8th August 2007
JANEY GODLEY - TELL IT LIKE IT IS!
by Gill Smith
Before the gig has officially started, Janey Godley's having fun with her audience, inventing their names, personalities, lifestyle choices - she's very inventive, and whenever there's a pause in new arrivals she jokes that anyone late will think they're being picked on. After this free few minutes, she says she's treated everyone like family, greets the audience warmly and remembers - perhaps belatedly, given the intros - to warn the easily offended. There are so many topics she whizzes through - from buying cakes to save baking, and her hint on what to do with the time, to managing to make getting the tech to turn off the air-conditioning into plenty of laughs. Up front, she says she's proud to be Scottish, and of the nation during the terror attack. She's not sectarian, but Glasgow is, with interesting affects on their reaction to the attack, along with locals trying not to be racist on live TV interviews. A siren passes the building, and she incorporates it into a gag. She also makes good-humoured fun of her teen daughter, and not listening to what teens say. Surely it's traditionally the other way round? |
She paints characters vividly - evoking not only seeing them, but hearing them and believing in them - from the woman with the 'Cuprinol tan' to the teenagers worried about a party ruined by one of their mates being stuck at the airport, at work. Another topic is husband and daughter missing her birthday - and the exciting present she eventually got. Following that is the near-miss of getting Scotswoman of the Year - and how she got beaten. Janey Godley meeting Tony Blair and minor royals is a great image, and again, she paints pictures with words, and gags. She does get a bit political, but insists she isn't going to ram it down anyone's throat, but has to stand up for her beliefs, especially when faced with the last PM, and overcharging the new one, years ago, in a Glasgow pub. She may not be a big fan of politicians, but her family she does care about. As chief carer for her brother Jim, who's had a tough past, she jokes about how the chemotherapy for cancer has cleared up all the symptoms of his HIV. She also has gags about his mental health, and patronising hospital consultants, with some great reincorporation. |
The range of topics is seemingly endless - getting invited to gangster funerals, writing her book, pot-bellied pigs in tiny gardens, and being 'reminded' of forgotten neighbours or friends, with ever-more dramatic gossipy tales of their past. There's a mix of sadness and laughter when she talks about her late mother - a novel way to stop the electricity getting cut off, angry singing, long school holidays, and getting in trouble at school. She rounds up on another happy note - her mother's plans in heaven - and with that, picks up her bag and dashes to the entrance to flyer the audience for her other show. Some of Janey Godley's topics are so extreme, that from many another comic they'd be hard to believe. But somehow, she's very real. Mentioning awards and book deals don't come across as arrogance, nor do the moments from her tough past seem too 'poor me'. If she gave the time to think about it, there'd be sympathy, but that's not what she's looking for. She wants laughs. She gets them. And she deserves every single one. |