Janey Godley is hitting the road for the last time with her Not Dead Yet tour but don’t mention the “C” Word – courage.
The iconic Scottish comedian will happily talk about her battle with incurable ovarian cancer. It’s a mission for her, in fact.
But any suggestion she is being brave by crisscrossing Scotland with her live shows – including Inverness this weekend and Aberdeen two weeks later – is dismissed fairly quickly.
“That’s not bravery. Bravery is running into a building that’s on fire and saving children. Bravery is getting up every morning and preparing to open up a child’s brain to do surgery. That’s brave,” said Janey.
“Succumbing to a disease and letting the NHS treat you isn’t bravery. That’s survival. I don’t have any say, so it’s not a fight. If cancer decides to kill me, it will.”
Janey Godley touring to Aberdeen and Inverness to ‘feel normal’
So why has she taken the decision to tour again at a time when, by her own admission, her chemo treatments can leave her energy levels “a bit dodgy and breathless” to say the least?
“Because it makes me feel normal, everything hasn’t felt normal for a whole year,” said Janey. “All my friends are back on tour and it’s made me so jealous, it’s made me like ‘I want to be back on stage’.
“So I spoke to my cancer specialist and she said ‘is your mooth working?’ I said yes and she said ‘well go back to work’, so that’s what I’m doing.”
Janey – a lifelong activist on a range of issues from Scottish independence to trans rights – is open about exactly where she is in her fight against ovarian cancer.
She was initially diagnosed in November 2021, was given the all-clear after surgery, only to be told in recent months the cancer had returned.
“There isn’t any cure for ovarian cancer, it’s treatable but not curable. People can live for years with it, people can die sooner. But so many people live with incurable diseases that I was unaware of. People live with diabetes, people live with multiple sclerosis.
“But the minute you think cancer, you think death. I don’t know long I’ve got but I know I’m going to enjoy the time I’m doing this. I’m a mayfly and I’m enjoying my time.”
Janey Godley urges women to know the symptoms of ovarian cancer
The award-winning and often controversial comedian is full of praise for Scotland’s NHS and the care network that has supported her through these dark days – which brings her back to the subject of courage.
“It makes me think about 30, 40, 50 years ago, and wee women with ovarian cancer and what the treatment was like then. They didn’t have the Maggie’s Centres, they didn’t have the therapy or the empathy we have nowadays. We have a whole industry around supporting people with cancer.
“But you think about the experience of those women 30, 40 or 50 years ago in Aberdeen or Inverness, going up four flights of stairs after a hysterectomy and no one spoke about their womb. They were brave.”
Janey – famed for her comedy voiceovers including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – has been open from the outset about her cancer, talking frankly about the ups and downs, victories and setbacks she has faced every step of the way. She has done that for a reason.
“Ovarian cancer is a silent killer and I want people to know the symptoms. Are you feeling really bloated? But women are aye bloated, so that’s a hard one, but are you more bloated than usual?
“You can’t eat because you feel full all the time, you’re peeing all the time and there’s a lot of discomfort in your abdomen?
Janey promises love and laughter in Aberdeen and Inverness gigs
“Get it checked. Go to the doctor and say ‘I’m worried I’ve got ovarian cancer’. Say the words, say it out loud, say ‘are you going to check me, are you going to do my bloods?’ If you catch it early you have a better chance of survival.
“There have already been women who wrote to me saying they went and got checked and got caught at stage one, so job done. If there was even just one woman who got caught at stage one, then that was the reason I spoke about it.”
Now, though, Janey is getting back to doing what she does best, making people laugh on her tour, which includes Aberdeen’s Tivoli Theatre, Eden Court in Inverness, ending with three nights in London’s Leicester Square Theatre.
“We are going to have a singsong, we have a lot of new voiceovers, there’s a lot of new material and some of my old favourite set pieces as well,” said Janey, who will be joined on the tour by her daughter, comedian Ashley Storrie.
“And I think there’s going to be a lot of love in the room. When people see me, they are going to remember their own family members who have been through cancer, so there will be that emotional feeling as well.”
‘I will cry every night I step on stage’ says Janey Godley
Janey is blunt about this being her last tour, the last chance for people to see her on a stage on their own doorstep.
“As this disease progresses it will prevent me from touring. It would be great if I could say ‘guess what… that wasn’t my last tour, yay!’, but I can’t see it.
“I’ll still be able to gig, I have a Radio 4 series to write and some shows to do, but I won’t be able to tour like this again.”
Janey accepts that each night of the tour will be poignant for her. “I think I’ll cry every single night I step on stage, but what can I do?”
And she hopes her many fans will enjoy each and every one of these final live shows.
“I can’t wait to get back out there and see everyone. We’re going to have a night of laughter and I think this time there’s going to be an awful lot of love. That love and laughter and tears is a very Scottish thing and I can’t wait to see it in person.
“A night of singing, snottery greetin’, laughter and love. What more do you need?”
How to get tickets for Janey Godley in Aberdeen and Inverness
Janey Godley’s Not Dead Yet Tour will be at Eden Court on Friday February 3 and Saturday February 4. For more information and tickets visit eden-court.co.uk.
Janey will be at The Tivoli in Aberdeen on February 14 and 15. For information and tickets visit aberdeenperformingarts.com
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