“SHE was my comedy mammy and I was her boy," Scottish comedian Scott Agnew says of Janey Godley – who passed away on Saturday aged 63 following a long battle with ovarian cancer.
“She was the Scottish comedy scene’s shop steward, punk rock’s mother hen and our brightest, loudest star," Agnew added, speaking to The National.
Godley died peacefully surrounded by her loved ones at the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow and tributes have poured in since then from people all across Scotland.
In a separate post on his Facebook page, Agnew said he “savoured and devoured every moment over the last 24 years” of her career.
“The raw power of her honesty on stage forced you to look, listen, learn and always laugh,” he said.
“She could pull fully formed Fringe shows out her arse in the time it took her to walk from the green room to the mic.
“She never coddled you, she didn’t let you make excuses – she’d offer help, always, but it was with the expectation that you did more and got better.
“And she’d put a steel fence round you and fight like f*** for you until you’d sorted yourself out to start again.”
He also shared an anecdote of how Godley helped him after moving into a new flat after receiving a diagnosis that he was HIV positive.
Godley previously held HIV awareness evenings in her pub in Calton in the 1980s.
“I was struggling with addiction and on the bones of my arse but she came round to inspect the place,” he said.
“The bedroom was this dark forest green and she said ‘they might as well have just written depression in their ain shite on the walls – might have been a bit cheerier’.
“‘This is nae good,’ she declared. ‘We’ll need to get this sorted before you’re hanging from that light fitting’.
“She could have paid to get it sorted herself but she knew that’s not what I needed. I needed to feel and understand the love of the folk that were my colleagues and friends.
“She organises a whip round and a squad of comedians to decorate the place and have them around me after having isolated myself and gone into the wilderness.
“I felt her love and their belief. It meant the world to me and set me up on my way to a drug free life and getting back on track and for that I’m eternally grateful.”
Godley was born in 1961 with her stand-up career beginning back in 1994. She became particularly well known for her voiceovers of Nicola Sturgeon during the pandemic.
“Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t understand that Boris won WWII and she won’t let us golf” #janeygodleyvoiceover catch me on tour https://t.co/CgJN2qGRC0 pic.twitter.com/nEu9tNalS5
— Janey Godley (@JaneyGodley) May 14, 2020
As well as comedy, she was also a novelist and made a number of TV appearances, including in River City as well as on the likes of Have I Got News for You.
Also speaking to The National, comedian Susie McCabe (below) said: “Janey was an exceptional powerhouse as a comedian and is up there with the very, very best.
“However, not only was she a comedian and novelist, she was a social commentator on and off stage.
“She understood the pressures of the world on people and families and always tried to help and showed understanding.”
In 2023, Billy Connolly hailed Godley as a “great comedian” as she was announced as the winner of the inaugural Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award.
Following Godley’s death the Glasgow International Comedy Festival issued a statement with its director Krista MacDonald telling the national she was a “huge loss for the city and Scotland’s comedy scene as a whole”.
“It was a very special moment in our festival history to have the Big Yin himself announce Janey as the winner,” MacDonald said.
“It meant so much to her, and to all of us, to be recognised by such a titan of comedy who means so much to so many, much like Janey herself.
“We send our love and condolences to Janey’s family and to our Scottish comedy community – Janey’s legacy will be felt for years to come, with both her funniness and fearlessness sure to inspire a future generation of comics.”
Comedian Josie Long, who also worked with Godley, echoed McCabe’s thoughts in describing the comic as a “force of nature”.
“She was a raucous joy to be around, I think she will be remembered and her memory will be an inspiration for people,” Long said.
Elsewhere, Scottish comedian Liam Farrelly (above) said what stuck out was that she “really cared” about everyone on the comedy circuit.
“I don’t think there’s an act that’s started comedy in the last 10/15 years that Janey didn’t help out in some sort of way,” he said.
“She ran a new act night and would talk to your set if you wanted to or if you just wanted to sit backstage after a bad one.
“She just cared about making sure everybody was getting better and trying and getting what they needed.
“We don’t really have anyone like that right now.”
