Janey Godley writes Not Dead Yet memoir as The C Bomb returns to R4

ExclusiveSaturday 10th February 2024, 12:45pm by Jay Richardson

Not Dead Yet, Janey Godley's second memoir, focusing on her comedy career and more, will be published in August
The prolific comic's Radio 4 series The C Bomb is also returning for four more episodes next month
Godley has also just announced the On Screen & On Stage Tour, with her performing stand-up to accompany documentary Janey

Janey Godley is publishing her second memoir this summer, as her Radio 4 show The C Bomb returns next month, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.

Not Dead Yet (a working title), out 6th August from Hodder & Stoughton, shares its title with her current stand-up tour.

Godley's first autobiography, 2005's Handstands In The Dark, recalled her tough upbringing in the East End of Glasgow, the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her uncle, her mother's murder and her marriage into a gangster family.

The follow-up focuses more upon her stand-up career, which she began in London in 1994, establishing her own comedy club and overcoming prejudices against female and working-class comics to become a headliner in Scotland and internationally, thriving in a male-dominated, middle-class industry.

Also covering the 1996 court case that she fought and won against her uncle, David Percy, for his historic abuse of her and her sister, the book finds her reflecting upon how she boosted her profile with her popular voiceover videos but faced "cancellation" in 2021 when historic Tweets of hers using racist language resurfaced.

She had just finished touring, later that year, when she received a cancer diagnosis.

Hodder & Stoughton describe the book as celebrating "everything Janey defiantly and hilariously is - against the odds - and confirms why she is so loved".

Meanwhile, the BBC Audio Award-nominated stand-up series The C Bomb, which debuted in 2023 and features Godley sharing stories from her life, alongside her daughter and regular support act Ashley Storrie, is returning for four more episodes in March.

As BCG revealed last month, Godley has also just made the documentary film Janey, which follows the Not Dead Yet tour around Scotland, to Belfast and London, and accompanies her as she revisits the childhood home where she was abused, protests Donald Trump on his golf course, discusses her voiceover videos with Nicola Sturgeon and cancellation in comedy with Jimmy Carr.

At the start of this month, Godley and Storrie deleted their accounts on X, formerly known as Twitter. Godley took to Instagram to post: "If you can't find me on Twitter it's because I left, it's been ruined by Elon and became a huge cesspit - I got so much love and support over there though. I'll miss the cool people.

"You'll hear it all on my upcoming Radio 4 series C Bomb."

However, some X users were quick to suggest that the pair quit the social media platform, where Godley remains a regular target for trolls, after a trailer for their 2006 Edinburgh Fringe sketch show, Janey Godley & Ashley Storrie's Square Street, was circulated online.

Written by Storrie, who is autistic, the video featured use of the 'R word', albeit with the younger comic in character as someone who today might be described as neurodiverse, and Godley as her carer, within the context of an expletive-ridden, deliberately politically incorrect sketch.

After Janey's premiere as closing feature of the Glasgow Film Festival on 10th March, Godley will be performing stand-up to accompany 10 screenings around Scotland, with further showings taking place without the comic at selected cinemas from 15th March.

Dates for the On Screen & On Stage Tour are as follows:

Younger Hall, St Andrews, 16th March

Beacon Theatre, Greenock, 20th March

Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow, 23rd March

Macrobert, Stirling, 5th April

Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, 6th April

Bo'ness Hippodrome, Bo'ness 7th April

Eden Court, Inverness, 12th April

Adam Smith Theatre, Dunfermline, 13th April

Lanternhouse, Cumbernauld 14th April

Gardyne Theatre, Dundee, 20th April

Janey Godley - Janey: The Woman That Won't Shut Up

By Janey Godley

Janey Godley has been a determined fighter all her life - from her tough Glasgow childhood to becoming the much-loved comedian she is now. As she faces her diagnosis with cancer, Janey shares with candour and humour the good and the bad. The Woman That Won't Shut Up is the story of how a mouthy female comedian finally overcame the prejudices that stopped her getting gigs to earn her place in the male-dominated comedy establishment.

Making her breakthroughs in London, where she had her own comedy club, and New Zealand, Janey took on another brave fight when she brought a case - and won - against the uncle who'd abused her as a child. At the height of her popularity, with a soaring online following through her hilarious political voice-overs, Janey was also the victim of much trolling. Some old Tweets were unearthed that might have seen her cancelled. Her spirit was nearly broken, but her fanbase stayed strong.

At the end of the long sell-out UK tour that followed in 2021 she was given the news she had ovarian cancer. Here she faces her fears head on and shares the very difficult journey she's on.

This extraordinary memoir celebrates everything Janey defiantly and hilariously is - against the odds - and confirms why she is so loved.

First published: Thursday 9th May 2024

Hardback

eBook

Audiobook