Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Piggie is all about our appetites: whether and how we should manage and justify them and the extent to which we involve ourselves in others’ desires.
 
Bella Hull’s breezy approach to some of her themes belies their gravity, and you’d be forgiven for not immediately appreciating the complexity of what she’s revealing. It’s not unusual to hear thoughtful narratives about body image and the difficult relationship with calories experienced by people from their teens and upwards. But being drawn into the world of a Gen Z comic recounting their childhood eating patterns is unexpected and compelling.
 
An early developer – or ‘chilf’, as she puts it – Hull craved junk food, and she expresses her lust for treats such as Party Rings with the kind of longing normally mouthed for a new lover. And while some gourmands might rhapsodise about flavours, textures or the satisfaction of a full stomach, she identifies a different, and more specific, moment of joy in the process of consuming. It’s visceral – and compellingly weird.
 
Along the way, she tells us about an unlikely friendship she, at the age of eight, formed with the builder working on her family house. The communal breaking of bread for this pair involved the division of multipacks of crisps in moments that she jokes (or perhaps tells the truth about) made her feel truly seen. 

What she leaves out – her relationship with her parents, other than the fact that they locked away the forbidden snacks she craved so much – might be more important.
 
She demonstrates further restraint in the telling of some pretty dark stuff about an ex-boyfriend’s behaviour around ‘ethical’ pornography. Some of what she shares is so horrible you want to find out his name and give him a reprimand he won’t forget.
 
It’s interesting how little time she gives this, given how tempted other comics might be to develop the trauma. It’s clearly a deliberate attempt to keep it peppy, and you get the sense that this intelligent young woman knows just how much light and shade to combine at this stage in her career.

Review date: 5 Aug 2024
Reviewed by: Ashley Davies
Reviewed at: Pleasance Courtyard