Roy 'Chubby' Brown

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Roy 'Chubby' Brown
Birth name Roy Vasey[1]
Born 3 February 1945 (1945-02-03) (age 79)
Grangetown, Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England
Nationality British
Years active 1960s–present
Genres Blue comedy, insult comedy, political satire, sarcasm, self-deprecation
Subject(s) Sex, British politics, Racism, Celebrities, Culture, One liners
Influences Bernard Manning, Jerry Sadowitz
Notable works and roles See below
Website Official site

Roy "Chubby" Brown (born 3 February 1945) is an English stand-up comedian, famous for his sarcastic blue humour, which consists of high profanity, forthright social commentary and outspoken disdain for political correctness. The highly controversial nature of his act means he rarely appears on major television channels,[2] and Brown has attracted accusations that his comedy style is outdated[3] whilst simultaneously being described as "the most important comedian of the past 25 years".[4]

Early life and career

Brown was born at 78 Broadway, Grangetown, Middlesbrough in the North Riding of Yorkshire.[2] He has a sister named Barbara. He left home at the age of fourteen, spent time living rough and moved from job to job and at one point joined the Merchant Navy. He also spent time in a borstal and prison.[5] He later found work as an entertainer in working men's clubs during the 1960s, first as a drummer and later as a comedy act under the name "Alcock & Brown".[2] Brown appeared on the UK television talent show New Faces in the 1970s, coming second to a country and western band. He failed the audition for another television talent show Opportunity Knocks after saying the word 'arse' during his interview.

Success as a comedian

Brown's image is characterised by a clown-like stage costume consisting of a flying helmet and goggles, a multicoloured patchwork jacket and trousers, a white shirt, a red bow tie and moccasin slippers. A typical stand-up show starts with the audience repeatedly shouting "You fat bastard!", to which he dances. Brown then approaches the microphone and says "Fuck off!" or "How did you know it was fucking me!" This heckling occasionally continues during his act.

During his long career, he has caused offence by mocking various groups and individuals, including ethnic minorities, women, the Queen Mother (whose death occurred hours before the recording of his show Standing Room Only) and himself, yet he maintains a loyal fan base. Brown's live shows are rarely seen on television, as many of his jokes are deemed sexist, racist or otherwise prejudiced by critics, and he relies on strong language, especially the words "fuck" and "cunt".[2] However, a programme about Brown's comedy, called Roy Chubby Brown: Britain's Rudest Comedian was broadcast on Channel 4 on 8 May 2007.[5]

Film

In 1993 Brown released a film called U.F.O. starring himself and Roger Lloyd-Pack; in it he is abducted by aliens while staying in a hotel in Blackpool during his live shows. In 2012, Brown was set to appear as a talking lamppost in Robin Sheppard's film adaptation of Richard Milward's book, Apples.

Music

One of his best known songs is "Living Next Door to Alice (Who the Fuck is Alice?)", a cover version of "Living Next Door to Alice", recorded with Smokie. The record spent 19 weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 3 in August 1995.[6] He released a solo single in the winter of 1996 called "A Rocking Good Christmas", written by Ray Hedges; this reached number 51.[7] Brown has also released two albums, Take Fat and Party (1995) and Fat Out of Hell (1996); they achieved positions 29 and 67 in the UK Albums Chart respectively.[7]

Cultural references

His real name, Royston Vasey, was used as the name for the fictional town in the comedy television show The League of Gentlemen. He also made several cameo appearances as the foul-mouthed mayor of the town.

Personal life

Brown is married to third wife Helen, with whom he has children. He has homes in Middlesbrough and Lincolnshire.

In 2003, Brown was fined £200 in Blackpool for assaulting a fan who had sworn at him. Of the incident, Brown said, "I have traditional values and I wanted the man to stop swearing in front of women and children who were on the pier."[8]

Brown was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2002 and had a vocal cord removed.[5][9]

In 2006 he released an autobiography entitled Common as Muck: The Autobiography of Roy 'Chubby' Brown.[10]

He is a co-owner of the racehorse Rasaman.[11]

On 8 April 2009 Brown's son, Martin Reilly, 36, of Stillington, County Durham, was jailed for four years for conspiracy to supply cocaine and for the possession of heroin and cannabis,[12] having admitted offences dating from a November 2008 arrest.[13][14] Brown was understood to have little contact with his son.[13]

On 12 December 2009, it was announced that Brown was facing a charge of common assault on a woman, after an incident in a car park in Middlesbrough on 2 September 2009.[15] At Teesside Magistrates' Court on 5 January 2010, Brown denied the charges via his solicitor.[16] He was acquitted on 16 March 2010.[17]

In December 2011, he self-published a collection of memoirs from his life and career with Fast-Print Publishing called It's Funny Being Me.[18]

On 21 August 2014 he was fined £30 and given four points on his drivers licence by Northallerton Magistrates' Court following a conviction for driving without due care and attention after he was filmed by a North Yorkshire Police camera with a copy of The Sun newspaper resting on his steering wheel as he drove along the A19 near Crathorne in May 2014. He was also ordered to pay costs of £40 and a victim surcharge of £20 [19]

He is a supporter of Middlesbrough Football Club.[2]

Stand up releases

While Brown has been performing for over 30 years, his live shows have been released around Christmas time from 1990 until 2015. They have been released by Channel 5 Video Distribution (1990), PolyGram (1991-1998) and Universal Music Group (1999-2015), they were released on VHS (1990-2005, DVD (2000-2015) and Blu-ray (2010).. The release due for November 2011 was delayed until 2012 due to venue, technical and timing issues. The release for 2015 was the last release.

Releases

  • From Inside the Helmet (1990)
  • The Helmet Rides Again (1991)
  • The Helmet's Last Stand (1992)
  • Roy Chubby Brown: Exposed (1993)
  • U.F.O. (1993)
  • Jingle Bx@!cks (1994)
  • Clitoris Allsorts (1995)
  • Saturday Night Beaver (1996)
  • Obscene And Not Heard (1997)
  • Chubby Goes Down Under (And Other Sticky Regions) (1998)
  • You Fat Bastard! (1999)
  • Thunder Bollocks (2000)
  • Stocking Filler! (2001)
  • Standing Room Only (2002)
  • Bad Taste (2003)
  • Giggling Lips (2004)
  • King Thong (2005)
  • Kick-Arse Chubbs (2006)
  • The Good, the Bad & the Fat Bastard (2007)
  • Dirty Weekend in Blackpool, He Came A Thousand Times! (2008)
  • Too Fat to be Gay (2009)
  • Pussy and Meatballs (2010)
  • Front Page Boobs (2012)
  • Who Ate All The Pies? (2013)
  • Don't Get Fit! Get Fat! (2014)
  • Hangs Up His Helmet (2015)

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ UK Chart Stats
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 UK Chart Stats
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ BBC Look North, 8 April 2009
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Sky News

External links

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