14th April 2008
THE GREAT MERITOCRACY
In 1994, Janey Godley was arrested for having
11 handguns, 14 sawn-off shotguns, an AK-47 and an electric stun gun.
Life for the Scottish comedian has been anything but ordinary, she tells Tom Cardy.
Scottish comedian Janey Godley usually has people in stitches, but on the phone from London just after finishing another sold out gig - there's a brief sombre moment. Godley, performing in the International Comedy Festival next week, had just turned 47. She's oulived her mother , who at age 46 - when Godley was 21 - was murdered by her boyfriend. "I have outlived my mother by one day. It's a really weird and quite inspiring feeling. But when I said it to my husband he said, "Well, the night isn't actually over." Going on Godley's background, it's not the only remarkable achievement. While growing up in one of Glasgow's roughest areas, she was sexually abused by an uncle. At age 19 she married into a Glasgow gangster family - and remains married to her husband, who has Asperger's Syndrome. For 14 years the couple ran a pub. In the 1980s heroin became plentiful and 22 of her friends died in 17 months. In 1994, she was arrested for having 11 handguns, 14 sawn-off shotguns, an AK47 and an electric stun gun. Police didn't find her stash of plastic explosives. She wasn't prosecuted. |
Much of Godley's life is spelt out in her biography Handstands in the Dark, a British bestseller. She's now one of Britain's most popular comedians. But her entry into comedy at age 34, while still running her pub, was an accident. "I did comedy just to get an Equity (actors' union) card to become an actor. I hated comedy. I wasn't interested in live comedy and I wouldn't go to see live comedy if you paid me. And I didn't like Bill Hicks or Lenny Bruce or follow the careers of anybody," she says. "But I knew I was good and funny behind the bar, so when I got on stage I was just good and funny on stage. Then I realised, "I'm actually quite good at this". Then I forgot about acting and became really competitive. I wanted to prove to everybody I could do this." Godley has since done a variety of shows, radio and a non-humorous one woman play, The Point of Yes, about Glasgow's heroin plague. One of the things she's proven about comedy is that it's open to anyone. "In comedy you're just a comedian. It's a great meritocracy. You get applause because you are good at what you do. Nobody judges you because of your age or your dress." |