NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Janey Godley

Janey Godley (b. 1961) is a Scottish stand-up comedian, writer and raconteur whose non-humorous autobiography Handstands in the Dark was a UK bestseller.^[1]^[2] She was a 2006 Scotswoman of The Year finalist^[3] and is currently a weekly columnist for the Monday edition of The Scotsman newspaper.^[4] is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Shettleston is a suburb in the east end of Glasgow in Scotland. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... This article is about the country. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... â€œUKâ€ redirects here. ... This article is about the country. ... Richard Pryor hits the money line A stand-up comedian or stand-up comic is someone that performs in comedy clubs, usually reciting a fast paced succession of amusing stories, short jokes and one-liners, typically called a monologue. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... A raconteur is a person known for telling amusing stories and anecdotes. ... Cover of the first English edition of 1793 of Benjamin Franklins autobiography. ... The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent... A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and booktrade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. ... A columnist is a journalist who produces a specific form of writing for publication called a column. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and the Internet. ... The Scotsmans offices in Edinburgh The Scotsman is a Scottish national newspaper, published in Edinburgh. ...

Early life and career

Brought up in Shettleston, Glasgow, Scotland, at the age of 18 she married into a Glasgow gangster family.^[5] Her 2005 autobiography Handstands in the Dark describes working-class Glasgow in the years 1961-1994. Shettleston is a suburb in the east end of Glasgow in Scotland. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation) George Square and Glasgows City Chambers Glasgow is Scotlands largest city, located on the River Clyde in West Central Scotland. ... For other uses, see Gangster (disambiguation). ... Cover of the first English edition of 1793 of Benjamin Franklins autobiography. ... Statue of a coal miner in Charleston, WV, USA. Working class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation. ...

For 14 years, she ran a public house the Weavers Inn (formerly the Nationalist Bar^[6], later the Calton Bar^[7]) in the tough Calton area of Glasgow where she staged the first performances by comedian and magician Jerry Sadowitz.^[8]^[9] Pub redirects here. ... Calton is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. ... Sadowitz with cards Jerry Sadowitz (sometimes billed as Gerry Sadowitz), (born 4 June 1961) is a Scottish card magician and stand-up comic. ...

Later, she became a full-time stand-up herself, running comedy clubs including "Jesters" in Glasgow, and regularly compered at clubs in Glasgow, Manchester, and Liverpool. She played regular dates in the Netherlands and played in New York City.^[10]^[11] A comedy club is a club where people can sit at a table, enjoy a drink and watch or listen to performances, including stand-up comedians, improvisational comedians, impersonators, magicians, ventriloquists and other comedy acts. ... Clubs (♣) is one of the four suits found in playing cards, marked with a black trefoil; the term is translated from the Spanish basto. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... This article is about the City of Manchester in England. ... For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation). ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...

She was, for a time, a BBC Radio Five Live entertainment correspondent, reporting for former British MP, Edwina Currie's Currie Club show from London, New York, and New Zealand. BBC Radio Five Live is the BBCs radio service providing live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries. ... A stilt-walker entertaining shoppers at a shopping centre in Swindon, England Entertainment is an event, performance, or activity designed to give pleasure or relaxation to an audience (although, for example, in the case of a computer game the audience may be only one person). ... A journalist is a person who practices journalism. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Edwina Currie Jones nÃ©e Cohen, (born 13 October 1946) is a former British Member of Parliament. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the state. ...

2002-2004 - First recognition

She first gained wider attention on her 2002 tour of New Zealand, where she won Best Show Concept at Television New Zealand’s TV2 International LAUGH! Festival.^[12] At the same year’s New Zealand Comedy Guild Awards, she was nominated as Best International Guest and as Best Visiting Comedian.^[13] Look up show in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The TVNZ Television Centre in Central Auckland. ... TV2 is a common name for television channels. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Festival (disambiguation). ... A comedy is a dramatic performance of a light and amusing character, usually with a happy conclusion to its plot. ... A guild is an association of craftspeople in a particular trade. ... An award is something given to a person or group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In August 2003, Godley's non-humorous one-woman play The Point of Yes about Glasgow's heroin problem in the 1980s was premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and, according to the BBC, her Fringe comedy show Caught in the Act of Being Myself was "hotly tipped" as a Perrier Comedy Award nominee.^[14] For other uses, see Play (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Heroin (disambiguation). ... A street performer on the Royal Mile, with volunteer (2004). ... The Perrier Comedy Award is a prestigious award for comedy, awarded to the best comedy show at the Edinburgh Fringe sponsored by the Perrier brand of bottled water. ...

In April 2004, she started writing her daily on-line blog on the Chortle comedy website; it continues today on her own website. In May 2004, Stuck in The Middle a BBC Radio 4 documentary series on relationships to which she contributed won a gold at the Sony Radio Academy Awards.^[15] In June, she performed at the Glastonbury Festival. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... old Radio 4 logo BBC Radio 4 is a UK domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... In the contexts of sociology and of popular culture, the concept of interpersonal relationships involves social associations, connections, or affiliations between two or more people. ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... The Sony Radio Academy Awards (the Sonys), started in 1983, are some of the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. ... The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or Glasto, is the largest[1] greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world. ...

Throughout August, she performed her new 60-minute stand-up comedy show Good Godley! at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, winning 40 stars in reviews^[16] and was again tipped for Perrier nomination.^[17] A review is a piece of writing that discusses the authors opinion on a piece of publication, such as a movie, video game, musical composition, or novel. ...

In October, she appeared for a fortnight on the daily Channel 4/E4 (channel) reality show Kings of Comedy.^[18] In December, she performed Good Godley! at the Soho Theatre in the West End of London and contributed to Channel 4's four-hour The 100 Greatest Christmas Moments. This article is about the British television station. ... E4 is a British digital television channel launched as a pay-tv companion to Channel 4 on 18 January 2001. ... Cast-iron architecture in Greene Street SoHo is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. ... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ... The interior of Covent Garden Market in the West End The West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the citys major tourist attractions, businesses, and administrative headquarters. ...

2005 - Autobiography published

In June 2005, she again performed at Glastonbury^[19] and her non-humorous autobiography Handstands in the Dark was published in the UK and Ireland by Ebury Press, a division of Random House.^[20] It told the story of her sexual abuse as a child between the ages of 5 and 13, the murder of her mother, Glasgow's heroin 'plague' of the 1980s and her troubled marriage amid a world of gangsters. Cover of the first English edition of 1793 of Benjamin Franklins autobiography. ... Random House is a publishing division of the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann based in New York City. ... // Random House is a publishing house based in New York City. ... Bad Touch redirects here. ... Matrimony redirects here. ... Gangsters are members of a professional crime organization, i. ...

That same month, a revised version of The Point of Yes was staged at the Soho Theatre.^[21] In August, she contributed to We're All Grown Ups Here, another radio documentary by Stuck in The Middle's Sony Award-winning producer Sara Conkey. Her new stand-up show Janey Godley is Innocent was staged throughout August's Edinburgh Fringe. A radio documentary or feature is a radio programme devoted to covering a particular topic in some depth, usually with a mixture of commentary and sound pictures. ... Sony Corporation ) is a Japanese multinational corporation and one of the worlds largest media conglomerates with revenue of $66. ... A street performer on the Royal Mile, with volunteer (2004). ...

Other appearances included regular spots on BBC Radio 4 chat show Loose Ends both as interviewee and interviewer and a major profile/interview on award-winning Swedish TV Arts show Kobra ^[22] as well as contributions to the BBC TV documentary Scunnered ^[23] about the Scots dialect. See TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band European networks National In much of Europe television broadcasting has historically been state dominated, rather than commercially organised, although commercial stations have grown in number recently. ... The Arts is a broad subdivision of culture, comprised of many expressive disciplines. ... This article is about the Anglic language of Scotland. ... For dialects of programming languages, see Programming language dialect. ...

In December, she performed Janey Godley Is Innocent to 100 long-term prisoners (including lifers) inside Glenochil high security prison, Clackmannanshire^[24]^[25]... and an extended two-hour version of the show at London's Cochrane Theatre. Her book Handstands in the Dark was voted a 'Best Read of 2005' by listeners of BBC Radio 4's Open Book series.^[26] Look Aboot Ye Clackmannanshire (Siorrachd Chlach Mhannainn in Gaelic) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area, bordering Perth and Kinross, Stirling and Fife. ... Categories: Buildings and structures stubs | Cultural and educational buildings in London | Theatre in London ...

2006 - Scotswoman of the Year nominee

In February, she performed at the Hackney Empire, London, in the five-hour Malcolm Hardee Memorial Show.^[27] Hackney Empire The Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, Hackney. ...

In March, she started a video blog; and she performed Janey Godley - Unscripted! at the Glasgow Comedy Festival. She continued to be a regular on Loose Ends and on chat shows on various BBC channels. For other uses, see Video (disambiguation). ... This article is about the type of television program. ...

In May, she performed Good Godley! at the ODDFELLOWS New Zealand International Comedy Festival; she won the Spirit of The Festival Award^[28] and "Good Godley!" was nominated for Best International Show.

In August, her autobiography was released in a paperback edition becoming a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller^[1]^[2] and she performed in 83 shows in 24 days^[29]at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival including, each day, her three separate hour-long shows: her play The Point of Yes, her new stand-up show Janey Godley's Blog - Live! (premiered at London's Soho Theatre in June) and Square Street, a comedy sketch show co-written and co-performed with her daughter Ashley Storrie.^[30]

In October, she was nominated as Scotswoman of The Year^[31] in the 44th annual contest, reached the final six shortlist^[3] and was runner-up. In November, she sang for charity on BBC1 Scotland's annual "Children in Need" appeal night^[32]and blogged for Amnesty International^[33]. In December, she was nominated by the New Zealand Comedy Guild as Best International Guest of 2006^[34].

2007 - Starts Scotsman column

In March, she performed a one-off show Janey Godley - Live! at the Glasgow Comedy Festival^[35] and began writing a weekly column for the Monday edition of The Scotsman newspaper.^[4] In May she performed her play The Point of Yes in The Green Room at 45 Bleecker Street, Manhattan^[36] and, in June, she performed at the Glastonbury Festival (her third consecutive appearance - there was no Festival in 2006). In August, she appeared in two daily shows throughout the Edinburgh Fringe Festival: Janey Godley - Tell It Like It Is! at the Pleasance Dome and Janey Godley's Chat Show^[37] at The Green Room (a sister venue to the New York theater); both shows received 5-star reviews.^[38] During the year, she performed in her show Good Godley! at various venues around Scotland as well as Belfast, Toronto^[39] and off-Broadway in New York.^[36]^[40] Bleecker Street looking west from The Bowery. ... For other uses, see Manhattan (disambiguation). ...

2008

In February, Janey received the annual Fringe Report Award as Best Performer on the London Fringe.^[41]

Social involvement

Godley ran comedy workshops at the 2001 London Comedy Festival. After the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe, as well as continuing her stand-up work, she was commissioned by the Scottish Health Board and several local Scottish councils' social service departments to perform her play The Point of Yes to housing associations in 'problem areas', to drug forums around southern Scotland and to the inmates of Shotts prison in North Lanarkshire.^[42] A workshop is a room or smaller building which contains tools and/or machinery for making or repairing things. ... The local government of Scotland is organised into 32 unitary authorities covering the mainland and islands of Scotland. ... For other uses, see Drug (disambiguation). ... Location Geography Area Ranked 19th - Total 470 kmÂ² - % Water ? Admin HQ Motherwell ISO 3166-2 GB-NLK ONS code 00QZ Demographics Population Ranked 4th - Total (2006) 323,800 - Density 689 / kmÂ² Scottish Gaelic - Total () {{{Scottish council Gaelic Speakers}}} Politics North Lanarkshire Council http://www. ...

She was also commissioned by a Scottish Drug Forum to run comedy workshops for 15 -18 year olds and drama workshops for recovering heroin addicts, using their own experiences as inspiration.^[43] In 2004, 2006 and 2007, she ran 'Confidence in Kids' comedy workshops in Glasgow and, for Equity, a comedy industry workshop at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe. For other uses, see Drama (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Heroin (disambiguation). ... Addiction is an uncontrollable compulsion to repeat a behavior regardless of its negative consequences. ... The British Actors Equity Association (now called Equity) is the British actors trade union. ...

One of her paintings was sold^[44] at Arthur Smith's award-winning^[45] Arturant Exhibition at the Edinburgh Fringe in August 2007,^[46] with the money going to two charities: the Justice For Gordon Gentle campaign and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD UK). In October 2007, she auctioned off another painting in aid of The Samaritans^[47]^[48] and, later that month, she became the Patron of Glasgow's DRCAF (the Dumbarton Road Corridor Addiction Forum).^[49] Arthur Smith Arthur Smith (born Brian Smith in 1954) is an English alternative comedian and writer. ... Gordon Gentle was a 19 year old soldier from Pollock, Glasgow, who died in Iraq after only 6 months training. ... The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) is a non-violent, direct-action group originally established to oppose and resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories. ... For the ethnic group of this name, see Samaritan. ... Dumbarton (DÃ¹n Breatainn in Scottish Gaelic) is a burgh in Scotland, lying on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

In March 2008, she performed for a Terrence Higgins Trust fundraiser in Glasgow.^[50] The Terrence Higgins Trust is a British charity that campaigns on various issues related to AIDS and HIV. In particular, the Trust aims to reduce the spread of HIV and promote good sexual health (including safe sex); to provide services on a national and local level to people with, affected...

Work

Books

Stage

Television

Radio

Newspaper interviews

References

^ ^a ^b Sunday Times Bestseller List, 13 August 2006.
^ ^a ^b Sunday Times Bestseller List, 20 August 2006.
^ ^a ^b Glasgow Evening Times, 13 October 2006
^ ^a ^b The Scotsman.
^ Scotsman, 15 June, 2005.
^ Scotsman, 15 July, 2006.
^ News of the World, 12 March 2006
^ Daily Record, 13 February 2004
^ Time Out, 30 June-7 July 2004
^ Observer, 12 June 2005.
^ Sunday Post, 26 June 2005
^ Scotland on Sunday, 22 August 2004
^ Scotland on Sunday, 22 August 2004
^ BBC News, 20th August 2003.
^ Sony Radio Academy Awards 2004 winners.
^ Reviews cited from August 2004 with date of review following title are 5 stars (Fest magazine, 16th) + 4 stars (Edinburgh Evening News, 12th; Glasgow Herald, 24th; The Scotsman, 12th; Three Weeks, 15th; chortle.co.uk, 8th; one4review.com, 15th) + 3 stars (Guardian, 28th; Metro, 18th; Financial Times) + 2 stars (The List)
^ BBC website, 20th August 2004.
^ Chortle, UK comedy industry website, 6 February 2005.
^ Sunday Post, 26 June 2005
^ Random House listing.
^ Observer, 12 June 2005.
^ Swedish TV "Kobra" programme, 26 October 2005.
^ BBC TV "Scunnered" programme, 22 August 2006.
^ Guardian, 17 December, 2005.
^ Sunday Times magazine, 19th February 2006.
^ BBC Radio 4 "Open Book" list.
^ Chortle comedy industry website review, 6 February 2006.
^ NZ Comedy Festival Award List.
^ Glasgow Evening Times Diary, 15 September, 2006
^ Daily Telegraph, 10 September, 2006.
^ Glasgow Evening Times, 10 October 2006
^ Glasgow Herald, 7 December 2006
^ Amnesty website, 25 November 2006.
^ Glasgow Evening Times, 8 December 2006
^ Scotsman review, 10 March 2007.
^ ^a ^b The Scotsman, 21st May 2007.
^ List of Chat Show guests.
^ Glasgow Herald, 8th August 2007 + one4review.com, 9th August 2007.
^ The Scotsman, 19th November 2007.
^ Time Out, New York, 24th May 2007.
^ Fringe Report awards page.
^ Glasgow Evening Times, 11 August 2006
^ Glasgow Evening Times, 11 August 2006
^ The Scotsman, 20 August 2007.
^ Observer, 26 August 2007.
^ Edinburgh Fringe press release, 27 August 2007.
^ The Samaritans website, October 2007.
^ The Scotsman, 1 October 2007
^ The Scotsman, 29 October 2007.
^ preview in The List, 28 February 2008.
^ reviw, The Herald, 10 March 2008.

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