Janey Godley wins Sir Billy Connolly’s First Comedy Award

She received the award at Glasgow International Comedy Festival 2023 just minutes after completing the show at the official closing gala at the city’s King’s Theatre.
An independent panel of judges met on Wednesday to consider the nominations and passed their recommendations to Sir Billy, who made the final decision ahead of Sunday’s announcement.

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The others shortlisted for the award were Scott Agnew, Paul Black, Craig Hill, Kieran Hodgson and Susie McCabe.

I can’t believe I won pic.twitter.com/xhTeadiTyC

— Janey Godley (@JaneyGodley) April 2, 2023

Sir Billy appeared on screen to announce Godley, who has been battling cancer, as the winner of the award and said: “Hi, I’m Billy Connolly and I’m here to congratulate the winners of the Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
“Glasgow deserves to have a comedy festival – an international comedy festival. It’s the funniest city in the world without exception… and it deserves to be at the top of the league.
“The winner of the award – the Billy Connolly Award, believe it or not – is Janey Godley. A worthy winner.
“A worthy comedian. She’s been a friend of mine for about five or six years. We met in New Zealand when she was performing at a festival and I took her to see my show – almost making her cross the street in a weird way.
“It took her a while to get used to it. She’s a great girl, a great comedian, and an extraordinary life story to ponder. I’m very proud to be part of the International Festival and I’m very proud that my drawing was part of the trophy. It is wonderful.”

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The Spirit of Glasgow Award was defined using five criteria: Humor, Resilience, Openness, Depth and Unapologetic.
The award, which features a self-portrait of Sir Billy etched into glass, was presented to Godley by festival director Krista MacDonald along with Two Doors Down star and judge Elaine C. Smith.
Godley said, “I can’t believe I won that… If I couldn’t joke, I wouldn’t be me.
“I won an award from a man I’ve admired since childhood.”
Godley was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in November 2021 and underwent chemotherapy.
She was given the all-clear last year but revealed in December that a recent scan showed signs of the disease in her abdomen.