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

Comedy is an itch she has long wanted to scratch – and she is doing so now, hoping to increase the number of gigs she does in the area. You can book her on www.naomigodfrey.co.uk.

For Naomi, it's all part of a busy life. She and her husband Darren run a business; they've got four children; and they are also coping with Darren's ongoing cancer treatment. For Naomi, there are certainly elements of escape in the comedy she does.

“We moved to Chichester in 2013 and in 2014 we had our fourth baby and when our fourth baby was six to eight weeks old my husband Darren was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer. He had a stem cell transplant in 2015. His younger brother donated stem cells and he was cancer free for just over five years and then a routine blood test in April/May 2021 showed that the cancer had come back. He has now been back on treatment for two years and he's doing really well. He's able to work and participate in daily life and on a daily basis is able to undertake most tasks which is great so I certainly wouldn't say it was a black cloud that goes around with us. We're very much focused on living our lives and creating a really happy and safe environment for our children and getting on with our business.

“But the comedy was always there for me. It was an itch that I wanted to scratch but I just didn't have the confidence when I was younger. Darren and I got married and we had a family and we started a business and there was just never time but in 2016 our eldest was due to go off to high school and I just looked around me and I was approaching 40 and the children looked like they were growing up and of course I felt fulfilled with the children but I just thought that I didn't really have anything that was just for me in the most non-selfish way possible.

“I heard about a comedy course that was happening in London. It was just a bit like I was in the comedy closet. I was seeing a therapist at the time and I admitted to her that I wanted to do it, that I would like to do something creative or comedy and she was amazingly supportive. So I did the course and it was really exhilarating. Just throwing caution to the wind like that was not who I was. I went up to London. I had a lot of doubts. I thought that something like this wasn't available to me. I thought it was too frivolous for me but I did it.”

And then in January 2017 she went on another Funny Women course: “And they gave us all five minutes stage time. I just thought I can't do this but I got up and I chatted. I talked about Darren's bone marrow transplant and I talked about the children and bringing up a family and I just came away on the most massive high. I've never done drugs but I imagine that's what it would have been like taking drugs. It was just the best feeling ever.”

Since then, particularly because of the pandemic, the comedy opportunities have been more sporadic but she did a recent night at the rugby club and is now really keen to increase the amount she does.

“Currently my set is based on my family and my children.

"I talk about the difficulties of being a parent. It borders on crude! I take the mickey out of the family and how hard it is having children and I have a comedy song which is to the tune of My Favourite Things which is all about the difficult bits of being a parent!”