Godleyon turningher cancerfight intocomedy
She may have had a rollercoaster few years, to say the least, but Janey Godley is showing no signs of slowing down.
This time last year the standup comic and actress was preparing to bow out with a final tour that she almost pulled the plug on as she came to terms with the return of ovarian cancer. Now the 63-year-old is gearing up for extensive new tours, two new radio series, the launch of a new autobiography and the release of a fly-on-the-wall film.
The feature-length documentary, which will bring the curtain down on the 20th anniversary edition of the Glasgow Film Festival on March 10, follows her journey from a troubled upbringing in the city’s east end and turning her back on running a pub to pursue a career as a stand-up, and going on to become one of Scotland’s most successful, and best known, female comics.
Directed by John Archer, the film explores the dramatic rise in Godley’s profile thanks to protests against Donald Trump at his Ayrshire hotel and her spoof voiceovers for Nicola Sturgeon’s Covid briefings, and also recalls the storm of controversy when she was accused of racism over historic social media posts and was dropped from a Scottish Government health campaign.
However the film’s main focus is the impact of a terminal cancer diagnosis on Godley as she and her daughter – comic, writer and actress Ashley Storrie – head out on the road together around Scotland on a tour that might not have happened had it not been for stand-up Jimmy Carr, who is among those interviewed for the film.
She told The Scotsman: “My tour had been planned way before I found out the cancer had come back after all the treatment I had. I decided I couldn’t go ahead with it if I was dying. But my agent didn’t think I should cancel right away. I’m good friends with Jimmy Carr. I went through to Edinburgh to have tea with him. I told him I didn’t want to go on stage all weak and tired. He said to me: ‘Let’s be honest, you weak and tired is better than a lot of comedians we know when they’re fully fit.’
“I told him: ‘Okay, that’s a bit bitchy, but thanks and I’ll take it on board.’ He kind of talked me into doing it. He was right. It gave me a new lease of life that I never thought I would have. I had the best time ever.”
Godley credits her daughter with the idea of a documentary, which was picked up by Glasgow-based producers Hopscotch Films. Storrie filmed some footage herself on her mobile phone as the tour makes its way from an opening night in Arbroath to a finale in Glasgow.
The film shows the pair struggling to cope with the prospect of Godley making her final on-stage appearances, but also highlights how they found humour in the face of the comic’s illness and even the prospect of her funeral.
Godley recalls: “We’re very honest with each other. Ashley doesn’t pull any punches and I’m happy with that. I didn't want a compliant, pleasy daughter. I like the fact she’s spiky and sparky.
“Ashley’s obviously devastated about the cancer. She worries every single day about it. She worries about it more than me. But, as we've both said, you get exhausted worrying about it.”
The documentary shows the huge audience response to the stage comeback of Godley, who had to cancel the final dates of a post-lockdown tour after her initial cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Godley said: “When I walked out each night the whole audience was on its feet right away. I had to tell them to sit down. People were just so excited to see me. They knew what I had been through.
“I told them not to feel sorry for me. I didn’t want the whole show to be about cancer. I did a wee bit at the top of the show to raise awareness of ovarian cancer and talked about my experiences of hospital, but the rest of it was just ‘f*** it, here we go.’ I couldn’t have asked for a better reception.
“Ashey and I had a great time just being together and going out on the road. It was also really good to get back to work. I wasn’t just a cancer patient. That’s what was really important. I didn’t really notice the camera crew when they were with us. Even when Ashley was filming me backstage, it felt like it was just like her and I having a laugh.”
Godley, who regularly updates fans on her latest cancer treatment and scans, will undertake an extensive tour of England planned before her film premiere. She will perform stand-up sets before a select number of other screenings around Scotland, ahead of another major Scottish tour later in the year. She will also be launching the second part of her autobiography, which will recall her experiences in the comedy industry, and appear on the Radio 4 series Loose Ends and The C Bomb, the latter of which sees Godley tackle her experiences of cancer in comedy routines.
Godley said: “I’m going to keep working until I’m lying in a hospital bed going ‘that’s it, bye.’ I’ve always worked, since I was 16. I’m working class. I feel fit as f*** at the moment. I was running about with the dog and a ball the other day.
“The outpouring of support I get on a daily basis is unbelievable. People tell me how much I am loved and wanted, and how they can’t wait to see me perform again. I couldn’t have survived without that. It’s been amazing.
“It was weird watching myself in the documentary. I would wonder ‘why does she not just lie down and accept that she’s got cancer?’ Then I’d remember that it actually was me. But the thing that came out of the documentary the most was the support from my pals and from the public.”
It gave me a new lease of life that I never thought I would have