Tributes paid to comedian Janey Godley ahead of two-day funeral 'final tour'

Key Points

Janey Godley’s funeral will take place on Saturday as part of a two-day ‘final tour’ of the cities she loved
The comedian died on November 2 aged 63 after receiving palliative treatment for terminal cancer
Her hearse will travel through Edinburgh, her ‘beloved festival home’, on Friday
Godley’s funeral will then take place at St Mary’s Cathedral in the west end of Glasgow on Saturday
Ashley Storrie, Janey’s daughter has asked those wishing to attend to wear bright colours to celebrate her mother’s life

Tributes have been paid to the comedian Janey Godley ahead of her two-day “final tour” funeral procession.

Godley’s hearse will travel along the Royal Mile and Lawnmarket in Edinburgh on Friday, with a “pause for reflection” at St Giles’ Cathedral.

It will then travel along Cockburn Street, Market Street and on to Glasgow, where Godley’s funeral will take place at St Mary’s Cathedral in the city’s West End on Saturday.

Godley, who died on November 2, aged 63, after receiving palliative treatment for terminal cancer, found viral fame with her dubbed parodies of then Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s coronavirus news briefings during the pandemic.

Obituary

‘Frank, Get the Door’: Janey Godley – from pub landlady to viral comic sensation

From a difficult childhood in the east end of Glasgow, Godley wrought a successful stand-up career to become a household name.

Sturgeon told STV News she thinks people will remember Godley “as one of the funniest comedians Scotland has ever produced” but also as someone “who was incredibly brave”.

She said: “I’ll remember her as somebody who was really funny but also really kind and with a very, very strong sense of public good.

“Her voiceovers of my Covid briefings were hilarious, and people needed a laugh at that time, so it lifted people in a really, really tough period, but it also served a bigger purpose.

“There is no doubt in my mind that through those voiceovers, more people engaged with the really serious public health messages I was trying to convey than would otherwise have been the case, so she did a lot of good too.

“Janey is one of our many comedians in Scotland who are really funny, really popular and really, really successful. She probably ranks alongside Billy Connolly, and actually, he thinks that because he gave her an award just a couple of years ago.

“She captures something about the essence of being, not just Scottish, but from the west of Scotland in particular, and it’s really special.”

Ashley Storrie, Janey’s daughter, said the hearse will navigate through Edinburgh, her “beloved festival home”, on Friday before travelling “home to Glasgow”.

Storrie said her mother asked that instead of traditional funeral attire, those who wish to do so should wear bright colours to celebrate her life.

She also asked that no flowers be sent but that people be invited to contribute to the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice or any charity of their choice.

Television presenter Lorraine Kelly said Janey was a force of nature who helped her navigate the coronavirus pandemic.

She said: “Oh gosh, all those amazing videos that she did – not just about Nicola Sturgeon but the animal ones.

“Anytime I feel a bit down, I go into my little stash of Janey videos, and it cheers me up. The thing about Janey is essentially she was a very, very kind woman and fierce, absolutely fierce, and really bright, really clever, incredibly quick-witted, and she just made the world a better place, really.

“When I think about Janey and her background and everything that she overcame, it’s quite remarkable that she was such a kind-hearted person.

Lorraine Kelly's tribute to Janey Godley. — Lorraine Kelly’s tribute to Janey Godley. STV News

“She dealt with her illness the way she dealt with everything. She just face up to it, she said ‘bring it on, I’m here, I’ll tackle it the best way I can’.

“I was lucky enough to interview her quite a few times, and we talked a lot, particularly about her illness when she was diagnosed, and I just really admire the way she dealt with that, the way she was very open about it.

“She was very open about the fact she was scared and that it was frightening, but also gave an awful lot of people hope as well. The way that she went on tour, the way that she continued to live her life on her terms right up until the very, very end was really inspirational.”

Godley found viral fame with her dubbed pastiches of Sturgeon – including her catchphrase ‘Frank, get the door’.

But then the scandal hit. Janey was dropped from a Scottish Government health campaign after a series of offensive, racist tweets that she made a decade earlier emerged.

The comic said sorry for the language she used.

Sturgeon said: “Inarguably, any comedian that doesn’t divide opinion or provoke strong reactions to their work isn’t going to be very successful.

“Billy Connolly was divisive in terms of many people – most people, anybody with a sense of humour finds him funny – but some people have taken offence at the kind of humour that became his trademark.

“Similar with Janey, she also was somebody who didn’t shy away from expressing political views. Some people prefer those in the public eye in culture not to do that but she was somebody who was fearless in making her views known.

“At times, it took her into controversial waters, and she made mistakes in the past that she paid a heavy price for and that she was very apologetic for.

“Overall, I think Janey was feisty, fearless, funny, and somebody I was really, really proud to call a friend.

“I think she brought a type of humour to the fore. I would bet there are comedians coming up behind her who will try to replicate those voiceovers she did. I think we’ll see lots of comedians in the Janey Godley mould in the years to come.”

Within weeks of her apology – as she fought to rebuild her career and reputation – she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in November 2021.

The comedian was given the all-clear in 2022 but later that year announced another scan had shown signs of the disease in her abdomen.

However, she said she would continue touring with her Not Dead Yet gigs.

Actress Elaine C Smith told STV News: “I’ve known Janey probably over 20 years and I used to always say Janey got away with saying things on stage that I would have loved to have said. I used to say that to her.

“I always felt my audience, I couldn’t have swore the way she did or be as outrageous. One of the nicest things Janey ever said to me was my 60th birthday actually, I had a big party and Janey got up and she was hilarious – did a brilliant spot.

“She said ‘I just want to say I would not be doing what I’m doing if I hadn’t been for this woman’ and I didn’t know her when she was younger. I suppose I’m at that age now that that legacy really matters, that younger woman go ‘oh, that’s how you do it’.

“So for a contemporary like Janey to say something like that – she was incredibly brave in her performance style and what she did, what she said.”

In 2023, Janey won the inaugural Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, which was presented by Smith.

“Susie McCabe sent me a photo of me hugging Janey and all you can see is Janey’s hair and my hair as we are hugging when I gave her the award. I know what it meant to her, coming from Billy Connolly as well – Janey did not have the easiest of starts in life.

Scott Agnew with Janey when she won the Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award. Contributed via Andy Laing

“To have triumphed in the way that she did and to get that in her own city, I think really meant something to her. When I went to visit her in the hospice, she had just heard that I had got the keys to the city of Glasgow and we were laughing about it, I was saying I can graze my sheep on Glasgow Green and all that.

“We cried that day as well and I was singing to her. It was a joy to know her and be part of the journey that she had through her life.”

Comedian Scott Agnew, who knew Janey for 24 years, said she was his “comedy mammy”.

“I’ve dealt with a few tough times in my life and Janey was always there for me,” she told STV News. “On her final tour, her daughter Ashley wasn’t able to be her support for a couple of nights, so I got the call, which was really nice.

“She didn’t tell me though that the show opened with a montage of photographs of her from birth to present day, right through the cancer journey.

“All the song, “something inside so strong “ so safe to say, I was standing at the side of the stage with tears blinding me, which she just thought was hilarious.

“It gave us the permission to laugh and it was really a lovely couple of days. “ “There was absolutely no question that she wasn’t going to talk about her cancer.

“That’s something I have learned from her. If you talk about these things, you take the sting out them a bit. She was absolutely and utterly courageous.

“She knew that by being loud, by speaking out, she had power and it gave other people power. If you talk about the difficult things, be that abuse, illnesses, any problems, by speaking out, you’ve got power.

“I was always wildly proud of her and I hope she was always proud of me as well. To me she was one of the landmarks of Scottish comedy. “