Janey Godley, the Scottish comedian and author whose quick wit led her to swap pint-pulling in Glasgow for international standup tours, has died aged 63.
She died in a hospice “surrounded by her loved ones”, her management confirmed on Saturday. Godley had announced she was receiving palliative care in September after her terminal cancer spread.
Over a career spanning standup comedy, novel-writing and viral videos, Godley’s storytelling and candour attracted a legion of fans. The Guardian’s comedy critic Brian Logan described her as “a comic who found a place, particularly in Scottish hearts, and carved her own niche”.
A 15-year stint behind the bar of a Glasgow pub gave Godley her first taste of performance. “I was funny behind the bar,” she told the Guardian in 2005. Invited to perform at an open-mic comedy night in her 30s, her natural ability as a storyteller and quick audience patter meant she excelled: “People would be amazed at my crowd control because I could shut up 700 loud drunks, but that’s just being a good barmaid. When I started doing comedy, I felt like I’d come home.”
Born in Campsie, Scotland, in January 1961, Godley grew up in Glasgow’s east end, enduring a difficult childhood, which she recounted in her 2005 memoir Handstands in the Dark. Raised by alcoholic father Jim Currie and debt-prone mother Annie, she was sexually abused by an uncle, who was sentenced for his crimes in 1996.
In her late teens, she married Sean Storrie, part of a notorious Glasgow gangster family. The couple eventually cut ties with his family to build a new life for themselves, but not before facing serious crime, drug-related death, and the tragic murder of her mother at the hands of a violent boyfriend.
She never shied away from joking about dark subjects, drawing on these formative experiences. “One of the most important things about comedy is nobody gets to tell you what you can joke about, as long as you’re punching up,” she told the Guardian in 2019.
Her onstage success led to spots on Radio 4’s Just a Minute and TV appearances on shows including Have I Got News For You, Scottish soap opera River City, and crime drama Traces.
In 2016, in characteristic straight-talking style, she greeted Donald Trump at his Turnberry Golf Resort in Scotland holding a sign reading “Trump is a cunt”. The image went viral online.
In 2019, Godley began making comedy videos, voicing Nicola Sturgeon’s inner monologue over clips of the then Scottish first minister executing official duties. Their online success brought a new wave of fans. In 2022, she turned her hand to fiction, writing Nothing Left Unsaid, a murder mystery set in 1970s Glasgow.
While Godley toyed with Thatcherism in early life, in recent years she railed against the likes of Boris Johnson and added her voice to the pro-independence cause in Scotland. She used her online presence to support the SNP and condemn transphobia, but also regularly shared updates of sausage dog Honey.
Godley gave birth to daughter Ashley Storrie in 1986. Storrie followed in her mother’s footsteps, becoming a professional comedian. The two created online sketches together and co-starred in sitcom Dinosaur, while Storrie supported Godley on her final standup tour, Not Dead Yet.
Godley was diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer in 2021. The cancer returned in 2023, prompting Godley to embark on her final tour. In it, she regaled audiences with tales from her extraordinary life, showing for a final time her talents as a raconteur.
In September, she cancelled her autumn tour, after initially hoping she would be able to continue touring.
In a post on her X account on Thursday, her daughter Ashley revealed that Godley had been awarded an honorary degree from the University of Glasgow, which she said had “brought her so much joy” in her final days.