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Roy 'Chubby' Brown (born Royston Vasey on 5 February, 1945[1][2]) is an English stand up comedian, notorious for his decidedly blue humour. The controversial nature of his act means that he rarely appears on major television channels,[3] and Brown has attracted accusations that his comedy style is outdated[4] whilst also being described as "The most important comedian of the past 25 years".[5] It is claimed that he performs to over 350,000 people each year.[6]
[edit] Early life and careerBrown was born in Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, and left home at the age of fourteen. He lived rough and held many jobs, at one time joining the Merchant Navy, and served time in Borstal and prison.[7] He later moved into working men's clubs in the 1960s, first as a drummer and later as a comedy act, under the name "Alcock & Brown".[3] He appeared on the television show New Faces in the 1970s and came second in the show, losing to a country and western band. Brown failed the audition for Opportunity Knocks after saying the word 'arse' during his interview. [edit] Success as a blue comedianPart of Brown's image is his stage costume; he typically wears a flying helmet and goggles, a multicoloured patchwork jacket and trousers, white shirt, red bow tie and moccasins. During his long career, he has caused offence by mocking various things, including race, women, the Queen Mother (whose death occurred hours before Standing Room Only began recording) and himself. His ribald act causes offence to many, yet he still maintains a strong fan base. Roy's shows are very rarely seen on television, as nearly all of his material is highly sexist and contains a lot of strong language, especially the word "cunt".[3] However, a show about Brown's comedy was broadcast on Channel 4 on 8 May 2007. One of the rituals of his shows is that they always start with the crowd shouting "You fat bastard!" repeatedly, to which he dances. He then approaches the microphone and says "Fuck off!" This heckling occasionally continues during his act. One example is from "Standing Room Only": Brown is playing the piano when an audience member shouts something along the lines of "fat bastard", to which he replies "Fuck off, daft arse!" His real name, Royston Vasey, was used for the fictional village in the comedy television show The League of Gentlemen. He also made several cameo appearances as the foulmouthed mayor of the village. [edit] FilmIn 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. [edit] MusicOne of his best known songs is a cover version of "Living Next Door to Alice (Who the Fuck is Alice?)" recorded with Smokie. The recording originated because Smokie often played the original version in Ireland and whenever they sang the main line "I've been living next door to Alice" the audience would shout "Who the fuck is Alice?" Smokie then decided to do a spoof of their own song and thought that Roy was the ideal man for the job. The record spent 19 weeks in the UK chart, peaking at number 3.[8] He released a solo single in the winter of 1996 called "A Rocking Good Christmas", written by Ray Hedges; this reached number 51.[9] 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 album charts respectively.[9] [edit] Personal lifeBrown is married to Helen, his third wife, with children and has homes in Middlesbrough and Lincolnshire. In 2003 he 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."[10] Brown was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2002,[11] and had a vocal cord removed.[7] In 2006 he released an autobiography, Common as Muck: The Autobiography of Roy 'Chubby' Brown. He is also co-owner of the racehorse "Rasaman".[12] 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 possession of heroin and cannabis,[13] having admitted offences dating from a November 2008 arrest.[14][15] Brown was understood to have little contact with his son.[14] [edit] Stand up releasesWhilst Brown has been performing for over 30 years, Universal have been releasing videos of his live shows around Christmas time since 1990. Around 2000, DVD releases ran alongside VHS releases, until Brown's VHS releases were eventually scrapped by 2005, and shows are now released on DVD only. [edit] VHS releases
[edit] VHS & DVD releases
[edit] DVD releases
[edit] References
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