Janey Godley - official website

www.janeygodley.co.uk

"Scotland's funniest woman... the Godmother of Scottish Comedy"
The Scotsman

"The most outspoken female stand-up in Britain"
Daily Telegraph

IN THE SCOTSMAN

Scottish actress, comedienne, author, playwright & journalist

"Some of the sharpest-elbowed comedy in the world"
New York Times

"Unlike anything I've heard from a stand-up comic before"
Theatre Review New Zealand

LIVE COMEDY - Janey will preview her new show Domestic Godley at the Palace Theatre Kilmarnock on 26th July and at Eden Court in Inverness on 27th July. There is a rare performance of Janey Godley - Live and Unleashed! at Norwich Playhouse on 25th July. Domestic Godley will run 30th July to 25th August at the Edinburgh Fringe. Full details of currently confirmed live performances are on the GIGS page. In April, Janey was voted by Time Out readers No 3 in their list of Top Ten comedians.

2008 AWARDs
In February, Janey received the annual Fringe Report Award as Best Performer on the London theatre fringe.

In March, she won an award as Edinburgh WAG of the Year as best after-dinner speaker.

In April, she was No 3 in Time Out's list of Top Ten comedians.

To see Janey's promo
for her new Fringe show,
CLICK on the image below

"Godley's captivating story-telling is as inspiring as it is funny. And it is very, very funny... Her razor sharp humour belies the warmth of the woman"
New Zealland Herald, 30th April 2008

"The true personification of 'Ah well, you've gotta laugh'..."
Sunrise, TV3 New Zealand, 30th April 2008

"Pure classic stand-up: frank and human and laugh-out-loud funny"
Theatre Review New Zealand, Auckland, 30th April 2008

"Absolutely hilarious"
Generation Q, New Zealand, 28th April 2008

"Comedy gold"
The Lumiere Reader, New Zealand, 24th April 2008

"If you like your comedy infused with wisdom and integrity,
then Janey Godley is as good as it gets"
Theatre Review New Zealand, Wellington, 24th April 2008

"A very different sort of comedian... took black comedy to a new level...
Remarkable... sharp satirical observation and keen comic timing"
Dominion Post, New Zealand, 24th April 2008

"Unmissable"
Scoop News, New Zealand, 2nd April 2008

"The funniest mum on earth... you can't help but love this woman"
New Zealand Herald, May 2006

"Her dry wit and exquisite sense of irony...
demands intelligence from her audience - and rewards it well."
New Zealand Herald, May 2002

"One of the funniest and most controversial contemporary authors and comedians"
Swedish State TV's flagship Arts show Kobraow 'Kobra'

"Godley proves herself a phenomenal actress"
broadwaybaby.com

"The most ribald and refreshing comedy talent to have risen from the slums of Glasgow since Billy Connolly... The utterly compelling autobiography Handstands in the Dark has become a word-of-mouth phenomenon... un-putdownable... her writing is sensationally good"
Daily Telegraph

"No-nonsense Glaswegian Godley is funny and full-on. She has led a life-and-a-half and draws on all her experiences... from an astonishing past that's taken her from Glasgow gangland to off-Broadway playwright, best-selling author and award-winning stand-up... Respected... Accomplished... She's a ballsy, in-your-face comic... One comic you would want on your side in an after hours pub brawl."
Time Out

"Successfully spanning theatre, television, radio and newspapers, her recent torrent of column inches induces respect and incredulity in lazy journalists. And shame, mostly. Her gangsters-and-all autobiography, Handstands in the Dark, remains a bestseller and will be published in the US in January, while her confessional blog continues to attract a crossover, mainstream following. A long-time-arriving overnight sensation, this ex-publican can pretend to flash her breasts on the Kerrang! radio station one night, then duet with camp stand-up Craig Hill for Children in Need the next... Godley is a little intimidating, a lot chatty and exceptionally funny."
The Herald, Glasgow

"Punchlines which have the audience screaming with laughter... Effortless stream-of-consciousness riffs that Virginia Woolf might have written had she only had a pawky sense of humour... Truly inspired... She's not afraid to say the virtually unsayable"
The Scotsman

"Godley hones her storytelling skills every week in comedy clubs, but she's even more engaging when sinking her teeth into subjects that matter... She's feisty, intelligent and sharper than any tack you've ever stood on."
Glasgow Evening Times

"Her ability to control rowdy crowds is already near-legendary."
Press Association, UK

"It's not unlike the sensation of shock and delight, thirty years ago, of seeing very early Billy Connolly"
Financial Times

"Take equal pinches of Billy Connolly and Jerry Sadowitz and you are getting some way towards the storytelling genius of Godley ... sends a chill through you even as you are laughing .... mindbogglingly colourful stories ... a mix of giggles and incredulous gasps"
London Evening Standard

"The female Billy Connolly"
Independent

"The female Billy Connolly... outrageously candid"
Sun

"There are plenty of hysterical jokes but that's not the reason you should see her. Janey Godley is broadening the comic genre and it's exhilarating to watch."
Fest magazine, Edinburgh

"The autobiographical elements she draws on in her stories resemble no other life you'll know"
Time Out, London

"Great comic success"
(Sur in English, Spain)

"She risks arrest if she continues with her stand-up show"
The Times, London

"Janey Godley's not your average comedian ... the genuinely sinister backdrop gives her an angle that other comics can never hope to emulate"
www.chortle.co.uk

"Like most professional comics, Janey gets her raw material by throwing an empty bucket down the well of experience. But her personal well is far deeper than most - and considerably darker"
Glasgow Evening Times

Thenew
Mother of St Mungo

Stop Me From
Killing Myself

One Night
in New York

Three paintings by Janey were on display throughout the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe at Arthur Smith's award-winning Arturart at The Institute of Zoo Logic. Her painting of a clown was sold almost immediately; the money was donated to two charities. There are plans to stage Arturart at a London venue.

Janey donated her painting One Night in New York and a signed copy of her autobiography Handstands in the Dark to the Edinburgh & Lothians branch of The Samaritans who auctioned them off on 3rd October 2007, all profits going to the Samaritans.

"Glasgow's gutsiest"
Ned Sherrin

"JaneyGodley has two things on her side - a unique experience of Glasgow life at its most extreme, and a distinct and raucous comic voice with which to describe it... hilarious, shocking and unsettling"
Stewart Lee

"When you're bored of comedians telling you things you know and the comfortable laughter of recognition, go and watch Janey Godley for a change. You don't know what it's like to be Janey Godley - she does. And she can tell you all about it with wit, spirit and a truly unique comic voice"
Dave Gorman

"She is brilliant. She is also terrifying. She also is mad as biscuits. She actually tones it down when she gets on stage. When she gets offstage, she's completely bonkers."
Boothby Graffoe

"A rather scary Glaswegian comedian"
The Bookseller, trade magazine

"You have a surprisingly tight vagina for a woman who has had a child"
Sadie McDade, district nurse, Glasgow

"Godley's certainly a one-off - a cuddly-looking woman who sounds like the mordantly lippy love child of Joan Rivers and Billy Connolly"
The Scotsman

"A great act. Like Billy Connolly, she simply walks on stage and spins out umpteen autobiographical anecdotes, laced with mordant wit... Godley is a unique talent."
Metro Life

"compelling... ballsy... a breath of fresh air"
Guardian

"darkly comic anecdotes that induce gales of laughter"
Metro

"a ferocious instinct for laughs"
London Evening Standard

"foul-mouthed, sarcastic... so down-to-earth she's underground"
Independent on Sunday

"This is real cutting edge comedy and Godley goes into areas others would need a social worker, three counsellors and a police dog to even think about"
Glasgow Evening Times

EDINBURGH FRINGE SHOWS 2007
Janey performed two shows throughout the Fringe

JANEY GODLEY - TELL IT LIKE IT IS!
does what it says on the label

FIVE STARS: "Profoundly touching. A natural storyteller... instinctive comic timing... Janey Godley's talent is immense... wholeheartedly recommended."(one4review.com, 9th August 2007)
FOUR STARS: "Revealing, honest... hilarious one-liners... her intelligence, flair for storytelling, and razor-sharp wit make this a hot ticket this Fringe." (Chortle, 14th August 2007)
FOUR STARS: "Janey had the audience in hysterics.... A genuinely nice, touching and very, very funny woman – don’t miss this show!" (ScotsGay, 16th August 2007)
FOUR STARS: "She has a fouler mouth than Gordon Ramsay and a deserved reputation for being outspoken, but Janey Godley is also remarkably endearing right from the start... Some of these stories are hilarious, others tragic, but all are fascinating... She'll certainly be the one you'd most like to meet down the pub." (Three Weeks, 7th August 2007)

JANEY GODLEY'S CHAT SHOW
Click HERE for details:

BBC TV news reporter
Kate Adie with Janey

FIVE STARS: "Janey Godley's hilarious chat show takes the audience on a journey of unexpected proportions... an abundance of frank and fearless conversation, conducted with customary ribald authority by Scotland's renaissance woman... paved with comedy gold." (Herald, 6th August 2007)
FOUR STARS: "We know the quality of comedy we get with Janey Godley... she fits into the hostess very well... She has an amazing line-up of guests." (one4review.com, 15th August 2007)

Glasgow Airport hero
John Smeaton with Janey

JANEY IN 2006

Four-star reviews for all three of her shows
(stand-up comedy; drama; comedy sketch show)
Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Winner Spirit of The Festival Award
New Zealand International Comedy Festival

Nominee Best International Comedian
New Zealand International Comedy Festival

Nominee/Final Shortlist Best International Guest 2006
New Zealand Comedy Guild

Finalist/Runner-Up
Scotswoman of The Year 2006
Top Ten UK paperback bestseller
"Handstands in the Dark"
Sunday Times official books list
Number 38
in The List magazine's Hot 100, celebrating "the people who have made the biggest impact on cultural life in Scotland over the past 12 months" (only six behind Doctor Who David Tennant and ahead of the successful new Celtic manager!).

JANEY QUOTED

“My material is based on my life and events, so I'll be updating it as I go. I recognise people think child abuse is the most shocking subject and that apparently makes me unique. I think my being caught with guns and explosives is more exclusive subject matter. I've been told by other comics and audience members that they too suffered abuse. I don't know many who've been charged with possessing guns." (Time Out, December 2004)

“I have the confidence to get up on stage because after the life I’ve led - all the madness and the pub and the gangsters and the abuse - there is nothing frightens me any more. So, if I ever stood in a room with 600 people and talked for 15 minutes and nobody laughed, then it’s no worse than having a gun held at your head and I’ve already had that, so it doesn’t really scare me.” (Mensa Magazine, August 2006)

"I've got Attention Deficit Disorder. To other people it's a disability. To me, it's a career." (Arts Extra, BBC Radio Ulster, May 2007)