She may have been named best newcomer at last year's Edinburgh Fringe but for Sofie Hagen winning the Foster's Comedy Award was quite a lonely experience.
The Danish comic took the top comedy gong for her debut show, Bubblewrap, which touched on her teenage years, her love of Irish boyband Westlife, mental health, body image and self-harm.
However, despite winning the top award, Sofie says it was the nomination that proved to be her stand-out moment.
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"The win in itself was overwhelming and incredible and I had never in a million years imagined that would happen," says Sofie. "But the best moment was the nomination. I was sitting with Tom Ballard, Daphne, John Henry Falle, Larry Dean, Tom Parry and Adam Hess and we were all happy and all had great shows. It felt amazing, like being part of a little nice creative gang.
"Winning was great, but I felt quite alone with that happiness."
The stand-up, whose inspirations include Kim Noble, Richard Gadd and Lou Sanders, is now preparing to return to the Scottish capital with her new show, Shimmer Shatter.
The show is full of Sofie's trademark dark humour and was written by the comedian after she attended an 'uplifting' poetry show earlier this year.
"I saw this poetry show about a guy who was really happy and content and had a great life," she says. "It was an amazing show, very uplifting and cheerful, but I could not relate to any of it and I thought I need to write the opposite of this about my life, which is not uplifting or cheerful.
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"It's a bit of a sad show, but hopefully I have managed to make it funny and interesting too.
"It upsets some people, but people who know darkness seem to like it. That all sounds very dark, but I guess that is what the show is."
The show is also entirely based on events that have happened to Sofie, who prides herself on delivering honest comedy.
"I never lie in my shows, never, I can't," she says. "I've never considered how it affects my relationship with my audience. Lots of them come up and ask me if what I say is true, so I'm not sure if anyone knows I don't lie but it's important to me. I just don't know how to be funny without the truth."
Sofie says she was 'very surprised' by the reception that her debut show received at the Fringe, especially since her run had initially seemed cursed. The comedian's venue was changed at the last minute from a 70 to a 500 seater, she had broken her coccyx and was recovering from a break-up. Yet, she triumphed in the face of adversity, selling out her run and winning one of the festival's top award.
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Despite this, the comic says she's still not sure what to expect this time around.
"I had expected Bubblewrap to be a niche show that maybe 10 or 20 per cent of the audience would enjoy," she says. "I was fine with that, I had come to terms with that.
"Every time we had a queue line up in front of the venue, I was so apologetic that they had to stand in the rain or that they had to wait. It was so strange.
"Shimmer Shatter is an older and more mature show. It doesn't have the sweet boyband relief. It's about sadness and that's it but I have grown as a performer and I'm very excited about trying new things.
"This could go either way, I think."
However, Sofie's love of comedy means that she can't wait to return to the heavenly Fringe.
"The second I started doing comedy, I felt like I had found my place in the world," says the stand-up. "A place full of weirdos, introverts and like-minded people who understood my need to say the stuff I say.
"The Fringe is a boot camp in which you just get better at the craft and all your friends are there, creating art.
"When I die and go to heaven it'll just be Edinburgh in August on a loop but possibly with the nights lasting 16 hours instead of eight so I'd have time to both sleep and have drinks with friends. That's heaven."
Sofie Hagen will perform Shimmer Shatter at the Liquid Room Annexe in Edinburgh from today until August 28.
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