Sofie Hagen, On tour
Female comedians have to put up with a lot of crap from punters. But for Danish comic Sofie Hagen, that’s not too different from the crap she has to put up with in daily life: from the Brits who correct her English to the men who expect her to be impressed by their self-proclaimed status as “chubby chasers”. Hagen is undeniably a larger lady, and draws plenty of comedy from her looks, her perceived habits and the way society treats the overweight. But instead of being apologetic, she delivers these jokes from a position of unassailable strength; the confidence she radiates means all the fat jokes seem to be at our expense rather than hers. There isn’t a lengthy tradition of comedians from Denmark succeeding in this country (there’s Sandi Toksvig, and that’s about it), but Hagen certainly seems more than capable of bucking the trend.
Kim Noble: You’re Not Alone, London
Comedy doesn’t always make you feel better. While there’s plenty of stuff out there designed to lift the spirits, some of the most rewarding comedy – from Aristophanes to Chris Morris – has been about disturbing the audience’s equilibrium and challenging their comfortable preconceptions. This is the kind of game Kim Noble plays. In 2000, he and Stuart Silver won the Perrier best newcomer award for their fusion of sketch comedy and performance art, and Noble has continued to push the envelope in his solo work, using an ambitious mix of video, sort-of-stand-up and experimental theatre to confront his own struggles. His 2009 show, Kim Noble Will Die, saw him talking about the prospect of his own suicide. You’re Not Alone tackles his sense of isolation and problems with intimacy. Eye-opening and perversely funny.
Soho Theatre, W1, Sat, Tue to 7 Mar
Phil Jerrod, On tour
The first thing you notice about Phil Jerrod is the quite alarming amount of face-foliage that clings to his chin. You’d expect the possessor of a look like that to be an out-and-out comedy oddball, but it turns out that behind the beard is a more conventional kind of comic, albeit one whose instinctive mastery of his form immediately marks him out as one to watch. Jerrod’s humour is straightforwardly observational, dealing in stories about his middle-class background, his working life and, yes, his beard; stories that are immediately relatable, concerning subjects that are familiar go-tos for many young comics. What distinguishes him is the casual brilliance of his writing, rolling out inspired gags and exhibiting incredible fluency throughout. We’re sure to see him on our TV screens soon; his mix of accessibility and originality means he’s tailor-made for the panel shows of 2015.
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