| Roy Chubby Brown | |
| Birth Name: | Royston Vasey |
| Birth Place: | Grangetown, North Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Active: | 1960s–present |
| Genre: | Blue comedy, insult comedy, political satire, sarcasm, self-deprecation |
| Subject: | British politics, sex, celebrities, culture, one liners |
Royston Vasey (born 3 February 1945), better known professionally as Roy Chubby Brown, is an English comedian. His act consists of offensive humour, high profanity, forthright social commentary and outspoken disdain for political correctness.[1]
Roy Chubby Brown was born Royston Vasey[2] on 3 February 1945[3] in Grangetown, Middlesbrough in the North Riding of Yorkshire[4] and has a sister named Barbara. He left school without any qualifications, leaving home at the age of fourteen, spent time living rough and moving from job to job, at one point joining the Merchant Navy. He became homeless and for some time slept in a fishing boat in Redcar. He was arrested and taken to a detention centre and then on to Borstal, following which he went to prison.[5]
Whilst in prison, Vasey read I Owe Russia $1200 by Bob Hope, which made him decide he wanted to be a stand-up comic. When he saw Ken Dodd perform live, he thought he was so good it inspired him to try comedy himself.[6]
Vasey formed a comedy duo with a fellow ex-Pipelines band member. The duo named themselves Alcock and Brown,[4] as they shared surnames with the pilots of the first transatlantic flight, wearing goggles during their performance. The group eventually disbanded, with Vasey continuing as a comedic act by himself; however the goggles stayed, and became a permanent part of his image.[1]
Vasey's manager at the time (1971) George Forster, asked him whether he would try performing blue comedy, to which he agreed.[4] In 1971, he took to the stage and said, "Good evening! My wife's got two cunts and I'm one of them."[3] Vasey has said he was nearly beaten up, but that following that performance: "I knew I had something. I took the building site mentality and banter and took it to the stage. I was the first person ever to say the 'C' word on stage in the UK. To be honest, I never looked back."[6]
Vasey appeared on the UK television talent show New Faces as Roy Chubby Brown 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.[5]
Brown's image is characterised by a clown-like stage costume consisting of a leather flying helmet and goggles,[1] a white shirt, a red bow tie and moccasin slippers, and a multi-coloured patchwork suit (previously made from beer mats because stag night crowds would shower him in beer).[5]
His comedy is considered controversial: frequently making fun of racial and ethnic minorities,[7] [8] women, and homosexuals,[9] and described as blue comedy, insult comedy, political satire, sarcasm, and self-deprecation.[5] [1]
He eventually began to perform at larger venues, reaching 500,000 people in the UK per year. His breakthrough came in 1990 when Universal Pictures signed him to a home video contract and the video release of From Inside the Helmet. He would release concerts annually every Christmas including The Helmet Rides Again and The Helmet's Last Stand which sold a combined 750,000 units, generating revenue of £9 million.[10] [11]
In 1993, Brown released U.F.O., a science fiction film in which he featured along with Roger Lloyd-Pack and Sara Stockbridge. It was reviewed poorly, with Empire magazine calling the film "a stand-up show, allowing the comedian to tell his sexist jokes to a race of aliens who charge him for being a misogynist" and rating it 1/5.[12]
In 2012, Brown voiced a talking lamp post in Robin Sheppard's film adaptation of Richard Milward's novel Apples. He also played the Victorian Photographer in the feature film Unconditional (titled Unconditional Love in the USA) directed by Bryn Higgins.
Due to the controversial nature of his act, Brown's shows are rarely seen on television, however, a programme called Roy Chubby Brown: Britain's Rudest Comedian was broadcast on Channel 4 in May 2007.[13]
Brown appeared in Series 2 of The League of Gentlemen as Larry Vaughn, mayor of the fictional town of Royston Vasey. The town's name comes from Brown's birth name.[14]
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 27 weeks in the UK Singles Chart, selling 400,000 copies and peaking at number 3 in August 1995. He released a solo single in the winter of 1996 called "A Rocking Good Christmas", written by Ray Hedges; this reached number 51. 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.[15]
Vasey has seven children from three marriages. He met his current wife Helen in Scarborough in the late 1990s, and lives with her and their two children in Tetney, Lincolnshire.[16]
Vasey was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2002 and had a vocal cord removed.[17]
In 2006, he released an autobiography titled Common as Muck: The Autobiography of Roy 'Chubby' Brown.[18] In December 2011, he self-published a collection of memoirs from his life and career called It's Funny Being Me.[19]
Vasey is a supporter of Middlesbrough Football Club.[4] He is a co-owner of the racehorse Rasaman.[20]
In 2003, Vasey was fined £200 in Blackpool for assaulting a heckler by pulling him from his seat, dragging him across the floor and proceeding to attack him with a golf umbrella. Brown later claimed, "I just wanted the man to stop swearing and being abusive in front of women and children who were on the pier."[21]
In 2009, Vasey was charged with assaulting a 21-year-old pregnant woman in a supermarket car park, but acquitted after the judge ruled due to the "poor quality of the CCTV footage, we are not convinced beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Vasey is guilty of the offence".[22]
Throughout 2014, Vasey was fined for traffic offences on several occasions, including reading The Sun newspaper whilst driving on the A19 road in North Yorkshire.[23]
While Brown has been performing for over 30 years, his live shows have been released around Christmas time since 1990. They have been released by Channel 5 Video Distribution (1990), PolyGram Video (1991–1998) and Universal Pictures (1999–2017), they were released on VHS (1990–2005), DVD (2000–present) and Blu-ray (2010–2012).[24]