My Festival: Bella Hull

Bella Hull: Mad Cow Disease | M. Julings

Who or what was the biggest inspiration for your show?

I had an ant infestation in my flat this year and I have written so, so many jokes about ants. I hope that’s ok?

Who or what are you most excited about seeing this year?

I am really excited to see my perfect flatmate Dan Tiernan’s show, Quartz and All. We recently did a gig together and discovered that we had horrifying bits of material about the other person. It was a solemn walk home. Sam Eley is debuting this year, with a show called Basil Crumbwick: Soul Sewage’ It’s a hysterical, gothic, dystopian hour from a man in a giant paper mache head. It’s going to be amazing. As is Lil Wenker’s show, Boy King. I saw a work in progress of it last year and it was maybe the most I’d laughed all month.

Chris Cantrill’s show Rewilding is also exceptional. He has a dark and squalid little mind and I am grateful every day to know it. Li Jin Hao and Ed Night also have amazing new hours. And if you’re looking for a play - try Rockpools by Molly Windust at the Pleasance.

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Who do you most like spending time with in Edinburgh?

I’ve spent the last couple of Fringes living with Huge Davies, who is a genius and a truly perfect and kind man. We drink a lot of Ribena in the flat. Last year we watched A Bug’s Life and then Ants and had a lengthy compare and contrast session. Bebe Cave and I spend a lot of time together at Fringe - as we also do in normal life. She is a mystical being that we are lucky to have. We normally go to crystal shops together and do tarot in various fields. Anything to make us feel more lucky. Incidentally, her third show, Swoon. is shaping up to be her best yet. It’s a razor-sharp, meticulous hour of characters featuring the most beautiful, haunting puppet. I’m not sure what more you could ask for.

I’m normally a bag of nerves in Edinburgh, so I’m most attracted to very soothing spaces. I love the meadows, especially early in the morning before the carnival of performers and punters start processing through it. I like to get a coffee, bring a notebook, and try and talk my way out of whatever spiral I’m currently in. I’m a huge fan of Portobello beach. I have cherished, perfect memories there from over the years, and one memory of a seagull stealing an entire pizza out of my lap. You can’t have everything.

What’s the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night?

At the Fringe, I normally awake as from a tomb with a blood-curdling anxious grasp. My show is at lunchtime this year, so I’m having a hearty breakfast and then pacing around regretting how hearty it was. I try to get early nights in Edinburgh these days. Which normally means about 1am. I’ll get back, down a huge pint of water, and then try to fall asleep in 15 seconds while listening to an audiobook about a terrible historical event.

Thanks for the interview! We’d like to buy you a drink. Where are we going and what are we drinking?

Let’s never ever go to the Pleasance Dome or the Assembly Bar. I want to go to Glasgow and have a pint of horrible ale where nobody will be talking about their outdoor marketing.

Bella Hull: Mad Cow Disease, Monkey Barrel, 12.30pm, until 30 August

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