Sofie Hagen

To the Laughterhouse tonight to see one of my favourite comedians, the fabulous Sofie Hagen.

Sofie hails from Denmark but has been resident in London for the past 4 years or so and is steadily establishing a reputation for 'oversharing' the triumphs and tragedies of her life in a disarmingly frank and endearing way that can't help but make you smile. Indeed, so good is she that she won the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer title in 2015.

Not only is she a warm and engaging introvert/comedian but she's also responsible for two of my favourite podcasts, 'The Guilty Feminist' http://guiltyfeminist.libsyn.com which she co-hosts with another excellent/award-winning comedian, Deborah Frances-White, and her own solo podcast 'Made of Human' http://mohpod.libsyn.com/ in which she and her guests discuss the art of functioning as a human being when you don't really know what, exactly, this is supposed to entail. Her recent two-part conversation with Susan Calman about mental health and not being one of the cool kids is one of the most moving things I've heard in a long time. I laughed, I cried (lots), I laughed some more.

Two cool things about Sofie's current tour. Firstly, she's making it as 'anxiety friendly' as possible and going out of her way to encourage people, like her, who don't find it easy to be in crowds to come along and feel included. She's even meeting anxious fans before the shows and letting them choose the seats that feel most comfortable for them before the doors are officially open. Secondly, she's asking venues to make all toilets gender neutral. Now, this may seem like a small/overly politically correct thing to do but actually I think it's the sort of simple/easy to achieve act that can improve lots of people's lives at a stroke. Not only trans/non-binary people, for whom using public toilets can be particularly anxiety-inducing, but, to be binary again for a moment, any woman who has ever had to queue for ages to use a loo in a venue while men weren't having to...

I had a brief chat with Sofie after the show about a couple of ideas... we'll see if they come to anything!

It's well-nigh impossible to find a non-sweary/family-friendly clip of Sofie online, so here's the least potty-mouthed one I could track down! http://www.comedycentral.co.uk/russell-howards-stand-up-central/videos/sofie-hagen-attacked-by-a-friendly-ghost

Today's tune is by another notable Danish woman. It's Agnes Obel... www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NmjJeNFUVU