Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013 – REVIEW – Janey Godley Is Ungagged ***

Janey Godley Is Ungagged, Gilded Balloon Teviot 6:45pm, until 15 Aug, £12/10 (£10/8 concessions)

With what could be the most welcoming entrance ‘piece’ to any comedy Fringe show this year, there is a brief hello from Janey Godley before she takes a step back and allows her daughter, Ashley Storrie, to take centre-stage. The funny bones seem to have been passed down as Storrie emerges, not phased by the ‘Black Wednesday / quiet’ audience, to speak about her Mum in a light-hearted manner. She points out the ‘excessive Photoshopping’ of her mum’s flyers, before exiting for the remainder of the show. As Ashley’s experiences build, so too will the likeliness of her performing a solo venture, which should be worthwhile.

Janey Godley, in an ungagged way, states that she is… ungagged! Her show is described as one that looks at ‘freedom of speech, freedom of language and freedom of thought’, which it does not fail to do. Godley makes her feelings about bad language clear; we all swear daily in our heads but often we are reserved, particularly when it comes to the ‘c’ word. She then invites the audience to relieve themselves of the temptation to holler it at everyday annoyances by shouting the word at her, after she has turned around. (reminiscent of the Vagina Monologues then…Ed.)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75_lwKDHXQs]

Godley’s show meanders through anecdotes from her life, as well as touching on the recent spate of Twitter attacks, making the production a solid mix of the topical and personal. She has a slight ‘political rally’-esque manner about her, and while some may not connect with her way of storytelling, she definitely has a bold streak that confirms her passion for what she has to preach.