She's kissed George Clooney, entertained chef Heston Blumenthal and mingled with Mad Men's Jon Hamm and Oasis' Noel Gallagher... but Glasgow comic Janey Godley still can't believe she's got to where she is.

Coming from a working-class background, Janey went through a lot before becoming a comedian.

As a child she was abused by an uncle, which she wrote about in her book Handstands In The Dark. At 19 she married Sean and became a pub landlady where she famously shortchanged the then Chancellor Of The Exchequer Gordon Brown.

She suffered hyperemesis gravidarum, an extreme vomiting condition, while pregnant with daughter Ashley, now 23, which put her in a coma for two days, and she ended up in jail after she was in a house which was raided for possession of guns.

At the age of 35, Janey tried her hand at comedy. Now 49, she recalls the first time she liked making people laugh.

She remembered: "When I was a kid, my mammy and her pals would sit round the back in the summer nights with a wee shandy, a bottle of stout or a cup of tea, their kids wrapped in blankets. They didn't have tellys and women didn't go into pubs then. I did an impersonation of a drunk man and they laughed. I thought to myself, this is addictive. But I was only five."

And for Janey, humour is a way of helping Scots get through life.

She explained: "We have a sharper, darker sense of humour. It's how we cope. In England if you say my dad's died, people hug you but in Scotland people will say, 'What size are his shoes?' or 'Does he have a flatscreen telly?" Some comedians also admit to being scared to face the Scottish audiences. Are we harder to please? Janey said: "We just know our comedy, we know when we are being shafted and we don't like it. Glasgow has a great saying - 'Don't pee in my back and tell me it's raining'."

Janey is involved in a Comedy Gala for Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy, hosted by Des Clarke and featuring Greg McHugh, Bruce Morton, Tam Cowan, Susan Calman, Joe Heenan and James Kirk. She is also performing her show The Godley Hour at the Kirkcaldy Comedy Festival.

She said: "Comedy is great for bringing people together. It is a universal language. Anyone in the street can name a famous Scottish comedian whether they're 99 or 22."

Outspoken Janey doesn't mince her words but admits it's not easy being an older, female comedian.

She explained: "I won't get on the Michael McIntyre Roadshow. I won't get on the telly because I am an older Scottish woman.

"But comedy is a great meritocracy - the audience let you know if you're good. You don't have to be a certain religion, age or type, you can just be a comedian, but we still have Jim Davidson saying stuff like 'God bless women, they try, but they're not comedians'. I could choke him.

"And there's still clubs, even some run by women, that don't hire women, despite the fact that the 17 men they had on there were s****."

But someone who does hire female comics is top chef Heston Blumenthal. Janey said: "I did a gig for him at his restaurant, The Fat Duck. A fireman lifted me and ran me round a cricket field. We don't do that in Scotland, we just take the money, sit in the corner, smoke fags and talk dead quick. Heston didn't take up my suggestion that the rainwater coming off the tent could have been made into soup but good on him for having a female comic."

Nothing seems to faze Janey, she's raucous, swears and she could easily tear strips off you. However, she also excudes a natural, empathetic warmth. She knows what hard times are, which could help if she ever to landed her dream gig going to war zones.

She said: "I'd love to entertain the troops. What they're missing is a good Scottish woman to entertain them."

The other things on her wish list are a return to River City, where she played a psychic and she's also considering taking her play The Point Of Yes, about drug addition in the Calton, to Los Angeles. She has an active website with lively blogs and a podcast which she does with her daughter Ashley.

She said: "People seem to love me and her talking. We get big hits in Canada, America and LA for some reason. It baffles us, we sit and go Why?!" This year Janey and Sean are 30 years married and she's missing an anniversary celebration for the NordoffRobbins gig.

She said: "My husband calls himself Dolly Parton's husband. He's shy and hates publicity but he is very supportive and ever the professional businessman."

It's a long way from the backyards of Shettleston to the red carpets of the BAFTAs, where she met Mr Clooney, and the GQ Awards but she'll never forget where she came from.

She said: "I am very proud of my working class roots. I love that my life is quite mad - sometimes I just sit and pinch myself."