Last Friday I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with a group of truly wonderfully talented women on a special Comic Relief edition of the Janice Forsyth Culture Studio on Radio Scotland.

 

I've been interviewed by Janice on a number of occasions and she really is one of my favourite people ever to chat with, and a true star of the airwaves.

It was my first time meeting with music writer Nicola Meighan and I was blown away to hear some of the acts she'd worked with in London during her time at Mute Records.

They included Moby, Goldfrapp and my all time favourites Erasure.

When I was around 21 I lived in a flat in Shawlands with my best friends Carrie and Laura.

Every Friday night we'd get two pizzas for £1 from Iceland and we'd get three bottles of wine for a fiver out of the local off licence, although the guy that worked behind the counter really fancied my friend so sometimes we'd get an extra bottle thrown in there.

We'd sit around our kitchen table eating the pizza, drinking wine and then by 10pm out came the Erasure album and we'd all dance around like maniacs singing at the top of our voices until we dropped.

Years later when I actually met my hero Andy Bell at the Edinburgh Festival I actually cried real tears in front of him, declaring his music as the greatest of all time.

True story and granted not my finest hour but Oh L'amour he's one of my idols and I was breathing the same air as him so it seemed like a perfectly reasonable reaction.

Another idol of mine of course is Dorothy Paul and it's really down to her that I even attempted to give comedy a go in my one woman show as I'd spent years adoring her on stage and screen watching her weave her comedy magic and have audiences eating out the palm of her hand.

Then there was Lulu, a woman who's achieved Global success over her 50 years in showbusiness, including a string of number one hits, presented her own TV shows, written songs for superstars such as Tina Turner and received an OBE from the Queen, so not shabby for a wee lassie from the East End of Glasgow.

Yes, you could pretty much say that if Carlsberg did Friday afternoons chatting on the radio that line up of lovely women would be mine.

We were treated to a live performance from Lulu who, I have to say can still seriously belt out a tune at 66, but my absolute favourite part of the show was the chat.

There is something about a room full of Scottish women gabbing, especially west coasters, that's utterly infectious to listen to and be a part of.

It was just fascinating to hear these women talk about their unbelievable lives and listen to their really raw and honest accounts of their careers, the good, the bad and the ugly.

I actually nearly jumped out of my skin when the lovely Janice Forsyth turned to me to speak about my career.

For a second or two I was speechless not sure what to say and then I felt slightly embarrassed to speak about my humble experiences in front of these legends around the table.

After all I'd only won a talent show 11 years ago but it wasn't until I started recounting some of my stories and experiences that it really hit home how much I'd achieved in that short time.

I was at the point where I actually began to tear up a little and when Lulu and Dorothy started heaping praise on me and telling me I was the next generation of great Scottish talent, it almost sent me completely over the edge but thankfully I managed to compose and pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

To be even mentioned in the same sentence as these wonderful women was enough for me but to be sat around a table as equals discussing all manner of subjects with them live on air was mind blowing.

I drove home that night feeling extremely lucky and extremely blessed and when I got into my flat I poured myself a lovely big glass of wine, stuck on Erasure's greatest hits and had a wee dance around my living room to myself, just like old times.

This is it, my last column before the biggest solo gig of my career so far.

On Tuesday night my show, Michelle McManus' Reality: Reloaded will play one night only at the Kings Theatre in

Glasgow as part of the lineup for this year's Glasgow International Comedy Festival and I'm just beyond excited. The rehearsals with my live band and the brand new comedy that's been written with Bruce Devlin is the best I've ever performed so if you haven't booked yet come along and I promise you'll be in for a fantastic night of fun.

Don't forget though there are hundreds of fantastic shows on all around Glasgow including the lovely Carina MacLeod's Blone Out Of Proportion at the Yesbar on Sunday March 22 at 7.30pm.

For more information check out

www.glasgowcomedyfestival.com