Bella Hull’s latest Fringe offering, Doctors Hate Her, delivers a carefully crafted hour of stand-up that dissects the fallout from a mismatched romance, blending curious observations with elements of the absurd.
Hull draws heavily from her own breakup with an ex who prized logic and convention above all, contrasting sharply with her affinity for artistic flair and the mystical. He and his family, you see, are the doctors who hate Bella.
The narrative traces her growing awareness that this dynamic left her feeling unaccepted, her worldview dismissed as irrational by someone close, leading to a subtle exploration of how such doubt can linger long after a relationship ends.
The material spans Hull’s life, from formative years under the influence of her eccentric grandmother—a free-spirited psychic who wandered barefoot and harboured tales of a vengeful equine spirit tied to family lore—to the chaos of modern adulthood in a shared London flat.
“Bella Hull’s latest Fringe offering, Doctors Hate Her, delivers a carefully crafted hour of stand-up that dissects the fallout from a mismatched romance, blending curious observations with elements of the absurd.“
Hull mines humour from everyday absurdities, such as eavesdropping on her slender housemate’s enthusiastic sexual encounters or devising unconventional approaches to parenthood. There are also frequent flights of fancy, like envisioning existence as a rodent, finding a therapist in IKEA, or absurd gags about her mother as a computer peripheral. This is solid, pithy work, and the room appreciates it.
An extended dream sequence may be less successful in terms of laughs, but still shows ambition.
Hull’s delivery is confident, her upbeat demeanour masking an underlying edge that reveals itself in calculated bursts. She employs clever misdirection, building audience sympathy for her ex before revealing the split, or luring viewers into one expectation only to subvert it with a punchline.
That said, you do have to hope the ‘dangerous filth’ she portrays as her living condition is exaggerated. Taken with the show’s relentless focus on how awful her ex and his family were, and her ‘too tired to talk in full sentences’ schtick, ‘Doctors Hate Her’ tends to the immature. The result is part of her audience laughing like drains, whilst others smile politely.
Still, Bella Hull’s sublimation of personal vulnerability into wit, and fresh takes on self-acceptance amid external judgement, mark her as comic with potential.
Show details
Venue: Venue 313a: Monkey Barrel Comedy (The Hive), 15-17 Niddry St, EH1 1LG (Google Maps)
Date(s): Wed 30 Jul to Sun 24 Aug (25 shows)
Time(s): Multiple show times, 1:55pm (60 mins) (2 shows), 1:55pm (55 mins) (23 shows)
Age recommendation: 16+
Price: From £8 (concessions available)
Get tickets
By
By
