they compliment and subvert and augment what she’s actually saying.

What she’s saying is absolutely captivating. And the way she tells it, with metaphors and similes and analogies, is vivid. She’s not scared of using vocabulary or references that are outside the English-language starter pack – egregious, triptych, Bosch, Proust – and she doesn’t sound smug or superior with it, rather that she just enjoys the sound of the words. Ms Hull delivers about half as much show again as some other comedians, such is the pace of both her individual words, and how much she packs into the show. There’s no dead air here.

Bella takes some experiences from her childhood, and a couple from later in life, and weaves them into a brilliant and scintillating hour. Her crowd work is impeccable, without being obviously crowd work, and she bounces off and responds to the audience reactions she’s so skilled at eliciting. The structure works lovely too, a narrative arc that isn’t obvious until you look back at it from the end, and an ending that is as delightful as it is utterly unexpected. This is a very enjoyable hour from a talented comedian.

Reviewed by Laura

Pleasance Courtyard
21:45
Until 25th