Janice Connolly
Encyclopedia
Barbara Nice
Connolly is best known for her character Barbara Nice - a caricature of a middle ageMiddle age
Middle age is the period of age beyond young adulthood but before the onset of old age. Various attempts have been made to define this age, which is around the third quarter of the average life span of human beings....
d housewife
Housewife
Housewife is a term used to describe a married woman with household responsibilities who is not employed outside the home. Merriam Webster describes a housewife as a married woman who is in charge of her household...
and mother of five from Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
. Her act is heavily reliant on interaction with the audience, for example acting as an agony aunt to the audience. She performs on the comedy circuit as a headline act and has performed one woman shows across the UK.
Janice Connolly has also appeared in Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
, That Peter Kay Thing
That Peter Kay Thing
That Peter Kay Thing was a series of six spoof documentaries shown on Channel 4 in January 2000. Set in and around Bolton, these followed the lives of different characters and starred Peter Kay as the subject of each documentary. All of the episodes displayed Kay's penchant for nostalgic humour and...
, Phoenix Nights, Max and Paddy's Road To Nowhere
Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere
Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere was an award-winning British comedy television show on Channel 4 starring and written by Peter Kay and Patrick McGuinness. All the episodes were also directed by Kay. It began on 12 November 2004 and ran for six 30 minute episodes up until 17 December 2004, with each...
, Thin Ice and Dead Man Weds
Dead Man Weds
Dead Man Weds is a 6-part comedy series shown on ITV on British TV in January and early February 2005 .The series was written by Dave Spikey who played the part of Jerry St Clair in Phoenix Nights...
.
Other roles
Connolly was performing as Barbara Nice when spotted by Peter KayPeter Kay
Peter John Kay is an English comedian, writer, actor, director and producer. His work includes That Peter Kay Thing , Phoenix Nights , Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere , Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and other independent productions which have included two sell out tours.-Early career:Peter Kay...
at the finals of The Manchester Evening News New Act of The Year in 1998 and went on to appear in several of his television shows. She played Mrs Bamforth in That Peter Kay Thing
That Peter Kay Thing
That Peter Kay Thing was a series of six spoof documentaries shown on Channel 4 in January 2000. Set in and around Bolton, these followed the lives of different characters and starred Peter Kay as the subject of each documentary. All of the episodes displayed Kay's penchant for nostalgic humour and...
and Holy Mary in both Phoenix Nights and Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere
Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere
Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere was an award-winning British comedy television show on Channel 4 starring and written by Peter Kay and Patrick McGuinness. All the episodes were also directed by Kay. It began on 12 November 2004 and ran for six 30 minute episodes up until 17 December 2004, with each...
. Her other television work includes playing Carole in Dave Spikey
Dave Spikey
Dave Spikey is an English comedian, actor, writer and film producer, currently residing in Chorley, Lancashire....
's Dead Man Weds
Dead Man Weds
Dead Man Weds is a 6-part comedy series shown on ITV on British TV in January and early February 2005 .The series was written by Dave Spikey who played the part of Jerry St Clair in Phoenix Nights...
and appearing twice in Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
as Dolly Gartside and Sheila Wheeler.Radio work includes the second series of "Arthur Smith`s Balham Bash " where her comedy creation Barbara Nice plays the resident housekeeper and mistress of the house. The Radio 4 show is unique in that it is recorded in Arthur's flat . Guests are invited to join Arthur at home and to become a live audience for bands, poetry and comedy .The show was first broadcast in 2009 going into a second series in 2010
Janice is also the artistic director and founder member of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
based Women and Theatre. The company is committed to social change through new theatre and drama and in its mission statement states that it aims to make heard the voices of those who are not usually listened to. The company performs in a variety of settings including schools, arts centres, health centres and conference halls.
Janice Connolly was also part of the Birmingham independent music scene in Late 1970s early 1980s. She was part of "The Surprises" and "The Evereadies" playing regularly in Moseley at the Fighting Cocks. Singles championed by John Peel Included "Jeremy Thorpe is Innocent " and "Martian Girlfriend " Other Brum bands active at the time included UB40, Steel Pulse, The Beat, the Aupairs, The Denizens, Dexys Midnight Runners, The Nightingales, The Privates, Swansway .