Sofie Hagen (born November 10, 1988) is a Danish comedian, author, podcaster and fat acceptance campaigner. She has toured comedy shows, published two books and hosted and co-hosted several podcasts. She has also written, spoken and campaigned against fatphobia and the body positivity movement.
Early life and education Hagen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 10 November 1988.
Hagen was raised by her mother in Søndersø. From 2005 to 2008, Hagen attended Allerød Gymnasium, studying the STX, Spanish and Political Science. Hagen watched comedy for the first time aged 15.
Hagen went to university in Copenhagen, where she studied Russian. She studied to become an international social worker. When she started doing comedy she was working for the Danish Refugee Council and Red Cross Youth Denmark.
Stand-up
Early career After doing some volunteering work at an open mic night in Copenhagen in 2010, Hagen started doing stand-up in Danish in the same year, also in Copenhagen.
Describing Copenhagen's comedy scene as "insular and limited...with very few women on the circuit.", Hagen moved to London in September 2012 to perform regular comedy. When she moved, she began performing in English. In 2015, Hagen said she enjoyed performing in English more than in Danish because "You have four times as many words as we do in Danish, so the possibility of making ‘the perfect sentence’ for ‘the perfect joke’ is bigger."
In 2013, Hagen attended her first Edinburgh Festival Fringe where she featured in a few shows. She appeared at Rap Battles at Bannermans. The Skinny gave the show a five-star review, describing Hagen as "hilarious". Hagen also featured in Damn Danes with Valdemar Pustelnik. Three weeks, giving the show a 4-star review, described Hagen in the show as "cheerfully downbeat... [with] a wonderful knack for building audience sympathy, then crushing it for a laugh."
In 2013, Time Out identified Hagen as "One to Watch". Hagen won the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year the same year.
In 2014, Hagen won the Chortle Best Newcomer Award for which she was nominated alongside Pierre Novellie, Tim Renkow and Jonny Pelham.
2015: Bubblewrap In August 2015, Hagen took the debut hour show, Bubblewrap, to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The show featured stories and anecdotes about her life.
Hagen's show received a last-minute venue change, changing from a 70-seat to a 500-seat venue.
The show won the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award (now the Edinburgh Comedy Award) for Best Newcomer. She was also given the ThreeWeeks Editors' Awards.
The show received 5-star reviews from
ThreeWeeks The Skinny who also voted her one of the "Three Top Newcomers" The Daily Mirror who described her as "a really interesting new voice with something to say and a great way of saying it"
4-star reviews from:
Chortle Time Out, (who elsewhere described her show as one of "12 newcomers to see at the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe") who described it as "candid" and "cunningly crafted" Beyond the Joke, who described it as "hugely entertaining" The Herald, who described it as "bursting with new ideas" The Sunday Times Fest Magazine
Other reception:
The Guardian described Hagen as one of the "fringe's funniest newcomers", describing her show as "triumphant...in itself and in its message" The Independent included the show in an article of "The best comedy shows to book now" Broadway Baby gave the show a mixed review, both describing it as "charming", but also saying that "There’s an uneasy balance between the serious issues and her comedy set" Broadway Baby described the show as "the most authentic and the most of human of any stand up...at Fringe". Hagen took the show to Soho Theatre after the Fringe. The show featured a new story about something that had occurred after her show at the Fringe.
2016: Shimmer Shatter In August 2016, Hagen took her second solo show, Shimmer Shatter, to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The show explored stories from Hagen's past and current life.
Hagen attempted to make the tour welcoming for fans with anxiety by allowing them to make contact before shows to let her know their needs. She also asked the majority of venues on the tour to provide gender-neutral toilets.
The show received 5-star reviews from:
Three Weeks
4-star reviews from:
Beyond the Joke, who named Hagen's show one of the "Ten Must See Edinburgh Fringe Shows" The Skinny, who said it was "a warm, subtly empowering hour". One4Review, who said "This won’t be the show that makes you laugh the most this Fringe, but it will make you think, make you feel better about the world, and will make you really like Sofie Hagen."
3-star reviews from:
The Guardian, having named it as one of "the shows we recommend", gave the show a 3-star review, saying that it lacked the "bulletproof set pieces" and "raucous" laughs of her debut show, but that it "confirms her skill at structuring autobiographical comedy"
Other reception:
Time Out named the show one of "Seven must-see comedy shows at the Edinburgh Fringe". After the Fringe, Hagen took the show to London's Soho Theatre. The London show changed focus onto different autobiographical stories.
2017: Dead Baby Frog In August 2017, Hagen took her third solo show Dead Baby Frog to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This was Hagen's first paid show at the Fringe.
The title references the boiled frogs experiment, first conducted by Friedrich Goltz in 1869, that "“proved” frogs make no resistance if slowly boiled alive, and Hagen used this as a metaphor for some autobiographical stories. She also returned to the issue of fatphobia in her set, responding to another comic's dismissal of the idea at the last year's Fringe. On entry, Hagen provided audience members a flyer with a trigger warning for the show.
The show received a 4-star review from To Do List, who called it "a pretty personal show in which she does not hold back" It received a 3.5-star review from Chortle, who described the show as "a speedy, feelgood hour, which might be surprising" given the content. It received 3-star reviews from: The Skinny, who said that Hagen "manages to tackle a tricky subject matter delicately without pushing it too heavily on to the audience"; andThe Wee Review, who said that "Hagen comes across as a thoroughly delightful person whom everyone is rooting for", but "the weighty themes of the show means that it’s more cathartic confession than comedy."
Other reception:
The show received a mixed review from The Guardian, who described it as "urgent, raw and confessional" yet "her jokes burn at a low flame, and can feel dutiful." The List described it as "a compelling tale of resistance and breaking free from the shackles of tyranny" The Skinny named it their number one pick for comedy at the Fringe 2017
2018 In 2018, Hagen took her work-in-progress show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
2019: The Bumswing In 2019, Hagen took her fourth solo show The Bumswing to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The name comes from Swansea, i.e. Shame town, twinned with Skamby in Denmark, which is Hagen's home town. Hagen wanted to create a lighter show, saying that it was "a complete step away from any activism and it’s just pure me doing stand-up again."
Hagen won the Audience Award in the Comedy Poster Awards for her poster for The Bumswing. The photographer for the poster was Matt Crockett. The designer was Haiminh Le and the designer of the jumpsuit was Jazmin Lee from Plus Equals. Hagen said that the idea for the poster was for it to be like a Magic Eye poster.
The show received 4-star reviews from:
One4review, who described the show as "minimal" and a "Great show from a great comedian." Broadway World, who said it was "a sweet comedy show with lots of laughs throughout and a great twist"
Other reception:
The List wrote "everything has a purpose in this beautifully created narrative with an apparently deliciously unreliable narrator." about the show. After the Edinburgh Fringe, Hagen took The Bumswing on a UK tour.
In 2019, Hagen also participated, alongside other comedians, in a benefit gig in aid of mental health charities, Mind and SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) on the anniversary of the death of Robin Williams. She hosted the show alongside Nish Kumar.
On 15 August, Hagen also participated in Werewolf: Live - Charity Spectacular!, a charity show raising money for Kidney Research UK, hosted by Jon Gracey.
2021 In 2021, Hagen took her work-in-progress show Optimistically Working On A New Show, In Case The World Doesn't End to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She attended the Fringe without a preconceived concept or plan of what the show would be. The Fringe took place in light of the covid-19 pandemic, having been cancelled the previous year and held with social distancing guidelines in 2021.
Hagen has said that the pandemic changed the way she thought about her audience. Previously, she had found it hard to manage the amount of people who told them about their struggles in response to her shows. During the pandemic, her fans kept her afloat financially and with support, and she realised she had created a community.
2022: Fat Jokes In 2022, Hagen took her solo show Fat Jokes to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The show explored several themes, particularly fatphobia. She discusses "society's 'deeply ingrained' anti-fat bias and the way it marginalises people, particularly women."
The show received a 5-star review from One4Review, who described it as "is a brilliantly crafted hour of Jokes about some of the everyday absurdities of being a fat person in the world." It received a 3.5-star review from Chortle, who said that "the individual elements of Fat Jokes work well, there’s not a strong enough narrative arc". It received a 3-star review from The List, who describes it as a "Mixed bag of a show which both challenges and comforts her audience" Broadway Baby called it "a highlight of this year's festival" highlighting Hagen's "awkward...relatable, cringeworthy" stories and "physical humour"
2023: Banglord In 2023, Hagen took her show Banglord to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The show was about personal anecdotes from Hagen's life. Hagen started the show with showing the audience a breakdown of what would be discussed within the hour.
The show was named in the British Comedy Guide's Best reviewed Edinburgh Fringe shows 2023.
The show received 5-star reviews from:
Funny Women, who said that "this show is a departure where the Danish comedian shares their love of gossip" and, in this show "Self-exploration has been replaced with sheer glee and it makes for an incredibly fun show where you will leave wishing Sofie was your leader." The Wee Review Entertainment Now
4-star reviews from:
Broadway World, describing it as "a solid hour that tackles topics that aren't really being discussed with sensitivity but also provides big laughs." Fest Magazine, who describes it as "Frivolous in the present and often dark in its reaches into the past, Banglord roams just about everywhere tonally." The i Paper (who also listed the show as one of "The best shows to see" at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023), calling it "an enjoyable and intriguing hour." One4review, who said "the show probably shouldn’t cohere as well as it did, but Ms Hagen is an excellent writer as well as performer, and so her narrative skill and her delivery make it work."
2026: I Think Some of This Is My Fault After work-in-progress shows in 2025, Hagen took her show I Think Some of This Is My Fault to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in Spring 2026 and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2026.
Broadway World named the show in their "EDINBURGH 2026: Pick of the Programme – Comedy". The i Paper named the show one of "The 29 best shows to see at Edinburgh Fringe 2026".
Television