Chichester mother-of-four "comes out of the comedy closet”

SussexWorld

Chichester mother-of-four Naomi Godfrey is turning stand-up comedian after finally “coming out of the comedy closet.”

Transcript

00:00 What makes me want to be a comedian? I love making people laugh. I'm a performer. I love

00:09 mucking around. Yeah, I just enjoy making people laugh. And I love being around people

00:14 as well. I think that's why I like being a stand-up comedian, you know, on the comedy

00:18 circuit.

00:19 So where does all this fit into your busy life? You sound like you've got a lot on your

00:23 plate without wanting to be a stand-up as well.

00:26 I know, I'm crazy, aren't I? Yeah, definitely. I think the thing about stand-up comedy, I

00:32 think you've just hit the nail on the head there actually, is for me, when I'm on stage,

00:36 everything else is gone. It's just everything else just drops away and you are there and

00:40 you're in that moment. And that's what's so beautiful about it. But I enjoy it. I love

00:45 meeting all the audience members and talking to people and as I say, making people laugh.

00:49 And I think that they say that laughter is the best medicine and it is. I mean, my night

00:54 that I had on Friday last week, everybody, faces were shining. That's probably the only

00:59 way I could describe it. Faces were shining when they left.

01:03 We need that moment, don't we?

01:05 Yeah, absolutely.

01:06 And the gist of it, the crux of your comedy is family life, isn't it? And you've got four

01:10 children. What's the age range?

01:12 So the oldest is 19. I've got a 15 year old, a 12 year old and a nine year old.

01:17 Goodness. So it's an awful lot of teenagers in one house. How is that funny?

01:23 I think the irony is it's not funny, but I managed to find the funny in it. Yeah, it's

01:30 not funny. That's why it's funny.

01:32 Brilliant. And tell me some of the things you talk about then. Is it family life?

01:37 Yeah, I mean, just like the very relatable things that children do. And I think that's

01:42 the interesting thing. And I think for a while I was nervous that the children were growing

01:46 up and I was thinking I'm not going to get any more material. But they do give you the

01:50 material just by the things they say and do in their innocence or when they're being silly.

01:58 Just the real, it's the real side of motherhood and parenthood is what I talk about. I think

02:03 the really difficult parts as well that not everybody talks about, you know, childbirth,

02:08 it's really hard. I'm not saying necessarily I talk about that, but I'm very real and I

02:11 will turn it into a joke.

02:13 My third baby, I think they've all been comedy births, but my third baby had some comedy

02:20 in it because I'd learnt to, I'd done hypnobirthing for him where it was meant to be calming and

02:25 relaxed and it was far from calming and relaxed. And I joke about the fact that the hypnobirthing

02:30 actually prevented me from murdering my husband because at two o'clock in the morning he said,

02:34 "Oh, the tap connector doesn't work to fit into the birthing pool." And I'm like, "Well,

02:39 the B&Q is not open." And the calming techniques I'd learnt to deliver my baby, I instead used

02:45 in the corner of the room because I thought, "I'm actually going to murder you." I was

02:48 having full on contractions. I was in the corner of the room and I was like, "Breathe,

02:52 do not murder him." And that's the thing. And there's just funny aspects that weave

02:56 in.

02:57 Thank goodness you did, we wouldn't be speaking now, you know.

02:59 I know. I'm sure they would like stand-up comedy in prison. Surely they need someone

03:03 to keep them amused. But no, I didn't. I didn't. I breathed through the anger.

03:08 But for a long time you were a comedian in the closet, you were saying, until you found

03:12 you, until you allowed yourself to come out.

03:14 Yeah. Yeah. I mean, people laugh when I tell them that I was in the comedy closet, but

03:19 I did. I felt so nervous to tell anybody that that's what I really wanted to do because

03:24 I was, you know, I was seen as this mum, this person that, you know, worked from home and

03:28 ran a business. And I just felt that people would think I was crazy. So I did come out

03:35 of the comedy closet, but it took me a while to do that. It took me a while to, you know,

03:38 I first of all, I fessed up to my husband and then a little bit later on I told my mother-in-law.

03:44 But now, you know, I own it. I'm like, yes, that's what I am. And I'm really proud of

03:49 it. And my children are really proud of it as well. They're very proud and very excited

03:52 about it.

03:53 So they should be. The point is now you're wanting to increase the number of gigs you

03:56 do then.

03:57 Absolutely. Yeah.

03:58 And people can get you through your website, which is?

04:03 My website is www.naomigodfrey.co.uk. Go on there, have a look. There's some nice pictures.

04:10 There's some great testimonials I've collected over the years from people in the industry

04:14 and also audience members. Generally, my feedback is very, very positive. Sometimes I mess it

04:20 up, but I'm not perfect. But generally, the feedback is very good. And that's really why

04:25 I ended up trying to pursue it because originally it was just going to be a hobby. I have a

04:29 job and I didn't need to be paid for performing comedy. It was just meant to be an itch that

04:34 I wanted to scratch. But actually, what I found was I was going out and performing and

04:39 audience members were coming up and saying, can I follow you on social? When can I see

04:43 you again? And then people were coming to see me again. I did a few gigs where I went

04:47 to the same place and people saw I was on the poster and would come back to see me.

04:51 And that's when my position on it changed. And I thought, actually, there's something

04:56 here. So it was really listening to the feedback that I was getting from the audience that

05:01 made me think I want to pursue this on a more formal, professional level.

05:05 Fantastic. And I will nag you to do something for next year's festival, Judith.

05:09 Feel free to nag me. I need a good nag.

05:11 Brilliant, I will. Fantastic. Good luck with everything and lovely to speak to you. Thank

05:15 you.

05:16 Thanks.

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