Sofie Hagen is bravery personified, there’s no doubt about it. She tirelessly stands up for what she believes in and takes on deeply ingrained societal structures, despite the fact that, when she opens up about her trauma and experiences, she often becomes the target of social media trolls. 

On paper, on stage, and also in conversation, Hagen is just really bloody funny; the friend you’d want at every dinner party or road trip. Or, in our case, at our Sunday Papers talk at Stylist Live LUXE on 10 November. 

As you’ve probably guessed by now, we’re huge Hagen fans and would highly recommend you check out our interview with her earlier this year. And, if that doesn’t convince you book tickets for her talk at Stylist Live LUXE (but we’re pretty confident it will), then we’ve rounded up a few more reasons…

Hagen collects four and five star reviews as zealously as some people collect stamps. But, aside from being brilliant as a comedian, she also makes a point of using her platform for good: she requests gender neutral toilets at her shows and encourages fans with anxiety to contact her before shows to let her know of their needs. 

It’s worth noting that comedy isn’t famously inclusive, so, while these may feel like small gestures, they’re actually pretty ground-breaking. Hopefully, they won’t be for much longer…

Happy Fat author Hagen uses her activism to target structures, not just attitudes. 

As she put it in a recent interview: “I want us to reclaim the word fat… I know not everyone likes it. I used to say ‘overweight’. But fat is a neutral word. If you look it up, it doesn’t say good or bad. 

“I want to remove the negative associations, that’s why I put it in the title.”

In Happy Fat, Hagen manages to portray the seriousness of her journey and expose uncomfortable issues within society while continuing to make it hilarious and a enjoyable read (please be sure to check out her hysterical footnotes, they will have you chuckling in no time).

Hagen once said: “You are so much more than your body, you are your values, your actions, your friends and loved ones, your history, your memories, your fights won, your battles lost, your talents, your passions. You are good bad and everything in between. Like, FUCK, it’s ridiculous to think about how much time and energy we spend thinking about HOW WE LOOK when we are a million things more than that.” 

Hear, hear!

Last year, Hagen created the Secret Dinosaur Cult podcast with fellow comedian Jodie Mitchell. Discussing daddy issues, dinosaurs and some other stuff for good measure. Their episodes are recorded in front of a live audience, at so-called cult meetings. Bizaare and brilliant, it might give you a taste for what to expect from Sofie and it doesn’t disappoint.

Get £10 off your Stylist Live LUXE ticket using code LUXESOFIE at checkout. Find out more about the event here.

Image: Supplied by Stylist Live LUXE team