Janey Godley – A True Comedy One-Off

There will never be another

Here’s a trade secret. When I write an obituary of a comedian I usually do some searches on social media to see what friends and colleagues have said about them. It gives readers a flavour of what people thought of them, but it is also a good, quick way of filling out the word count on a story when you don’t have much information about the details of the death. As long as you can find some tributes.

With Janey Godley there was an absolute flood of tributes after her death at 63 was announced and I’ve woken up this morning to see that they are still pouring it. Sometimes with algorithms I get bombarded with crazy cat antics or adverts for gas companies because that’s what I’ve been googling, but on Facebook, for example, my timeline is non-stop Godley simply because she had such an impact on the comedy community and I have a lot of comedy industry FB friends.

It’s not just the stars and the politicians, from Dara O’Briain to Nicola Sturgeon that have  that have paid tribute. It’s also the less well-known performers who have singled out everything from her loyalty and support to her forceful nature as well as her wit and natural gift for storytelling. Having run a pub in Glasgow before getting up onstage she was used to not taking any shit. If you had Janey on your side you felt you could take on the world. Or at least the rowdiest of crowds.

I haven’t really got anything to add from a personal angle. As a critic I saw Janey umpteen times over the years and she really was special. A world away from your typical university-educated, young, Fringe performer. I remember something about her being mistaken for a cleaner when she was doing a run at the Underbelly. She may even have made that joke herself. 

Janey was certainly not the only comedian to come from a working class background, but in a world of nepo babies and privilege (that a lot of comics keep quiet about) maybe truly working class comedians are going to become a rarity in the future. There may never be another Janey Godley, someone who is not afraid to speak their mind, whatever the consequences. Oh, and did I mention that she was also riotously funny about the darkest of subjects, from death to sexual abuse.

I try to keep my distance from performers just in case we become friends and I have to review them and they have a bad gig. But it was impossible to avoid Janey. At one of those early gigs she welcomed everyone at the door of the venue, so I couldn’t avoid her. Luckily she decided not to pick on me once I was inside. And needless to say she had a great gig. 

There’s often a lot of in-fighting among comedians online, status games, bickering and banter which can easily turn nasty, whether it’s about transgender issues or Gaza or something else happening in the world or on the circuit. Comedians are a competitive bunch and they all like to have the last word.

Of course she was not perfect and of course there will be critics of things she has said or done, but I haven’t come across any on my timeline. The death of Janey Godley seems to have brought the entire comedy industry together for the first time in recent memory. I don’t know if her funeral will be open to all but if it is it is going to be massive. And if there is a public wake they will probably have to hire the Glasgow Hydro.

A one-off.

She will be very much missed.