I didn’t realise how much reviews could hurt until Sofie Hagen reviewed me. Having given her a lukewarm write-up – I think I said that she talked too much about her sex life – she tweeted that I reminded her of her father and not in a good way. As she says below, she calls her dad an asshole onstage. Well, I guess that’ll teach me not to google myself late at night. In a desperate bid to make peace and maybe persuade the London-based Danish comic to retract her remark I invited here to take part in my Rarely Asked Questions interview. And it’s a really good one. Frank and funny, it really offers you an insight into the needy, neurotic mind of the comedian. Read on and see her show.

This interview first appeared in July, 2015. Sofie Hagen went on to win the Foster's Award for Best Newcomer in August. She returns to Soho Theatre on May 6 & 7, 2016 by popular demand. Tickets here.

Picture by Karla Howlett.

1. What is the last thing you do before you go onstage (apart from check your flies, check for spinach between teeth and check your knickers aren't sticking out of your skirt)?

I laugh loudly and with sound at the compere - because I need to get my voice working. If I'm nervous, I tell myself two sentences that older, more experienced comics have told me that they say to themselves: "This is what I can do. There is no need to be nervous; this is what I do." and "This moment won't matter in 5 years."

2. What irritates you?

People. All kinds of people: Other people, many people, drunk people, loud people, over-confident people, annoying people, people who love people, people who hate people. I'm a really nice and relaxed person, by the way.

3. What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done?

My friend and I hitchhiked across Germany. We got in the back of a black van with toned windows with four men. The driver's name was Jésus. I was very strongly depending on my friend's self-declared 'sixth sense' which told her that these guys were not going to abduct and kill us. They did not kill us - which meant that later we hitchhiked a boat on the Nile in Egypt, which turned out to belong to a couple of drug dealers. We survived that too.

4. What is the most stupid thing you have ever done?

I once woke up after a drunken night at a comedy industry party and found a business card on the floor. It belonged to an agent. I emailed him and he emailed back. He told me that he had come up to me and said, "I have seen your comedy and I am interested in representing you." and I had, drunkenly and idiotically, taken his business card, put it on my bra and said, "YOU WISH!" and wandered off. I never heard from him again.

5. What has surprised you the most during your career in comedy?

That all comedians are just scared and insecure. I used to think comics were über-humans. Then I saw famous, amazing comedians get off stage after having KILLED, with a nervous look on their face as they ask, "Was that alright?"

Interview with Sofie Hagen continues here.