Stand-up comedian to 'get things off her chest' (From Streatham Guardian)

Stand-up comedian to 'get things off her chest' at Epsom Playhouse

4:59pm Thursday 21st June 2012 in Freetime By Hardeep Matharu

An award-winning stand-up comedian will be sharing her robust views on life before transforming into her cabaret artiste alter-ego in a unique show.

Janice Day, who has performed to private audiences in Europe and South East Asia and at several festivals, is aiming to entertain and inform viewers with her Getting It Off My Chest evening.

In 1996, Day contracted breast cancer and, taking the doctors’ advice, she underwent a mastectomy and reconstruction but refused the recommended chemical treatment - choosing instead an alternative path back to health.

On the way she deliberately lost seven stone in weight and became a full-time professional writer and cabaret artiste.

Her journey is chronicled in her memoir, Getting It Off My Chest: How I Lost My Breast and Found Myself.

In the first half of the show, she will recite excerpts from the book in a beautifully crafted 60-minute monologue and reveals why she refused the recommended treatment for her illness and how she has survived 16 years to tell the tale.

During the interval, Day will transform into the "d’lightful, d’licious and d’lovely" Mrs Pinkerton-Lovely, who entertains in 1930s-style with comedy and songs from the era, accompanied on the baritone ukulele.

Originally a singer with the Piccadilly Dance Orchestra, and Keith Nicholls Cotton Club Orchestra, she has appeared at the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Purcell Room and at the Proms in the Park.

Getting It Off My Chest, Epsom Playhouse, Ashley Avenue, July 5, 8pm, £10, call 01372 742555, visit www.epsomplayhouse.co.uk