Making her name with a personal, often confessional, but never less than hilarious brand of comedy, Sofie Hagen has become one of Britain’s (and her native Denmark’s) finest standups. She tells Fedor Tot more.
You’re currently doing both a tour of your show Bubblewrap from a few years ago, as well as reading from your book. Is it because the themes of both are well-suited together?
The theme of Bubblewrap is basically how I learned how to love my body – but it’s told through stories about boybands and kinky sex. The book is about fatness, and my fatness, in general. Bubblewrap sort of marks the beginning of my ‘journey’ and the book is a summary of it. I’m very excited to see how they work together.
At what point did you go from just occasionally doing stand-up to realising “oh! I can do this!”?
I never occasionally did stand-up. From the moment I started, and actually from two months before I started, I went to see comedy every single night. If I didn’t have a gig, I would still go, in case they suddenly needed a comedian. I would ask for just five minutes. If they said no, I’d ask for four minutes. Then three. It’s very hard to justify why you don’t have two minutes for a young comedian wanting to be on stage. But I didn’t realise I could do it till a few years in. I remember calling my best friend saying, ‘I think… I think maybe I’m good at this,’ and it was a very big moment.
Your comedy is often quite personal – do you think it’s cathartic or therapeutic to write about issues you’re going through or have been through?
It is, yes. But to perform them before you’ve actually gone through them, I don’t have the best experience with. I need to be well over on the other side of my trauma and my issues before I can really make it funny. I’ve tried talking about a break-up I was in the middle of on stage and it was just… sad. The reason Bubblewrap is such a funny show is because I’ve dealt with all of those issues. I’m happy now.
In terms of your own life, are there any elements you think are absolute no-go zones for a comedy show? Or is there no limit – can anything be made funny given the right approach?
Comedy is a skill, a technique. It’s about words and timing and tone. So you can, in theory, make anything funny. Topics in themselves aren’t funny; it’s how to shape comedy from them. But that doesn’t mean you should do it. I just want my comedy to never hurt or harm a marginalised or oppressed group. I’m fine with kicking upwards – kicking the system, the patriarchy, white supremacy and all that. But I wouldn’t do a joke at the expense of people who are already battling the entire system themselves.
You also talk a lot about mental health in your shows. Comedy can sometimes be a lonely place, especially for example on the road home after a bad gig – how do you build up a response to that?
Therapy and community. This industry is hard. It’s really hard. It’s important to have people around you who have had the same experiences. I’m not saying I know exactly how to handle it in a healthy and adult way. I’m more the type to loudly proclaim that I’ll never ever do a gig in Maidenhead again after what they did to me.
I realise it’s a cliché that all Scandinavians speak good English, but how does writing in what is presumably your second language work for you? Does it require a different mode of thinking or conceptualising of what works, comedically?
I have a friend that I run everything by. He went to Cambridge and likes to mention it, so I fully take advantage of that. Five times a day I will ask him “is it forest or forrest”, “what do you call those thingies you use on a pan” or “why is the ‘n’ in environment silent” and he patiently answers me each time.
What are your plans for Edinburgh this year?
I will be doing my new show, The Bumswing every day at 7pm at the Queen Dome. I’m really, really excited. It’s about memory and sex holidays.
Sofie Hagen, Bubblewrap / Happy Fat, Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, Fri 17 May. Tickets: £15. Info: 029 2064 6900 / www.shermantheatre.co.uk