Sofie is a very accomplished story teller, who can go from explaining necessary background information, to tragedy to punchline in a single sentence. I previously joked in a review that there seemed to be a trend in comedians mentioning their ‘bum-hole’ in their shows, but Sofie has made me realise the real trend of Edinburgh shows this year is women pushing their audience to acknowledge lived experience.
It’s a risk to push to push your audience emotionally, even if you know your audience, as Sofie does. Opening with a trigger warning and then joking about an incident in the toilet queue at a previous gig where a woman had scolded a another person for apologising for her body, Sofie’s audiences tend to be ‘woke’.
I somehow missed what the trigger warning was regarding and, had I not been in the middle of my row I might have had to step out. I am so glad I didn’t. Dead Baby Frog is about Sofie’s childhood growing up in Skamstrup – which amusingly translates from the Danish to Shame Town, with her step grandfather, who was married to her maternal grandmother – or her mom-mom as translated from the Danish which is more specific about grandparent’s paternal and maternal relation to you.
It is common in Denmark for people to discover Nazi pasts among older family members, Sofie is no different and shares how she too has discovered Nazi memorabilia among a deceased grandparent’s belongings. She uses this as a little springboard, to give us an idea of what her maternal grandfather was like. A man who her strong mom-mom had left after years of abuse for the man next door.
Unfortunately mom-mom found herself leaping from the frying pan into the fire. Sofie, her mother and her mom-mom were subject to coercive control and other forms of abuse from her narcissist step-grandfather, who tried to rule over these three strong women with an iron fist.
Sofie has worked hard to make her shows ‘safe spaces’, inviting people to contact her with any anxieties they may have in order to make them feel welcome. I don’t think Sofie could deliver the stories she does, mentioning fat-phobia, sexism and emotional abuse without creating such spaces for her audience.
You might think this show is earnest and worthy, it’s not Sofie has a cheeky note for every sad anecdote, resulting in a triumphant and very funny hour. Sofie has real comic talent and I hope she continues to push us all.
★★★★★
Sofie Hagen is at the Bedlam Theatre at 14:00 until 28th August. For tickets and more information click here!
