‘Men have 30 seconds to get a laugh. Women have 10’: standup Bella Hull on proving herself in rough clubs
Comedian Bella Hull, now 28, talks about a decade spent building her standup career the hard way, starting on the open-mic circuit at 17 and working "unsafe basements" and rough clubs rather than relying on the university comedy pipeline. She studied history of art at Cambridge but deliberately avoided the Footlights route into comedy, preferring to prove herself in gruelling gig conditions, and describes women getting far less time than men to win over hostile crowds. Her persistence has paid off: she has had a sell-out Edinburgh fringe run, appeared on Have I Got News For You and The News Quiz, and become a writer on the new UK version of Saturday Night Live.
Hull's comedy draws heavily on a difficult childhood, including her parents' "messy" divorce, feeling like an outsider at a private girls' school, and formative time with an eccentric grandmother. Influenced by artist Tracey Emin as much as comedians like Ali Wong, she blends tightly crafted jokes with raw personal material on subjects such as disordered eating, family breakdown and mental health. Her new Edinburgh fringe show, Mad Cow Disease, continues this approach, tackling themes including body image, relationship anxiety and the taboo of a female comedian wanting a baby.
- Bella Hull built her standup career in tough, unglamorous comedy clubs from age 17.
- She's now an SNL UK writer with acclaimed Edinburgh fringe shows.
- New show Mad Cow Disease mines personal, taboo themes for comedy.
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Comedian Bella Hull, 28, built her standup career over roughly a decade, starting on the open-mic circuit at 17 and cutting her teeth in tough, sometimes unsafe venues rather than following the university comedy societies that many performers use as a stepping stone, despite having studied at Cambridge herself. She has since gone on to sell out shows at the Edinburgh fringe, appear on established British comedy and current affairs programmes, and write for a new UK edition of Saturday Night Live.
Her material draws heavily on her own life, including her parents' divorce, difficult experiences at school, and family relationships, combined with observations on issues such as body image and mental health. This background matters because it shapes her new Edinburgh fringe show, in which she continues to explore personal and often taboo subjects through comedy.