Barbara Nice

Created by award-winning comedian and theatre director Janice Connolly, Barbara Nice is the overenthusiastic housewife alter-ego of Birmingham-based performer Janice, and is well known on the circuit for her lively, upbeat presence.

She’s the Stockport housewife, cleaner to the stars who has been delighting live comedy audiences for 25 years with her unbridled enthusiasm. A Barbara Nice performance is guaranteed to get you laughing, leaving the show feeling better than when you went in. 

Having supported comedians Johnny Vegas and Peter Kay on tour in the past, Barbara Nice is a circuit headline act in her own right, as well as being one of the most experienced comperes in the country. She has also performed solo shows in Edinburgh, Brighton and Manchester. 

In a smash hit audition, Barbara wowed the judges with her humour and eccentric style on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent, in 2019 and her hysterical Semi-Final performance, was seen by 8 million people.

Janice Connolly is also a British actress, comedian, hugely talented writer, and artistic director; she also runs the Midlands-based group Women and Theatre.

Many moons ago, in a new act competition in Manchester in character as Barbara Nice, Janice was discovered by legendary comedian Peter Kay, who then asked her to play Holy Mary in Phoenix Nights. The whole cast reunited in 2015 performing Phoenix Nights Live for 15 nights raising over £5m for Comic Relief.

Connolly has also appeared in Coronation Street, That Peter Kay Thing, Max and Paddy’s Road To Nowhere, Thin Ice and Dead Man Weds. Her four-part series ‘Barbara Nice’ was broadcast in March 2017 as part of BBC Radio 2’s Comedy Showcase.

In 2017 Connolly was awarded a British Empire Medal in the New Years Honours list for services to community arts in the West Midlands.