Sofie Hagen

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. 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." 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". 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." 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.

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

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" 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 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" After the Fringe, Hagen took the show to London's Soho Theatre. 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. 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";

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 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" 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. 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." 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 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

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." calling it "an enjoyable and intriguing hour."

2026: I Think Some of This Is My Fault After work-in-progress shows in 2025, 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 In July 2016, Hagen appeared in the Channel 4 miniseries Outsiders. It was first made as part of Channel 4's Comedy Blaps scheme for new comedy talent. The premise was about foreign young people moving to the fringes of London to share a flat. The script came out of improvisation from the comic actors. The Guardian described it as, in light of Brexit, speaking "to the weird sense of isolation that young remainers are feeling, adrift in a backwards, xenophobic world."

2019: Happy Fat On 2 May 2019, Hagen published her debut book Happy Fat – Taking Up Space in a World That Wants to Shrink You published by 4th Estate. The book documents her experiences of being fat, and fatphobia. It mixes this with political commentary, statistics, scientific studies and interviews with activists.

Key to the book is the idea that "fatphobia is a product of capitalism – designed to keep us consuming diet products and miracle foods; and patriarchy – which demands women exert an impossible level of self-discipline around their looks”

The Wee Review gave Happy Fat a three-star review, saying that the "constant change of styles is quite jarring on the reader and certainly doesn’t make for a seamless read as we are jumped back and forth from an interview to a childhood experience and then onto a reference to a medical research report."

2024: Will I Ever Have Sex Again? Hagen published a questionnaire online saying: "“If you do not have sex, but you wish you were, why do you think that is?” Thinking she would receive few replies, she closed the link within two days as she was receiving too many responses. Because of this she decided to write a book about the subject. Her book, Will I Ever Have Sex Again? was published by Blink in May 2024.

In her book, Hagen provides "a guide to how societal norms have shaped our understanding and experiences of sex, and sometimes prevented us from having it."

Podcasts Hagen has a long history of making podcasts.

2013–2016: Comedians Telling Stuff Hagen hosted Comedians Telling Stuff, a podcast series where she asks six questions of six comedians. The show began in August 2013 and ran for nine seasons before ending in 2016. Guests have included Susan Calman, Nick Helm, Richard Herring, Michael Legge, Josie Long, Colin Mochrie, Pappy's, Katherine Ryan, Ian Boldsworth, Shappi Khorsandi and Arthur Smith, as well as younger comedians and comedians from Denmark. Hagen was a co-host from December 2015 to December 2016.

In 2016, Hagen and Frances-White took the podcast to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with special guest Susan Calman.

2016–2021: Made of Human Podcast/Who Hurt You? In 2016, Hagen created the Made of Human podcast (also known as MohPod), in which she interviewed various comedians, activists and notable people. The podcast was about "how people who are 'socially awkward and introvert' cope with life." In April 2021, Hagen changed the podcast name to Who Hurt You? After the name change, Hagen described the podcast as being about "why we are the way we are. Who and what shaped us? What role did society play? Our families and childhoods? Our role models and friends?" The Blurt Foundation named Made of Human one of their top 10 podcasts in 2018. Hannah Parkinson from The Guardian interviewed Hagen about Made of Human when she visited Edinburgh and named it a top podcast from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The Skinny said the podcast guests are "great cross-section of interesting perspectives" and described the show as both cheery and intimate.

In 2020, Hagen changed the name of the Made of Human Podcast to Who Hurt You?.

2018: Secret Dinosaur Cult In 2018, Hagen created the Secret Dinosaur Cult podcast with fellow comedian and drag king Jodie Mitchell (who was part of Edinburgh University's Improverts troupe) . The first episode was released on 15 October. The podcast is about secrets and human behaviour, using dinosaur behaviour as a metaphor. It covered themes such as queerness, trauma and body positivity.

The podcast began when Hagen had planned to start a new podcast with a presenter who did not show up to the live recording at the Edinburgh Fringe, and Mitchell was in the audience and they created an improvised podcast show together.

The Irish Times named the podcast "Podcast of the week" in December 2018, calling it "funny...atmospheric and intimate and genuinely unusual." as well as "feminist, queer and extremely refreshing." Curve magazine described the podcast as "hilarious, whimsical, relatable, cathartic and T-Rexcellent."

2020–2023: Bad People From 2020 to 2023, Hagen co-hosted the BBC Sounds/BBC Radio 4 true crime podcast Bad People with criminal psychologist Dr Julia Shaw. The Guardian described the two hosts as "loquacious and funny", with Shaw sharing "some fascinating information between their bants".

2022–Present: Help Hole Hagen created and presents Help Hole with comedian Abby Wambaugh. The podcast started after Hagen and Wambaugh met in 2022 and Wambaugh was opening Hagen's shows in Denmark, followed by a long road trip.

2026–Present: Sofieland: The Bunker Hagen started her podcast Sofieland: The Bunker in 2026.

Awards + Year Status Award Awarding Body Ref

Finalist Funny Women Awards 3rd New Comedian of the Year Leicester Square Theatre 2013

New Act of the Year Laughing Horse

Best Newcomer Fosters Award (now the Edinburgh Comedy Award)

Winner Audience Award

Politics

Feminism Hagen says she was not a feminist when she lived in Denmark because she did not understand it at the time and said that "In Denmark, feminism is an active choice you have to make, and when you do it you will probably lose friends. People will not want to talk to you at parties because you are known as The Feminist." The List describes her as "on a mission to proudly reclaim fatness as an identity that needs not only accepted but embraced, and she wants fat people to feel safe in her audience." She rejects the idea that we should all love our bodies (which often leads to feeling like a failure), and prioritises "body neutrality", which "focuses on respect and acceptance of your body".

In January 2018, Hagen wrote an article in The Guardian calling for people to stop dieting, labelling it as "boring", "triggering", and "neither feminist – nor healthy". She also stated she is part of the fat acceptance movement.

In 2018, Hagen commented on a campaign by Cancer Research stating that obesity is the second biggest cause of cancer after smoking saying that it was "damaging and fatshaming" and would increase the stigma fat people face. Cancer Research replied saying that they did not intend to fatshame anyone, but have a "duty to inform" people of the links between obesity and cancer. In the talk she argues that fatphobia, including dieting culture, is a product of and maintains capitalism and the patriarchy. She provides points of advice for other fat people to help them embrace body positivity:

"You're allowed to love your body. It's okay to be fat. You can be fat and happy." Also in 2018, Hagen judged "Hamburger Queen", a plus-sized beauty pageant curated and hosted by Scottee at Shoreditch Town Hall.

In 2019, Hagen recorded the programme Sofie Hagen: How To Love Your Fat for BBC Radio 4. It covered fatphobia, and what it means to love your body.

In 2023, Hagen published an article in The Guardian providing guidance to venues to inform them how to accommodate fat people. This included:

Put seat measurements on your website Provide alternatives to normal seating Educate staff on this issue In 2023, Hagen was also lobbying venues to publish seat sizes. Bubblewrap

The Guilty Feminist With Sofie Hagen and Deborah Frances-White Gilded Balloon

With Deborah Frances-White The Counting House

Banglord Monkey Barrel Edinburgh Fringe Festival

The Greek Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2024 – We Can Be Weirdos: #53 "I’m With Batsh*t —>: Sofie Hagen and the Troll of Shametown"

Radio

Filmography

Television Year Title Role Other Role Channel