Comedian Janey Godley talks about her Soup Pot Tour and her love of stand-up

Some reassuring words from Glasgow comedian Janey Godley who is hoping her politically-fused Soup Pot Tour will lighten the mood with a reminder of a community ritual that brings everyone together.

“The soup pot is very universal: if you’re in Australia, America, Brazil, France Germany or Alaska, and someone dies or gets married, people will make soup,” Janey said.

She explained: “The soup pot is the hub of the community. When somebody died near us when I was a kid, somebody would make the big soup pot so all the visitors had something warm to drink and eat.

“It’s part of us all being in it together. Of course, that was before people discovered they were gluten-free and worried about being allergic to lentils.”

Food allergies aside, the one thing the soup pot - or Janey’s show - does do is bring people together.

She said: “This show is a very community, heart-driven piece. I love the fact that we all come together to have a laugh, that’s what’s important.

“I think in these times, troubled times and frightening times, that people need to come together.”

The East End funny woman will bring people together when she takes over the King’s Theatre for two nights during the Glasgow International Comedy Festival on Sunday, March 22 and Wednesday, March 25.

Her show will feature live voiceovers and stand-up like you’ve never seen before.

The 59-year-old joked: “It’s the show that has never been done before ever, anywhere else in the world. I am the only person doing this show, it is very unique.”

She continued: “I do straight stand up which is what I am known for – that is my thing.

“But there is also going to be the voice overs.”

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Fans of Janey’s comedy will be familiar with her voiceovers which have earned her 40 million hits online and over 6000 subscribers to her YouTube channel.

“The voiceovers tend to have political figures dominate them,” Janey said.

She added: “It’s either Theresa May and she is in Torremolinos or Ruth is trying to get into the Snapchat group or Nicola’s ma cut her hair again.”

When she is not wowing fans with her quick-witted humour, Janey can be found on screen showcasing her acting talents especially in the 2018 hit movie Wild Rose and recent crime thriller Traces.

She said: “I love doing stand-up, but I just became a stand-up because I wanted to be an actor and I had to get stage time hours for my equity card.

“So (stand-up) was the best way to do it because it used to be a closed shop.

“I discovered that I was really good at being a stand-up and forgot about being an actor.”

She added: “I genuinely prefer stand-up to acting.

“I didn’t know there was that much waiting about acting.

“I should have been told that to start with that I would get awfy bored for long periods of time.”

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Having proven she is a double threat in the world of entertainment thanks to her comedy and acting skills, it perhaps comes as no surprise that Janey’s daughter Ashley Storrie has inherited her mum’s stage skills.

“I am absolutely disgusted that she has overtook all my amazing skills,” the former pub landlady joked about her comedian daughter.

She continued: “I am dead proud of her. I have always been proud of Ashley, I have always been a champion of her.

“I mean I don’t understand how anybody cannae love their weans and watch their weans do well.

“She is magnificently talented and always has been.

“She was the child at five that made us laugh at five.

“She ran into the pub to drag all the wee men out to sing all things bright and beautiful over a puddle of a bit diesel because she was convinced it was a dead rainbow.”

With 2020 offering a new decade of promise for most, Janey’s admits she won’t be following the tradition of setting resolutions.

She said: “I don’t set resolutions.

“I just get on with my life I am enjoying being a woman of this age who isn’t suppose to know how to work the internet but has cracked it.”

For tickets, visit www.atgtickets.com